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hamlet as a psychological drama
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The idea of madness is common among many literary pieces, including 1 Samuel, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Odyssey and Hamlet in which feigning madness portrays the sanity of the characters. The play, “Hamlet,” by playwright William Shakespeare, demonstrates the tragic story of the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet, who may or may not be insane. His overall change in behaviour was caused due to the murder of his late father, King Hamlet, by his uncle who is the current king and his mother’s second husband, King Claudius. Ophelia’s lack of affection and attention also affected his sanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet puts on an act to be mad around certain people to show that he is not a threat and to demonstrate his capability to elaborate and execute …show more content…
Hamlet indicates that he must “put an antic disposition on” (1.5.179-180) in order to realize his plans. He also claims that “[he] must be idle” (3.2.88). This reveals part of his plan in the hunt for confirmation regarding his suspicions of Claudius’ involvement in his father’s murder. It also reveals that by putting on this act, he is capable of confusing and fooling many, especially Claudius, to think that he has gone mad, and therefore he does not pose a threat by his presence. By doing so, Hamlet can keep an eye on those he suspects, without revealing his true intentions. Therefore, Hamlet’s lunacy is only an act, which is revealed to be an important part of his plan to avenge those who did him and his father …show more content…
He only acts insane in the presence of Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whereas he is sane in front of Horatio, Bernardo, Marcellus, Francisco and the players whom he used to confirm Claudius’ involvement. Hamlet claims “[that he] essentially [is] not in madness, but mad in craft” (3.4.189-190). This demonstrates that he is intentionally acting the part of a madman in order to attain his objective. He attempts to capture the attention of certain characters whom he suspects to be part of his father’s death. Through his deceiving performance, the prince is able to learn the involvement of other characters in his father’s murder, because he does not trust them and thinks that in some way they are all linked to Claudius. Whereas, regarding Horatio, Bernardo, Marcellus, Francisco and the actors, he has included them in his plans and believes that they will help him with his motives. Therefore, the young prince puts on an act in which he is only pretending to be mad among certain people, in order to gather information regarding their involvement in the recent
The reasoning behind Hamlet’s madness is the investigation that occurs with the cause of his father’s death. As Hamlet recognizes the truth associated with his father’s death, he realizes the death was committed by murder. This is revealed in act one, scene five, as his father’s ghost explains that Claudius poisoned him (1.5.64-80). In addition, the circumstances concerning the marriage of Claudius and Gertrude enhances Halmet’s urge to act mad. When Hamlet encounters his father through the figure of a ghost, Hamlet reveals his sanity: “Here, as before, never, so help you mercy/ How strange or off so ever I bear myself/ As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/ To put an antic disposition on” (1.5.187-190). Hamlet describes his madness to be an act, to put on a show. This madness allows for Hamlet to advance his intention of finding out the truth behind his father's death. As Hamlet presents this form of madness, it allows him to advance his plan on killing his stepfather, Claudius. Claudius believes that Hamlet is mad, although he does not know the reason for why he is mad. This allows for Hamlet to create a plan to kill Clausius without many questions being asked. In act two, Hamlet admits that he can alter his madness: “I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly I know a hawk from handsaw” (2.2.390-391). With this information, the suggestion is that Hamlet is clever in the way he acts. During the beginning of the play, some of the characteristics of Hamlet are identified. The explanation of Hamlet being a student and attending university provides the audience with information that as a character, Hamlet has an abundance of knowledge. As Hamlet conducts his form of madness and the plan for the death of Claudius, his intelligence characteristics are displayed. The act of a madman creates successful opportunities for Hamlet as other characters reveal
What makes a person truly crazy? Is it the way that they dress or is it the way they they they talk? It even may be their actions that cause you to believe that a person has truly gone crazy. Although Hamlet appears to have gone crazy to other characters in this book, the reader can see Hamlet is actually sane throughout the whole entire book. The explanations to why Hamlet is sane are as follows: his change in character is just an effect of his father, any crazy actions of Hamlet were to justify him after he killed Claudius to avenge his father’s death, he shows intelligence and is able to plan for events throughout the story.
