Hamlet’s Madness and Insanity One of the extraordinary plays written by William Shakespeare, reflects on the feelings and personality through a character known as Hamlet. The play’s stage seems a bit desolate because of the murder of Hamlet’s father. The amount of solitariness Hamlet braves, provides a substantial amount of diverse feeling through evocative emotion. Through depression and sadness, the life of Hamlet seems unimportant to himself. Hamlet faces a series of sentiments which questions his sanity. The world of Hamlet seems to revolve around insanity; however, can the actions of Hamlet be portrayed as sane in this insane world?
Could one ask themselves to be ok with the fact that their uncle murdered their father only to then marry their mother and be crowned as king? As explained by Lily Campbell, “Hamlet becomes a study in the passion of grief” (Campbell, 94). This is a great example of what became of Hamlet. Due to the grief he bore from his father’s death, it consumed him into madness. This proves the insanity of Hamlet by giving the impression that his ideology was corrupt. Hamlet also exemplified hysteria through the meeting of his father’s spirit.
In Act II, Hamlet stated (Act II, Scene II): The spirit that I have seen May be the devil; and the devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me. Through this excerpt, Hamlet discusses the meeting of his father’s ghost. He is unsure of what his father’s spirit truly is. He even goes as far as to referring to the ghost as the “devil” (Campbell, 101). As the play continues, Hamlet decides to stage a performance of what his father told him.
He hoped to et a reaction from his uncle that may would reiterate what the spirit told him. Hamlet felt that this would give him the conformation that he needed. This only exemplified the hysteria developing within Hamlet. When Hamlet performed the play for his Uncle, the newly named King, he could tell by his uncle’s reaction, that this was something his uncle had witnessed before. Unfortunately, it added fuel to the fire burning within Hamlet. It seems that there are multiple sides to Hamlet’s personality throughout the play. His mood swings are something that cannot be reckoned with.
He showed many examples of suicidal tendencies. In the play, Hamlet struggled and contemplated suicide, whether he should live or die. He often wondered what was beyond death. As Hamlet explains (Act III, Scene 1): To be or not to be—that is the question: — Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And, by opposing, end them? — to die, —to sleep, — This shows Hamlet’s mindset not only on life, but also on his own death. It seemed that he was weighing out his own will to live.
Hamlet contemplated whether to commit suicide; however, he never actually does this because the thought of afterlife frightened him. If one would consider committing suicide, but the afterlife is the only obstacle holding them back, he or she has a mental issue. If Hamlet was sane, suicidal thoughts would not approach his head in the first place. Hamlet’s insanity is justified through the idea of suicide. At another point in the play (Act I, Scene II) Hamlet states: O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the everlasting had not fix’d His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world! Hamlet doesn’t seem very concerned about his wellbeing. It seems as if he feels unimportant and useless as he wants his flesh to melt. Hamlet is unsure with what he wants. He just lost his father and his mother is the wife of his uncle. Hamlet is experiencing heavy amounts of stress and depression which leads to his insanity. He doesn’t know what to do with himself; as if his life is
Several characters in the play expressed concern for Hamlet’s actions. It was very apparent that they worried about his wellbeing. One of Hamlet’s close friends, Horatio, stated (Act I, Scene II): What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord, or to the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o’er his base into the sea, And there assume some other horrible form Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason, And draw you into madness? Horatio was obviously trying to offer Hamlet advice in regards to communicating with the Ghost of Hamlet’s father.
He was concerned that these encounters would drive Hamlet to lose his mind. Hamlet’s best friend throughout the play was Horatio. For him not to listen to Horatio’s advice, it was evident that Hamlet was mad. As explained by John Brown, “In addition, Hamlet is under constant watch, spied on by Claudius and his agents Rosencrantz, Guildonenstern, Polonius, and even Ophelia” (Brown, 51). Through Brown’s description, one could easily see that Hamlet was not trusted. It is quite conspicuous that people did not have a lot of trust in Hamlet, and they felt that he needed to be watched.
It is evident that Hamlets insanity is supported through the other character’s mistrust and concern. Although one could justify that a person can be sane even though they are trusted, “Others see Hamlet as a person charged with a duty that he knows and feels is right” (“Analysis”, 1485). This is important because this proves his insanity by justifying his actions as a “duty” (“Analysis”, 1485). The fact that revenge to murder another individual is a requirement explains Hamlets insanity. An individual who is sane but cannot be trusted, does not have the mission to commit a murder.
Therefore, Hamlets situation disproves the argument that distrust does not prove insanity. Hamlet gets an opportunity to kill his uncle Claudius; however, “When he finds Claudius in his prayers, he does not take his revenge by stabbing him” (Wright and LaMar, 65). The word “revenge” mentioned is a strong word to use when defining insanity (Wright and LaMar, 65). Hamlet finds it a mission to kill his uncle and nothing but. He gets a clear opportunity to kill Claudius, and he waits for a better time (Wright and La Mar, 65).
Hamlet feels as if he has given him the, “rewards of heaven” if he kills Claudius during his prayer (Wright and LaMar, 65). This exhibits an enormous amount of Hatred that Hamlet has for Claudius. Hamlets seems as if he wants his uncle to suffer for what he did. Hamlet’s bloodthirsty ideology justifies his insanity and disproves anything but. In summary, Hamlet can best be considered insane through many ways. He finds his own life nonbeneficial, and unimportant due to his suicidal thoughts. The position Hamlet has been put into clarifies the actions and decisions that Hamlet makes.
The presence of the ghost of Hamlet’s father’s ghost makes Hamlet wonder if he has completely lost his mind. Hamlet’s mixed emotions and his series of sentiments questions the true feeling of Hamlet. Hamlet can be considered sane due to the insane world that revolves around him. The amount of murder, spying, and even distrust could justify Hamlet’s reasoning; however, the world’s insanity does not ignore the fact that it’s the people who make an insane world. The world that revolves around Hamlet does not make the actions of Hamlet conventional.
