Hamlets Sanity Supported Through His Relation to Ophelia and Edgars Relation to Lear In both Hamlet and King Lear, Shakespeare incorporates a theme of madness with two characters: one truly mad, and one only acting mad to serve a motive. Themadness of Hamlet is frequently disputed. This paper argues that the contrapuntal character in each play, namely Ophelia in Hamlet and Edgar in King Lear, acts as abalancing argument to the other characters madness or sanity.
King Lears more decisive distinction between Lears frailty of mind and Edgars contrived madnessworks to better efine the relationship between Ophelias breakdown and Hamlets “north-north-west” brand of insanity. Both plays offer a character on each side ofsanity, but in Hamlet the distinction is not as clear as it is in King Lear. Using the more explicit relationship in King Lear, one finds a better understanding of therelationship in Hamlet. While Shakespeare does not directly pit Ophelias insanity (or breakdown) against Hamlets madness, there is instead a clear definitiveness in Ophelias condition and aclear uncertainty in Hamlets madness.
Obviously, Hamlets character offers more evidence, while Ophelias breakdown is quick, but more conclusive in its precision. Shakespeare offers clear evidence pointing to Hamlets sanity beginning with the first scene of the play. Hamlet begins with guards whose main importance in the play is to give credibility to the ghost. If Hamlet were to see his fathers ghost in private, the argument for hismadness would greatly improve. Yet, not one, but three men together witness the ghost before even thinking to notify Hamlet.
As Horatio says, being the only of theguards to play a significant role in the rest of the play, “Before my God, I might ot this believe / Without the sensible and true avouch / Of mine own eyes. (I. i. 56-8)”Horatio, who appears frequently throughout the play, acts as an unquestionably sane alibi to Hamlet again when framing the King with his reaction to the play. ThatHamlet speaks to the ghost alone detracts somewhat from its credibility, but all the men are witness to the ghost demanding they speak alone.
Horatio offers an insightful warning: What if it tempts you toward the flood, my lord, Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles oer his base into the sea, And there assume some other horrible formWhich might deprive our sovereignty of reason, And draw you into madness? Think of it. (I. iv. 69-74) Horatios comment may be where Hamlet gets the idea to use a plea of insanity to work out his plan. The important fact is that the ghost does not change form, butrather remains as the King and speaks to Hamlet rationally.
There is also good reason for the ghost not to want the guards to know what he tells Hamlet, as the playcould not proceed as it does if the guards were to hear what Hamlet did. It is the ghost of Hamlets father who tells him, “but howsomever thou pursues this act, / Taintnot thy mind. (I. v. 4-5)” Later, when Hamlet sees the ghost again in his mothers room, her amazement at his madness is quite convincing. Yet one must take intoconsideration the careful planning of the ghosts credibility earlier in the play.
After his first meeting with the ghost, Hamlet greets his friends cheerfully and acts as if the news is good rather than the devastation it really is. Horatio: What news, my lord? Hamlet: O, wonderful! Horatio: Good my lord, tell it. Hamlet: No, you will reveal it. (I. v. 118-21) This is the first glimpse of Hamlets ability and inclination to manipulate his behavior to achieve effect. Clearly Hamlet s not feeling cheerful at this moment, but if helets the guards know the severity of the news, they might suspect its nature.
Another instance of Hamlets behavior manipulation is his meeting with Ophelia while hisuncle and Polonius are hiding behind a curtain. Hamlets affection for Ophelia has already been established in I. iii. , and his complete rejection of her and what hastranspired between them is clearly a hoax. Hamlet somehow suspects the eavesdroppers, just as he guesses that Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are sent by the King andQueen to question him and investigate the cause of his supposed madness in II. i.
Hamlets actions in the play after meeting the ghost lead everyone except Horatio to believe he is crazy, yet that madness is continuously checked by an ever-presentconsciousness of action which never lets him lose control. For example, Hamlet questions his conduct in his soliloquy at the end of II. ii, but after careful considerationdecides to go with his instinct and prove to himself without a doubt the Kings guilt before proceeding rashly. Even after the Kings guilt is proven with Horatio aswitness, Hamlet again reflects and uses his better judgement in the soliloquy at the end of III. i. efore seeing his mother. He recognizes his passionate feelings, but tellshimself to “speak daggers to her, but use none,” as his fathers ghost instructed. Again, when in the Kings chamber, Hamlet could perform the murder, but decides notto in his better judgement to ensure that he doesnt go to heaven by dying while praying. As Hamlet tells Guildenstern in II. ii. , “I am but mad north-north-west: when thewind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw. ” This statement reveals out-right Hamlets intent to fool people with his odd behavior.
