Insanity In Hamlet Research Paper

What does it mean to be insane, how do you know if someone is actually psychotic? The characters that belong to Hamlet play with the idea of madness. Hamlet and Ophelia cause discussion over the topic of insanity that remains unclear during the play. Hamlet’s case of insanity was all based on acting, however, Ophelia was no actor, she was filled with madness.
The question that swarms around this play is, was Hamlet actually insane? After the murder of his father and his mother’s remarriage to his father’s murder who is also his father, Hamlet is an extreme mourning, all the signs of depression are visible. Starting off Hamlet’s madness, his father’s ghost comes to him, declaring him to take revenge on his uncle. “Murder most foul, as in the …show more content…
Being in love with Hamlet, her brother and father warn her of his unstableness and intentions, which give her mixed messages. Hamlet also confuses her about his feeling. He declares one minutes that he wants to be with her and then the next minute he states that he never loved her. “I have heard of your paintings too, well enough. God has given you one face and you make yourselves another...To a nunnery, go” (III. i). After the death of her father due to the hands of Hamlet, makes her a physiological mess. “He is dead and gone” (IV. v). Ophelia beings to sing songs when she enters a room to talk to the King and Queen. Her songs include fragments about chaos, death, and a lover who has left her.
Insanity is expressed throughout the play in many characters. However, Hamlet and Ophelia exhibit madness more extremely than the others. In addition, Hamlet’s “madness” is all an act so he can kill his father’s murder and not get punished for it. On the other hand, Ophelia has actually lost her mind. Everyone in her life have given her mixed signals about what is true and what is not. Following her confusion, her father dies, which sends her over the end and to her tragic