Hamlet's Story: Sanity And Insanity

Superior Essays
Hamlet’s Story: Sanity and Insanity
Hamlet is not just an insane guy. He has goals and achievements just like anyone else in this world. He had heartbreaks and mishappens. He had a love for a woman, Ophelia. He had some strong hatreds. He had a bestfriend, who never told him no. he had a enemy, who became his friend in the end. He had a devastating past. His father, who was king of Denmark, was murdered by his own uncle. His own mother betrayed him. His own love killed herself. He had so many people who wanted him out of this world. Why would he not be a little insane? Hamlet in many ways is a very sane man. He is very aware of everything that is going on around him. He would not put on a play to prove his uncle’s guilt. In reality, hamlet
…show more content…
Laertes without a doubt accepts the challenge. Laertes has a hatred towards Hamlet. Laertes seeks revenge of Polonius’ Murderer (“Hamlet” Encyclopedia 2). Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius thinking it was Claudius. Laertes, who has been studying Paris, returns for his sister funeral. In the process of his sisters burial, the two jump in her grave and fought about who the real hero is. Since then, Laertes seeks to kill Hamlet and never forgive him. Hamlet and Laertes begin to duel, and Hamlet has been struck by the poisoned sword. The swords get mixed up and Laertes has been struck by the poisoned sword. Laertes dies quickly. He forgives Hamlet because he know Hamlet meant no harm to anyone. He just wanted revenge. Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, is a betraying backstabber. She was up to no good, and did not want to lose her royalty. I believe she wanted hamlet gone. The incest of his mother, who has married Claudius within a month or two after the funeral (Jorgensen 1). She did not think about her son in the situation of marrying her husbands brother. If she would have taken in a little consideration of hamlet, she would not have been killed by Claudius. Gertrude, also present at the duel, mistakenlt drinks from the cup of poison that Claudius has had placed near Hamlet to ensure death (“Hamlet” Merriam …show more content…
Hamlet is mourning his father, who has been killed and lamenting the behavior of his mother, Gertrude, who married his uncle Claudius within months of his funeral (“Hamlet” Merriam Webster 1). He knows exactly who did it. Before he pointed any fingers, he put on a play to see the murderers reaction. The play was based off of the acts that the ghost had told him. If the ghost was really his dad, the play would go as planned. If the ghost was not his dad, then Claudius would have no reaction. Claudius indeed had a reaction to the play. He knew that Hamlet had an idea of what he has done. He tries to send Hamlet away to England to be

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    King Claudius tries to keep a close eye on Hamlet to make sure that Hamlet is going to be harmful, but because of this many of the spies get killed. This act of spying causes Hamlet to question everyone’s loyalty, including his own mother’s loyalty to Hamlet’s belated father. This issue with loyalty also causes Hamlet to be rude to all those around him. During the drama, Shakespeare uses dialogue, staging, and irony to show that when Prince Hamlet and Queen Gertrude were arguing the ghost that Hamlet sees isn’t there,…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Then Laertes, upset over Hamlet’s responsibility for the deaths of both his sister and his father, agrees to duel Hamlet. Unsurprisingly, both face fatal consequences. Hamlet makes the choice to manipulate those around him…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The question of whether Hamlet was truly mad or not has sparked many conflicting answers about The Tragedy of Hamlet. However, there is more powerful evidence pointing to the fact that Hamlet is truly mad. As Shakespeare develops his characters, Hamlet seems to become crazier as the play progresses. Hamlet’s true madness is revealed in a number of different ways. A few examples of how Hamlet goes mad are shown when Hamlet ignores Horatio’s warning not to speak to the ghost, when Hamlet shows no remorse for taking a human life, and in the appearance of a ghost that only Hamlet can see.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Laertes is very angry and reacts by wanting to kill Hamlet for taking the life of his father. Laertes says, “ Let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged Most thoroughly for my father” (4.4.148-149). This is proof as he is mad over Hamlet taking his father’s life. He seeks revenge for his father’s death and gets that but also gets killed as well. Both Hamlet and Laertes wanting to kill and get revenge for their father’s death sets up the destructive ending.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Because of these events Hamlet has extreme mood swings, one minute he is in a major rage and is yelling at Ophelia or his mother, and the next he is very depressed and is contemplating suicide. Hamlet’s insanity is his fatal flaw, because it makes him a different person who makes irrational decisions and has extreme mood…