This is after Poloniusenlightened comment earlier in the same scene, “though his be madness, yet there is method int. ” Compare the copious evidence against Hamlets madness with the complete lack of evidence for Ophelias sanity after her fathers murder. Her unquestionable insanityputs Hamlets very questionable madness in a more favorable light. In IV. v. she is quite obviously mad, and unlike Hamlet there seems to be no method to her madness. All Ophelia can do after learning of her fathers death is sing. Indeed, Hamlets utter rejection of her combined with this is too much for her, and she doesnt sing amourning song at the beginning of IV. , but rather a happy love song. Later, when she meets with Leartes, she says to him: Theres rosemary, thats for remembrance; pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, thats for thoughts. Leartes: A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance fitted. Thought and afflictions, passion, hell itself, She turns to favor and to prettiness. (IV. v. 179-89) While the Queen tells Leartes that an “envious sliver” broke and flung Ophelia into the river wearing a headdress of wild-flowers (compare the mad Lears crown ofweeds), the clowns in V. i. onfirm the readers suspicion that she did not die so accidentally: I she to be buried in Christian burial when she willfully seeks her own salvation? (V. i. 1-2) Here lies the water; good. Here stands the man; good. If the man go to this water and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes, mark you that. But if the water cometo him and drown him, he drowns not himself; argal, he that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life. (15-20) Ophelias breakdown into madness and inability to deal with her fathers death and Hamlets rejection is dealt with neatly and punctually.
There is little evidence againsther madness, compared to Hamlets intelligent plotting and use of witnesses to his actions. Thus, by defining true madness in Ophelia, Shakespeare subtracts from theplausibility of Hamlets supposed insanity. Comparing the juxtaposition of insanity and questioned sanity in King Lear reveals another use of this device by Shakespeare. In King Lear the lines are drawn moredistinctly between sanity and insanity, allowing a sharper contrast between the plays two versions of madness. Edgars soliloquy in II. iii. communicates his intent to actand dress as a mad beggar: …
Whiles I may scape I will preserve myself, and am bethought To take the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury, in contempt of man, Brought near to beast. My face Ill grimewith filth, Blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, And with presented nakedness outface The winds and persecutions of the sky. (II. iii. 5-12) There is no question of Edgars intent here, and when they see this Bedlam beggar in action, the audience is aware that it is Edgar and that he is not really insane. Asin Hamlet, the contrived madness is more spectacular than the true madness.
Edgar changes his voice, tears his clothes, and babbles on like a genuine lunatic seeming ncontrivance more genuine than Lear, the genuine maniac. Just as Ophelias breakdown is believable because of her fathers death and her rejection from Hamlet, Lears old age accounts for his frailty of mind and rash, foolishdecisions. The reader is given no motive for Lear to tear his clothes off like a raving maniac or wear a crown of weeds and babble like a fool other than his old age andincapability to deal with his inability to act rationally.
He realizes after being told for most of the play that he is being a fool that perhaps his advisors are right. Only atthis point, it has long been clear to the eader that his madness is due to senility. In these two plays, Shakespeare uses the dimmer light of reality to expose the brighter light of contrivance. Hamlet and Edgar are dynamic, animated, and absurd in theirmadness, making Lears and Ophelias true madness seem realistic rather than absurd. Hamlet and Edgar both explicitly state the contrivance of their madness, whileLear and Ophelia do not.
Further, Hamlet and Edgar both have motive behind leading others to believe they are insane. Although both are under severe pressure andemotional strain due to their respective situations in each play, they oth show a remarkable amount of intelligent, conscious, and rational decision-making in efforts toresolve their situations. In this way, they are sharply contrasted with the mad Lear and Ophelia, whose insanity is not questioned by themselves or other characters ineither play. Neither after displaying madness make any rational decisions that would lead the reader to believe in their sanity.