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet undergoes a transformation from sane to insane while fighting madness to avenge his father’s death. The material that Shakespeare appropriated in writing Hamlet is the story of a Danish prince whose uncle murders the prince’s father, marries his mother, and claims the throne. The prince pretends to be feeble-minded to throw his uncle off guard, then manages to kill his uncle in revenge. Shakespeare changed the emphasis of this story entirely, making his Hamlet a philosophically minded prince who delays taking action because his knowledge of his uncle’s crime is so uncertain.
Throughout Shakespeare?s play, Hamlet, the main character, young Hamlet, is faced with the responsibility of attaining vengeance for his father?s murder. He decides to feign madness as part of his plan to gain the opportunity to kill Claudius. As the play progresses, his depiction of a madman becomes increasingly believable, and the characters around him react accordingly. However, through his inner thoughts and the apparent reasons for his actions, it is clear that he is not really mad and is simply an actor simulating insanity in order to fulfill his duty to his father.
Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, must seek revenge for the murder of his father. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to murder Claudius. Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes more and more believable in his act, even convincing his mother that he is crazy. However, through his thoughts, and actions, the reader can see that he is in fact putting up an act, he is simply simulating insanity to help fulfil his fathers duty of revenge. Throughout the play, Hamlet shows that he understands real from fake, right from wrong and his enemies from his friends. Even in his madness, he retorts and is clever in his speech and has full understanding of what if going on around him. Most importantly, Hamlet does not think like that of a person who is mad. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to seek revenge for his fathers murder.
Shakespeare 's play "Hamlet" is about a complex protagonist, Hamlet, who faces adversity and is destined to murder the individual who killed his father. Hamlet is a character who although his actions and emotions may be one of an insane person, in the beginning of the book it is clear that Hamlet decides to fake madness in order for his plan to succeed in killing Claudius. Hamlet is sane because throughout the play he only acts crazy in front of certain people, to others he acts properly and displays proper prince like behavior who is able to cope with them without sounding crazy, and even after everything that has been going on in his life he is able to take revenge by killing his
Hamlet in Shakepeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is often seen as a lunatic. Lucid and ingenious, Prince Hamlet falls into a state of emotional turmoil, but he is never insane. Hamlet feigns madness to reveal his anguish concerning the two women he used to love - his mother Gertrude and his lover Ophelia. To escape estrangement from his countrymen, Hamlet appears to waver between madness and sanity. And, to avoid moral estrangement, the Prince plans on revenging his father's death under the guise of madness. There is no question that Hamlet feigns insanity, and he does so to voice his emotions to the two closest women in his life, to influence the opinions of his peers, and to plan the revenge of his father's death.
After Hamlet talks to the ghost of his father, he finds out that Claudius killed him to gain the throne of Denmark. Hamlet has to get revenge by killing Claudius. To do this, he must act insane to draw away suspicion from himself. Hamlet says to Hortaio "How strange or odd some’er I bear myslef as I perchanse hereafter shall think meet to put an antic dispostion on,"(I;v;170-172), this indicates that from this moment Hamlet will act insane. He believes this way he will be able to kill the king and get away with it. Polonius becomes aware of Hamlet’s madness and wants to uncover the reason behind it. He says "Mad let us grant him then, and now remains, that we find out the cause of this defect, for this effect defective comes by cause."(II;ii;100-103). Claudius and Polonius spy on Hamlet and Ophelia as they talk. After hearing their conversation Claudius says "And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose will be some danger; which for to prevent, I have in quick determination thus set it down: he shall with speed to England"(III;i;163-166). This means that Claudius is starting to believe Hamlet is dangerous and wants to send him to England. From this point Claudius is very suspicious of Hamlet, he suspects that Hamlet is plotting against him, he says, "Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.
Throughout the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, the main character is given the overwhelming responsibility of avenging his father’s "foul and most unnatural murder" (I.iv.36). Such a burden can slowly drive a man off the deep end psychologically. Because of this, Hamlet’s disposition is extremely inconsistent and erratic throughout the play. At times he shows signs of uncontrollable insanity. Whenever he interacts with the characters he is wild, crazy, and plays a fool. At other times, he exemplifies intelligence and method in his madness. In instances when he is alone or with Horatio, he is civilized and sane. Hamlet goes through different stages of insanity throughout the story, but his neurotic and skeptical personality amplifies his persona of seeming insane to the other characters. Hamlet comes up with the idea to fake madness in the beginning of the play in order to confuse his enemies. However, for Hamlet to fulfill his duty of getting revenge, he must be totally sane. Hamlet’s intellectual brilliance make it seem too impossible for him to actually be mad, for to be insane means that one is irrational and without any sense. When one is irrational, one is not governed by or according to reason. So, Hamlet is only acting mad in order to plan his revenge on Claudius.
