But he comes back as Sweeney Todd wanting to seek vengeance on the man who sent him away from his family. In Hamlet, Hamlet struggles with his fathers death. He is the only one able to talk to the ghost of his father. Everyone around notices his absent mind, and believes he is crazy, even his own mother, “Alas, he is mad.” (III.iv.106). But later on, we discover Hamlet is not mad, and that it was all just an act.
While speaking the ghost Hamlet asks, “O all you host of heaven! O Earth! What else?/And shall I couple hell?” (I.v.25). Hamlet does not believe the ghost until Act III, when Hamlet tricks Claudius into revealing that he is the cause of his fathers death through the use of his play, “The Murder of Gonzago.” Even though Hamlet knows the truth, he still has trouble acting on his thoughts. It seems that Hamlet does not want to extract revenge and he regrets promising the ghost that he will do so, “O cursed spite,/That ever I was born to set it right!
Firstly, Hamlet feels sad about the remarriage of his mother and his uncle escalated to pretend to be mad. For example, after Hamlet knows about the remarriage of his mother and his uncle, he feels upset at his mother, and he says, “O, most wicked speed, to post /With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! /It is not, nor it cannot come to good. /But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue” (1.2.156-59).In this way, Hamlet is disgusted by their marriage because he just finds that his mother is a sexually being. Thus, he is in depressed, but he still wants to find the truth.
Or is he merely angry? Or does Hamlet cross the line between sanity and insanity without even realizing it? The best answer to all these questions is simply “yes!” However, it would appear Hamlet’s madness and irrationality led to his own downfall, and also the destruction of the lives of those around him. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet demonstrates the destructive nature of insanity and mental illness, and it is this destructive nature that makes Hamlet a true tragedy in every sense of the word. It is not that hard to believe that Hamlet has gone insane if one simply looks at the circumstances that could have made him lose his grip on reality.
“To be or not to be, that is the question; whether’ tis nobler in the mind to suffer...” (Shakespeare Act 3, Scene 1). This quotation proves Hamlet becomes inferior to others and the environment through his madness, causing him to express himself explicitly towards others. Hamlet’s madness not only causes his loved ones lives but it allows his “end” to come because he accepts every challenge from his opponent. Hamlet’s madness not only affects him but Ophelia, who is mentally torn apart by Hamlet. Ophelia was once flawless, but since her encounter with Hamlet she has fallen into the same madness and wants to kill herself.
As he says “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer...” Hamlet contemplates suicide, due to a lack of trust in himself. Hamlet does not trust that he can take revenge on Claudius and move on. Shakespeare displays Hamlet’s lack of trust through characterization. Hamlet is displayed as a macabre, pessimistic and suicidal character. .“A damn'd defeat was made.
However, this is not the only type of type of play or drama in which the main character acts crazy or mad in order to enact revenge upon someone to avenge someone or just to purely gain revenge for some personal purpose. Yet, scholars interpret Hamlet’s madness in different ways, such as saying that he truly did go mad. In addition, when Hamlet is alone with Horatio and Gertrude away from the public and the king his speech and actions are different, and they do not include all the riddles and ‘madness’ or gestures that he talks with or uses throughout the rest of the play with everyone else. Hamlet’s flaw in all of this is that he likes everything to be perfect and due to that he procrastinates everything. Therefore, to perform his grand scheme, he must change the way he acts in order to prefect the chance to avenge his father’s death, and he must act in such a way to discover and learn everything he needs to do so.
God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! This is the first time that the reader sees Hamlet’s inner turmoil as he considers committing suicide over the death of his father but decides he cannot, for the consequence would be hell. It is important to note that purgatory and hell are referenced numerous times throughout the play as a consequence for giving into selfish thoughts or actions. In this particular instance however, this soliloquy also lends to the idea that Hamlet is insane due to the passing of his father.
Hamlet also demonstrates his flaw when he says “That would be scanned,”(Shakespeare III.iii.76) which basically means that he wants think more about the situation at hand, before following it through. His nature to over-think matters is considered a tragic flaw, because his decision to put off the murder of Claudius, leads to the death of many characters in the play, including him. Not only does Hamlet miss his opportunity when he scum’s to his flaw, but he also displays another tragic flaw, which is to procrastinate. Ophelia’s character flaw that is displayed is her emotional weakness. Ultimately Ophelia’s flaw is the reason for her own death, which is what makes it so tragic.
If Hamlet were to have seen his father’s ghost by himself, there would be a greater argument for him being insane from the outset of the play. Hamlet also exerts control over his actions, which is the main reason why it could be argued that he is sane. He actively tries to convince Polonius that he has gone mad - mocking him when he would usually be respectful, acting cruelly towards Ophelia whom he was clearly affectionate to earlier in the play. He does this in the hope that Polonius will tell the court of his madness. Hamlet is often hesitant to do things, for example where he had the chance to kill Claudius in the chapel but couldn’t bring himself to do it, not because he would be killing another human but because he wanted Claudius to suffer and not go straight to Heaven.