Thus, the argument that Hamlet is trulymad refutes his ability to act rationally and discounts the dramatic device of Ophelia (as Lear is to Edgar) as a contrapuntal example of true insanity. Method in the Madness Method in the Madness: Hamlets Sanity Supported Through His Relation to Ophelia and Edgars Relation to Lear In both Hamlet and King Lear, Shakespeare incorporates a theme of madness with two characters: one truly mad, and one only acting mad to serve a motive. Themadness of Hamlet is frequently disputed.
This paper argues that the contrapuntal character in each play, namely Ophelia in Hamlet and Edgar in King Lear, acts as abalancing argument to the other characters madness or sanity. King Lears more decisive distinction between Lears frailty of mind and Edgars contrived madnessworks to better efine the relationship between Ophelias breakdown and Hamlets “north-north-west” brand of insanity. Both plays offer a character on each side ofsanity, but in Hamlet the distinction is not as clear as it is in King Lear.
Using the more explicit relationship in King Lear, one finds a better understanding of therelationship in Hamlet. While Shakespeare does not directly pit Ophelias insanity (or breakdown) against Hamlets madness, there is instead a clear definitiveness in Ophelias condition and aclear uncertainty in Hamlets madness. Obviously, Hamlets character offers more evidence, while Ophelias breakdown is quick, but more conclusive in its precision. Shakespeare offers clear evidence pointing to Hamlets sanity beginning with the first scene of the play.
Hamlet begins with guards whose main importance in the play is to give credibility to the ghost. If Hamlet were to see his fathers ghost in private, the argument for hismadness would greatly improve. Yet, not one, but three men together witness the ghost before even thinking to notify Hamlet. As Horatio says, being the only of theguards to play a significant role in the rest of the play, “Before my God, I might ot this believe / Without the sensible and true avouch / Of mine own eyes. (I. i. 6-8)”Horatio, who appears frequently throughout the play, acts as an unquestionably sane alibi to Hamlet again when framing the King with his reaction to the play.
ThatHamlet speaks to the ghost alone detracts somewhat from its credibility, but all the men are witness to the ghost demanding they speak alone. Horatio offers an insightful warning: What if it tempts you toward the flood, my lord, Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles oer his base into the sea, And there assume some other horrible formWhich might deprive our sovereignty of reason, And draw you into madness?
Think of it. (I. iv. 69-74) Horatios comment may be where Hamlet gets the idea to use a plea of insanity to work out his plan. The important fact is that the ghost does not change form, butrather remains as the King and speaks to Hamlet rationally. There is also good reason for the ghost not to want the guards to know what he tells Hamlet, as the playcould not proceed as it does if the guards were to hear what Hamlet did. It is the ghost of Hamlets father who tells him, “but howsomever thou pursues this act, / Taintnot thy mind. I. v. 4-5)” Later, when Hamlet sees the ghost again in his mothers room, her amazement at his madness is quite convincing.
Yet one must take intoconsideration the careful planning of the ghosts credibility earlier in the play. After his first meeting with the ghost, Hamlet greets his friends cheerfully and acts as if the news is good rather than the devastation it really is. Horatio: What news, my lord? Hamlet: O, wonderful! Horatio: Good my lord, tell it. Hamlet: No, you will reveal it. (I. v. 18-21) This is the first glimpse of Hamlets ability and inclination to manipulate his behavior to achieve effect. Clearly Hamlet s not feeling cheerful at this moment, but if helets the guards know the severity of the news, they might suspect its nature. Another instance of Hamlets behavior manipulation is his meeting with Ophelia while hisuncle and Polonius are hiding behind a curtain. Hamlets affection for Ophelia has already been established in I. iii. , and his complete rejection of her and what hastranspired between them is clearly a hoax.
Hamlet somehow suspects the eavesdroppers, just as he guesses that Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are sent by the King andQueen to question him and investigate the cause of his supposed madness in II. i. Hamlets actions in the play after meeting the ghost lead everyone except Horatio to believe he is crazy, yet that madness is continuously checked by an ever-presentconsciousness of action which never lets him lose control. For example, Hamlet questions his conduct in his soliloquy at the end of II. i, but after careful considerationdecides to go with his instinct and prove to himself without a doubt the Kings guilt before proceeding rashly.
Even after the Kings guilt is proven with Horatio aswitness, Hamlet again reflects and uses his better judgement in the soliloquy at the end of III. ii. efore seeing his mother. He recognizes his passionate feelings, but tellshimself to “speak daggers to her, but use none,” as his fathers ghost instructed. Again, when in the Kings chamber, Hamlet could perform the murder, but decides notto in his better judgement to ensure that he doesnt go to heaven by dying while praying.
