The Tragedies Of Shakespeare
"Your noble son is mad —
‘Mad' call I it, for to define true madness,
What is't but to be nothing else but mad?"
(Wells and Taylor, 665)
In Act two, scene two of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Polonius uses these words to inform Hamlet's parents of their son's insanity. He then continues on, telling Gertrude and Claudius that the cause of this madness is lovesickness over his own daughter Ophelia (665). From the privileged perspective of the audience, we know that Polonius is mistaken and that Hamlet is far from insane, but rather, "playing mad" for a purpose of his own. Madness in Shakespearean plays, and in tragedies in particular, is rarely what it seems on the surface. Instead, both madness and the characters experiencing it are layered with meaning; like an onion, layer after layer can be peeled off, eventually allowing a glimpse at the core concealed within.
Shakespeare's treatment of the character Hamlet is typically multi- faceted and complex—Hamlet appears insane, ostensibly over Ophelia, however, his madness is feigned—a cover for internal conflicts, rooted not in thwarted affection, but rather in desire to avenge his father's murder. Hamlet even goes so far as to say his apparent madness is an act when he says "I am but mad north-north-west; when the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw"(667).
Shakespeare often used madness, either feigned or actual, as a teaching tool or vehicle to advance his plot. Sometimes this madness was feigned, as evidenced by Hamlet and Edgar (the legitimate son of Gloucester in The Tragedy of King Lear), but other times it was genuine insanity. Ophelia and Lady
MacBeth are obvious examples of Shakespearean characters that have slipped into madness—Ophelia due to the loss of all those dear to her, and Lady MacBeth from guilt over the part she played in King Duncan's murder. In Hamlet, Ophelia's madness ultimately leads to her demise, and this, in turn, plays a part in
Hamlet's willingness to engage in what will be his final battle. In this sense, it helps advance the play towards its climax.
While Lady MacBeth's madness also leads to death, its focus is more on teaching than propelling the story to conclusion. While Lady MacBeth is initially seen as a cold, conscienceless, calculating woman, intent on advancing her husband politically (by any means necessary), her character changes as the play progresses. Early on in the play, she is full of ambition; indeed, upon reading MacBeth's letter, she complains about his nature and inaction: Yet do I fear thy nature,
It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness
not completely mad but maybe disillusioned. There are times when they can be fine and times when the madness overtakes them. So in determining whether or not they are mad would be a difficult task. Although the causes of their madness differs, the end of both are the same.
good, in fact, that it is questioned if he was acting insane or if he
In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, an obvious subject to discuss would be that of Hamlet’s sanity. To some people Hamlet just seems mad or angry, but others would argue that he is truly mad, as in insane. At first, Hamlet wants people to get the impression that he has gone into madness so they won’t suspect his plan of revenge. The question is, does he place himself too close to madness and not realize that he truly becomes mad, or is he so smart and is able to control himself enough to allow his acting mad be just a disguise in order to execute his plan of revenge? Throughout the play Hamlet’s character becomes blurred and is a huge question mark asking is he mad or is he mad? In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, madness is a key element to the story.
The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them’’.Additionally,, it says, How, then, am I mad? Hearken!’He is trying to prove us that he is not insane and he is really clever .Lastly,The narrator says ,“You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded --with what caution --with what foresight --with what dissimulation I went to work!’’.Did you see how he is kept talking about him not being insane?.Keep questioning himself being mad is a sign of Insanity.(Poe 39).
In Hamlet, he seems to be mad, but there is a question that everyone asks when reading or watching this play “was it, or was it not true that Hamlet was faking his insanity, really suffering, or maybe even both.” First, this is what insanity is: insanity is acting crazy, but not knowing that they’re acting crazy. Also, it’s going through a lot of stress at the same time causing you to act stranger then a normal person. Hamlet was not totally insane. It doesn’t fit.
At the start of the play she was described as a girl who is very
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:
On February 2, 1585, William Shakespeare's twins Hamnet and Judith were baptized in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-Upon-Avon. In 1592 the poet Robert Greene alluded to Shakespeare in his pamphlet "A Groatsworth of Wit Bought With a Million of Repentance." The period between these two dates is known as the "Lost Years" or "The Dark Years" because of the total lack of hard evidence as to what William Shakespeare was doing during this time. Sometime during this period he left home, wife, and three children in Stratford and began his stage career in London. Scholars have long attempted to determine how and why this decision was made, and countless theories have been proposed. It is my hypothesis that Shakespeare, like countless other Englishmen, was caught up in the national crisis caused by the threat of the Spanish Armada during the summer of 1587 and was either drafted into the militia or volunteered for duty to protect his homeland from the threat of foreign invasion. In short, he became a soldier, was posted to the London area, and was discharged when the threat was ended. Once the boy had seen the big city, it is hard to send him back to the farm.
In Shakespeare 's Hamlet, the word “madness” is used a total of 18 times. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “madness” can be defined as, “a state of severe mental illness; extremely foolish behavior resembling insanity”. Hamlet’s personal situation mirrors this exact definition because his whole family believes him to be insane or mad. “Madness” is also defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as, “a state of frenzied or chaotic activity”. This definition also directly relates to Hamlet because chaos is at the root of the whole play. In their anger all of the characters believe that they can control one another as well as the whole situation. They believe themselves to be infallible within “frenzied activity”. The notion of
in the 17th century a madman was just a person acting a bit out of
England's most talented and well know poet and dramatist was born on April 23, 1564, at Stratford-upon-Avon, located in the cetre of England. His father, John, was a glove-maker and wool dealer involved with money lending. His mother Mary Arden was the daughter of a Farmer. William was the third out of eight children whom all died young. His father became Mayor in 1568, after serving on the town council for many years.
Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is considered one of his four great tragedies. This play not only uses unearthly characters to instill fear, but it also uses foil characters to show the possible outcomes for the protagonist, Hamlet, himself. The crucial contrast Shakespeare creates between “what is” and “what seems to be” causes Hamlet, along with many other characters, to act in order to create the outcome they 9-want. However, no matter their attempts the play still ends with an inescapable tragedy for all of the characters.
the mad is mad because he says on a number of occasions that he is not