Shakespeare incorporated the theme of madness to serve a motive for Hamlet in order to deceive others. Hamlet planned everything from what he was doing to what he was going to do. Hamlet did in fact pretend to be mad, just so he could follow through on his plan to avenge his father’s death. He acted like he was mad because he did not want to directly kill Claudius, because he wanted to make him suffer. Hamlet also knew that he could not tell anyone that Claudius has murdered his father or that he had seen the ghost of his father because no one would believe him.
Hamlet assumes these actions from the actor because these are the actions that Hamlet would use to express his feelings. Hamlet then feels that he is not courageous enough to bravely kill Claudius and all he can do is mope. He puts himself at the peak of frustration since he has not accomplished anything yet and begins to doubt his ability to for revenge and calls himself a coward. He says he should have killed Claudius a long time ago. He then comes up with a plan to have the actors put on a play that is similar to the Murder of King Hamlet.
Madness is a vital plot element in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Both young Hamlet and his love Ophelia appear mad throughout the play’s duration, but only Ophelia has a genuine affliction of insanity. Although stricken with grief by his father’s death and the clamorous events that follow, Hamlet does not become truly mad because he is still able to distinguish right form wrong and maneuver logically in his plan to avenge his murdered father. Shakespeare surreptitiously places revelations of Hamlet’s sanity throughout the play. Though his planned maneuver to murder his uncle Claudius, the contrast between his feigned madness and Ophelia’s true madness, and his ability change behavior around different characters that possess his trust, Hamlet’s true, rational condition emerges from beneath his veil of insanity.
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.
Hamlet also expresses the possibilities that the ghost could have been the devil. Although hamlet gets upset with himself he believes that the play he arranged would display Claudius’ guilt and then he will know for sure he killed his father. This reveals to the audience that Hamlet is a procrastinator and he is a coward. In Hamlet’s fifth soliloquy he contemplates the idea of suicide, he suggests that maybe the only reason we choose life is because we know so little about death other than it Is final. After contemplation Hamlet decides not to take his own life.
Hamlet’s uses antic disposition as a tactic to uncover the truth behind his father’s death which leads the reader into believing that Hamlet is truly insane. However, the truth of it all is that it is an act of foolishness to distract others into believing that he is mentally ill. Through the use of character Hamlet proves himself as a strategic thinker by congregating solid evidence that is pointing towards Claudius being guilty of performing an act of violence. Hamlet begins to question the presence of the ghost as he states, “The spirit that I have seen/ May be the devil: and the devil hath power/ To assume a pleasing shape” (II, ii, 596-597). The act of logical thinking demonstrates that Hamlet did not act hastily and commit a sin after witnessing his father’s spirit.
Firstly, someone should have mental instability and abnormal behavior. Secondly, someone who is crazy has a condition that driving to operate outside of societal norms (www.wisegeek.com). As far as I know from the play, Hamlet still uses his mind to think what he does. Hamlet did not show the indicator of insanity that I stated above. I will not say that Hamlet is totally not crazy in this play.
Horatio even states to Hamlet that the ghost may intend to “draw you into madness”, and this line in particular reverberates in the audiences’ minds as they see Hamlet descend into an undecipherable lunacy. Furthermore, the stygian imagery which the Ghost utilises, such as the repetition of “foul, strange and unnatural”, does not represent the language that
The problem of madness is perhaps the most maddening problem in Hamlet. The question asked is ‘was Hamlet really mad, or did he just assume madness?’ Certain critics have certain views about this. Some think that Hamlet is sane throughout but feigns insanity. Some are of the view that his madness is less than madness and more than feigned. What really the case (of madness) is, that is going to be discussed below.
Romeo decided that he was in love with Juliet upon sight without knowing who she was (Shakespeare 924). This was a terrible choice Romeo had literally no idea who she was and this could have stopped the whole conflict of the play. Romeo then ignored his dreams which he believed told his destiny (Shakespeare 921-1009). While if Romeo listened to these dreams which he believed told the future he would have been much more cautious because he would know that he was going to die prematurely. Also, by him listening to his dreams he would have made either little or no poor choices later in the play which results in his death.