As Hamlet tells Guildenstern in II. ii. , “I am but mad north-north-west: when thewind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw. ” This statement reveals out-right Hamlets intent to fool people with his odd behavior. This is after Poloniusenlightened comment earlier in the same scene, “though his be madness, yet there is method int. ” Compare the copious evidence against Hamlets madness with the complete lack of evidence for Ophelias sanity after her fathers murder. Her unquestionable insanityputs Hamlets very questionable madness in a more favorable light.
In IV. v. she is quite obviously mad, and unlike Hamlet there seems to be no method to her madness. All Ophelia can do after learning of her fathers death is sing. Indeed, Hamlets utter rejection of her combined with this is too much for her, and she doesnt sing amourning song at the beginning of IV. v, but rather a happy love song. Later, when she meets with Leartes, she says to him: Theres rosemary, thats for remembrance; pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, thats for thoughts. Leartes: A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance fitted.
Thought and afflictions, passion, hell itself, She turns to favor and to prettiness. (IV. v. 179-89) While the Queen tells Leartes that an “envious sliver” broke and flung Ophelia into the river wearing a headdress of wild-flowers (compare the mad Lears crown ofweeds), the clowns in V. i. confirm the readers suspicion that she did not die so accidentally: I she to be buried in Christian burial when she willfully seeks her own salvation? (V. i. 1-2) Here lies the water; good. Here stands the man; good. If the man go to this water and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes, mark you that.
But if the water cometo him and drown him, he drowns not himself; argal, he that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life. (15-20) Ophelias breakdown into madness and inability to deal with her fathers death and Hamlets rejection is dealt with neatly and punctually. There is little evidence againsther madness, compared to Hamlets intelligent plotting and use of witnesses to his actions. Thus, by defining true madness in Ophelia, Shakespeare subtracts from theplausibility of Hamlets supposed insanity. Comparing the juxtaposition of insanity and questioned sanity in King Lear reveals another use of this device by Shakespeare.
In King Lear the lines are drawn moredistinctly between sanity and insanity, allowing a sharper contrast between the plays two versions of madness. Edgars soliloquy in II. iii. communicates his intent to actand dress as a mad beggar: … Whiles I may scape I will preserve myself, and am bethought To take the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury, in contempt of man, Brought near to beast. My face Ill grimewith filth, Blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, And with presented nakedness outface The winds and persecutions of the sky. (II. iii. -12) There is no question of Edgars intent here, and when they see this Bedlam beggar in action, the audience is aware that it is Edgar and that he is not really insane. Asin Hamlet, the contrived madness is more spectacular than the true madness. Edgar changes his voice, tears his clothes, and babbles on like a genuine lunatic seeming ncontrivance more genuine than Lear, the genuine maniac. Just as Ophelias breakdown is believable because of her fathers death and her rejection from Hamlet, Lears old age accounts for his frailty of mind and rash, foolishdecisions.
The reader is given no motive for Lear to tear his clothes off like a raving maniac or wear a crown of weeds and babble like a fool other than his old age andincapability to deal with his inability to act rationally. He realizes after being told for most of the play that he is being a fool that perhaps his advisors are right. Only atthis point, it has long been clear to the eader that his madness is due to senility. In these two plays, Shakespeare uses the dimmer light of reality to expose the brighter light of contrivance.
Hamlet and Edgar are dynamic, animated, and absurd in theirmadness, making Lears and Ophelias true madness seem realistic rather than absurd. Hamlet and Edgar both explicitly state the contrivance of their madness, whileLear and Ophelia do not. Further, Hamlet and Edgar both have motive behind leading others to believe they are insane. Although both are under severe pressure andemotional strain due to their respective situations in each play, they oth show a remarkable amount of intelligent, conscious, and rational decision-making in efforts toresolve their situations.
In this way, they are sharply contrasted with the mad Lear and Ophelia, whose insanity is not questioned by themselves or other characters ineither play. Neither after displaying madness make any rational decisions that would lead the reader to believe in their sanity. Thus, the argument that Hamlet is trulymad refutes his ability to act rationally and discounts the dramatic device of Ophelia (as Lear is to Edgar) as a contrapuntal example of true insanity.