Shakespeare’s tragic play Hamlet has many different aspects that would indicate that his characters were, in a way, insane. Shakespeare gives various signs showing that a couple of his characters were either insane or on the verge of becoming insane. He gives the reader and/or viewer the sense that Hamlet and Ophelia have both reached a point of insanity where there is no turning back. Although Ophelia was completely insane by the end of the play Hamlet is only a possible victim of this cruel mind controlling disease.
Ophelia, a young, beautiful girl, starts the play as Hamlet’s lover; however, after the death of her father, Polonius, she been driven mad from grief. Ophelia runs rampant through the castle singing various songs about particular people in the play. Ophelia’s songs are not only strange but, in a way, true. She sings about the love that she has lost and about the King and Queen of Denmark. Ophelia gives the play a
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Once he learns that his father’s death was not accidental but actually a suicide Hamlet decides to act mad in order to find a way to kill his uncle, the new king of Denmark and Hamlet’s father’s murderer. Throughout the play Hamlet forces the King and Queen to become very concerned over his new, strange behavior. Hamlet devises a way to reenact his father’s death through a play that he knew Claudius would attend, only to find out that his speculations were correct and Claudius did kill his own brother. Hamlet not only affected the King but also his mother. Hamlet lead Gertrude to believe that he no longer loved her and that she was a terrible mother. Polonius was also affected by Hamlet’s insane actions because Polonius died due to Hamlet’s irrational thinking and behavior. Because Hamlet killed Polonius, Ophelia was driven insane. By the end of the play Hamlet’s insanity became more obvious, but still questionable, because of his confusing actions and
The definition of insanity is the state of being seriously mentally ill. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the character Hamlet is the epitome of insanity. Hamlet shows no remorse or emotion for killing an innocent Polonius, and his two friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, or while he forces a dying Claudius to drink the poisonous wine as Claudius screams for help. His relationship and actions towards his lover, Ophelia, become violent after she withdraws her affections. He is both verbally and physically abusive to Ophelia; until after her death when he claims that he loves her more than her own brother.
Hamlet was role playing all throughout the book. He was acting crazy the entire time so that he could avenge his father's death. When Hamlet told his friends not to tell anyone if he acted a little weird after he saw the ghost. That was Hamlet's way of expressing that he was going to be acting crazy in order to avenge King Hamlet's death. So, basically, it's important to him because he needs to act insane in order to avenge his father's death.
Hamlet is more likely insane because of the action he has done and what he is going to do. He killed Polonius and slipped some crazy words during the play, So I think that Hamlet is not crazy for acting it, But crazy for been insane. Hamlet does like Ophelia. The moment that he sees her brother on the grave he starts attacking and saying that he loves Ophelia.
Everyone was blind to the fact he was depressed and mourning over his lost relationship with his Father and the cruel doing of his Uncle. His Mother especially wanted to blame Ophelia because she didn’t want to face the reality of her husband’s death. Polonius didn’t realize that his daughter wasn’t the main piece of Hamlet’s Mourning or Depression
When Ophelia returns all his letters and gifts he tells her that he has never loved her and that she should “get thyself to a nunnery.” This is one example how his mood changes throughout the play. Then after all this her father, Polinous, is murdered by Hamlet. The Hamlet is sent away to England All of these actions result in her feeling such stress that she becomes insane in the end.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses many references to sanity and insanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet goes back and forth between sanity and insanity, whether pretending to be insane just to mess with those he does not like or to save himself from getting in trouble. Hamlet is actually one of the smartest characters in the play, which is why he can pull off acting crazy so well. Shakespeare uses this idea of sanity and insanity to help the plot change and take a different directions. One of the most discussed topics of the Hamlet is whether Hamlet is insane or if he was just pretending the whole time.
At the beginning of Act V Hamlet is sad and depressed when he found out that Ophelia is dead, and compared his love to her with everyone else. Hamlet expressed his love with Ophelia by telling Laertes that he would do anything for Ophelia even if it was to be buried with her, and if Laertes “prate of mountains” Hamlet would “let them throw millions of acres” on them (V.i.259-260). Readers know this to be true because in the earlier plays Hamlet even took the time to write Ophelia letters, and sent her gifts. Near the end of Act V Hamlet is sane when he “proclaim” the reason he fought Laertes was due to “madness”(V.ii.219). Even though Hamlet said it was his mental illness that caused the fight which makes Hamlet a sane person because only sane people can point out that sometimes their actions are wrong.
It was hard for Hamlet to act crazy because he was still grieving over his father 's death and his mother not showing that she cares. Hamlet also lost Ophelia which makes his situation even worse than it was because he has no one in his. No family, no girlfriend, no one. Hamlet feels betrayed by his mother and feels like he can 't trust anyone. Shakespeare gives Hamlet these struggles in the play to amplify the mental and psychological events that make the reader feel bad about what all happened to Hamlet.
Ophelia goes mad throughout the story. She is overwhelmed by the loss of her father and the rejection of Hamlet. Her character is seen spiraling down a dark path that also ends in death. Ophelia is depicted as not having control over her actions; speaking and acting erratically. While Hamlet is speaking erratically and behaving oddly, he still maintains control over his actions and movement throughout the story.
But Ophelia also had some madness of her own that caused her suicide. Ophelia was also grieving over her father's, Polonius, death. Ophelia's death results from Hamlet's madness and his telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery. The cause of Ophelia's suicide was mainly from Hamlet's madness.
Just one of these traumatic events could make a character go mad, but the combination of the three justifies Ophelia’s madness. The use of these three tragic events in Ophelia’s life makes her madness reasonable. The first event to happen that changes Ophelia’s demeanor is her relationship problems with her boyfriend, Hamlet. In Act III, Scene I of the play, Ophelia says to Hamlet “My lord, I have remembrances of yours, That I have longed long
Insanity is an idea that has been examined for a long time in numerous mediums such as films, music, plays, and even works of literature. William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” is no exception to that rule. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most complex characters, and many scholars have been debating for centuries whether or not Hamlet is truly insane, or whether there is a particular reason for his odd behavior. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet merely pretends to be mad but in reality is sane.
In act five of the play Hamlet, Hamlet’s mental state is sane and becomes temporarily insane at the end of the act. Hamlet as he arrives at Ophelia’s grave begins to talk to Laertes telling him that he will “fight with him” over who loves Ophelia more (V.i.252). Hamlet is sane because he talks about how he is willing to fight Laertes over who loves her more saying that he will not back down until all his strength is depleted. As Hamlet and Laertes are pulled apart by Claudius, Hamlet shouts at Laertes how even “forty thousand brothers” with their love towards Ophelia would not be able to match Hamlet’s love for her (V.i.255). Hamlet is sane because he talks about how he had truly loved Ophelia and that his own love for her would be unmatched.
Hamlet has not only become distraught from his conniving and lying stepfather but also his mother, Queen Gertrude as well. The unfaithfulness that Gertrude shows to Hamlet’s father and Hamlet has a toll on him and plays a part in his insanity. The facade that Hamlet displays slowly leads to his insanity, causing him to show mistreated love towards Ophelia. In the beginning of the play, Ophelia displays a very honest
His father was murdered, his mother remarried quickly after his death, and he also had to deal with his forbidden love with Ophelia. Polonius admits that Hamlet “knew me not at first; he said I was a fishmonger: he is far gone, far gone: …” (II.ii.8). He says that Hamlet really is going insane.