“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.
Hamlet’s Feigned Madness Becomes Real William Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows that Hamlet is mad. Hamlet is forced to act insane in order to find out the truth of his father's death. Hamlet does an excellent job of acting insane, so good, in fact, that it is questioned if he was acting insane or if he actually was. Hamlet's madness is an important part in the play. The question to his insanity lies in the reasons for his insanity.
When Hamlet's uncle and mother urge him to “cast [his] nighted color off,” (Shakespeare 1.2.68) and stop acting and appearing so depressed, he replies that his “inky cloak.../ [and] river in the eye.../ are actions that a man might play” (Shakespeare 1.2.78-84). Hamlet is directly suggesting that his his true feelings cannot be reflected by how he acts or appears, he is also indirectly showing his displeasure with how his parents are more concerned with appearances
Consider how Shakespeare presents Hamlet’s sense of betrayal by female characters which contributes to his alienation from the world Not only does the heavy burden of avenging his father take its toll on Hamlet, but also his alienation due to the disloyalty of the female characters Gertrude and Ophelia. This feeling of alienation adds to his procrastination. They both undoubtedly betray him and this could add to the delay in him avenging his father. This adds to the sense of tragedy in Hamlets’ tale as he has to undergo this quest alone. Hamlet is a play where the characters don’t experience catharsis; Hamlet has a tragic flaw, he's indecisive “To be or not to be”, but he dies before he can overcome it.
To Hamlet, insanity is the manner in which he speaks and acts. However, I am led to believe that the insanity might or might not be real. Did Hamlet become truly insane, or was it just an act. What was Shakespeare’s purpose in making Hamlet crazy? Throughout the play, Hamlet makes a multitude of snide remarks to Polonius.
Finally Hamlet had the perfect opportunity to get his revenge and yet again his indecisiveness is getting the best of him. Hamlet was procrastinating with his revenge of his father’s death because he was too indecisive on when and how he was going to do it also whether or not the ghost was right. He was over thinking everything and worrying if it was his father’s ghost or not. Hamlet was questioned, “Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn’d, / Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, / Be thy intents wicked or charitable, / Thou com’st in such a questionable shape” (1.4. 40-43).
This act illustrates the theme of uncertainty which is presented through dramatic irony as we know that Hamlet is "I essentially not in madness, But mad in craft." In Act 1 scene 3, Ophelia is caught in an ultimate struggle in which she cannot win as Ophelia is trapped in this tradition of patriarchy with no personal choice. At first she remained uncertain for the reason of Hamlet's madness but once Polonius concludes that the blame is the very presence of Ophelia, pain and guilt are inflicted upon her as she suddenly feels responsible for Hamlet's downfall. However these feelings evolve as his seeming insanity and rudeness strangles and fades any love Ophelia had for him. We are then shown that Hamlet's insanity frightens Ophelia away.
The Tragic Demise of Hamlet A tragedy is an austere drama with an unpleasant outcome. Every Shakespearean tragedy results in the demise of the protagonist. In the tragedy Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet’s personality traits and decisions ultimately cause his own, tragic decease. Shakespeare illustrates that Hamlet’s actions of procrastination are the main cause of his death. The personality traits of insanity and intellectuality also contribute greatly to the death of Hamlet.
One sees from the very beginning that he is a very complex and conflicted man, and that his tragedy has already begun. Hamlet is considered to be a tragic hero because he has a tragic flaw, that in the end, is the cause of his downfall. As defined by Aristotle, a tragic play has a beginning, middle, and end; unity of time and place; a tragic hero; and the concept of catharsis. One of the main reasons this play is considered a tragic play is because the main character is a tragic hero. Hamlet's tragic flaw is he spends too much time thinking and not enough time acting.
Then Gertrude, his mother, marries his uncle, Claudius, only months after his father’s sudden death, which compounds Hamlet’s pain. He loathes her and laments: “Let me not think on’t! Frailty, Thy name is woman” (i.ii.146). He retreats into a spiral of misery and suicidal thoughts and is unable to separate his emotions from any semblance of rational thought. He does not reveal his feelings to anyone, which again, sets the stage for what is to come.