Hamlet throughout the play seems insane but in reality it is only an act to achieve his goal of killing his father's murderer. Hamlet chooses to go mad so he has an advantage over his opponent and since he is the Prince of Denmark certain behavior is unacceptable, so by faking madness he is able to get away with inappropriate sayings and actions. We can see this when he talks to Claudius, Polonius, Ophelia and his mother. When Hamlet talks to Horatio in the first act he says how he is going to "feign madness" and that:
He appears to vary in how mad he is, sometimes appearing completely sane, and sometimes more insane. His madness is mostly portrayed through his ramblings at the other characters, or through soliloquies. Originally Hamlet was only feining madness in order to reach his goals and discover if Claudius was really the one who killed father. He decides this after meeting the ghost of his dead father: “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on-...”(Hamlet: 1.5.171-172).The other characters pick up on his “madness” as the play progresses further. They were all curious as to the cause of Hamlet’s madness. Polonius and Claudius believe it may be caused by the lack of contact with Ophelia that they had caused, whereas Gertrude’s first thought was that it was to do with his father’s death. Hamlet keeps up his act throughout the whole play, calling Polonius a fishmonger at one point, and also when he berated his ex-girlfriend Ophelia, even stating that she should go to a nunnery. She comments on Hamlet after his rant: “Oh what noble mind is overthrown…”(Ophelia 3.1.144). She starts to believe he has really gone mad, and that he truly does not care about her anymore. This also becomes a problem for the kingdom, as Hamlet is a royal and the heir to the throne, so having madness could be potentially calamitous for all of them. Shortly after
Madness fascinated William Shakespeare's contemporaries, perhaps in part because it was still not entirely clear how or when madness as a disease was to be distinguished from demonic possession or spiritual ecstasy. Mad characters were a staple of William Shakespeare's stage and such figures were particularly associated with revenge plays. Hamlet's distraction, then, is notable in part because it is feigned. In Hamlet is the exploration and implicit criticism of a particular state of mind or consciousness. Shakespeare uses a series of encounters to reveal the complex state of the human mind. Critics who find the cause of Hamlet's delay in his internal meditations typically view the prince as a man of great moral integrity who is forced to commit an act which goes against his deepest principles. On numerous occasions, the prince tries to make sense of his moral dilemma through personal meditations.
Hamlet’s plan of faking insanity to avenge his father’s death eventually backfires and he winds up hurting those closest to him. What began as feigned madness slowly becomes reality. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet could be characterized as a respectful, well-mannered son who is mourning the death of his father and shows signs of depression. In the end of the play, Hamlet turns into an irrational, unforgiving maniac who is unaware of the complete and utter chaos that he inflicts on himself and everyone he loves. Instead of controlling his “antic disposition”, Hamlet's antic disposition controls him, resulting in tragedy and death.
Hamlet, the young prince of Denmark loses his father at an early age. Ever since this tragic event occurred, Hamlet was perceived as a troubled individual in a state of madness, a type of madness that develops into insanity. Hamlet presents many clues that in fact he appears to be insane. William Shakespeare does an outstanding job in leading the reader to believe that in fact, Hamlet is insane. "Why, then, 'tis none to you: for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so: to me it is a prison. (Hamlet II. ii. 252-254).
There is much evidence in Shakespeare’s Hamlet that the titular character deliberately feigned fits of madness in an attempt to confuse and disorient Claudius and his cadre. His explicitly stated intention to act "strange or odd" and to "put an antic disposition on" (I. v. 170, 172) is not the only indication. The latter phrase should be taken in its context and in connection with Hamlet’s other remarks on the same topic. To his old friend, Guildenstern, he says that "his uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived," and that he is only "mad north-north-west." (II. ii. 360.) Guildenstern later comments that Hamlet 's is "a crafty madness." (III. i. 8.)