    • 1779 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet's Revenge

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hamlet is not so sure his uncle really killed his father despite him appearing in a ghost manifestation and instead puts his uncle to the test by having traveling actors put on a play that involved what he thought to how Claudius murdered his father and if he reacts in upsetting manner than Hamlet shall kill him. Claudius does react and he races to the church to ask God for forgiveness and Hamlet is there to put a finishing blow when he decides that it would not be in his favor as God has forgiven him and justifies he would go to heaven so he allows him to live to sin again. At this moment in the play Hamlets supposed madness backfires on him and will lead to his grave, when the king orders hamlet to be taken to England, Hamlet goes and confronts…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Laertes and Hamlet go through similar situations throughout the play. Both men suffer from their fathers’ deaths. After finding out about their fathers’ murders, the two characters seek answers about the murder.…

    • 1138 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    To Find out if Claudius actually murdered his departed father, Hamlet sets up this play to be acted out in front of Claudius and the whole crowd. The play was the re-enactment of the murder scene and Hamlet was sure that Claudius’ reaction to it would show whether or not he actually murdered Hamlet’s father. He tells Horatio of the scheming play and about his plan. He tells Horatio to act normal as if nothing was going on. Sure enough, when the play rolled on, Claudius reacted to the scenes and Hamlet could tell that what the ghost had told him was true, but it also meant that Claudius knew Hamlet…

    • 1740 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Importance Of Heroism In Hamlet

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited

    He frightens Ophelia, speaks in riddles to Polonius, and walks around the castle with no apparent purpose. His mother gets so worried that she sends for his friends to come. She hoped they could figure out what was wrong with him. Hamlet is putting on a good show to distract everyone from the real problem. Upon meeting his friends Hamlet makes them admit the true reason they have come to Denmark.…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Laertes’s father Polonius, was killed by Hamlet in the Queen Gertrude’s room. He was hiding behind the tapestry when he made a sound, Hamlet thought it was Claudius so he rans through the tapestry with his word, killing Polonius. Claudius sent Osric who was the courtier to bring Hamlet an invitation to participate in a duel with Laertes. He then tells the bet the King made on his behalf in a contest between Hamlet and Laertes. When Osric told Hamlet about the invitation to duel Laertes, Horatio knew something was wrong.…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “O, vengeance!/ Why, what an ass am I” (2.2.544-545). He forgot his objective; instead he’s just been standing around cursing like a whore. The appearance of the ghost in Act 1 acted as a performance put on for Hamlet in order to solidify King Hamlet in his memory (Shakespeare and Memory – Abstracts). The theater company acts as a reminder to Claudius just as the ghost is a reminder to Hamlet. By seeing with his own eyes a clear picture of the past reflected on a stage, Claudius is forced into confronting his memory directly and in Act 3, he demands the play end and leaves abruptly, thus solidifying Hamlet’s…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Laertes is straightforward and just in his initial course of action, but his plan for vengeance becomes more convoluted and treacherous as Laertes becomes more desperate. Upon learning of his father´s death, Laertes storms the castle, demanding to be ¨revenged most thoroughly for [his] father.¨(IV.v.152-153) Laertes wants justice because he wants to face Hamlet in a head on fair fight. He wants to confront Hamlet and get a full understanding of the situation before fighting him. Unfortunately, Laertes gets desperate enough to be manipulated by Claudius, causing the deaths of many people. Laertes wants to get revenge so badly that he attempts to kill Hamlet with a poisoned, sharpened foil unknowingly during a fencing match.…

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After discovering this, his father, came to him, as a ghost in spirit, and told him that he was actually murdered. Hamlet was next in line for the throne, after his father had died, but somehow Claudius, his uncle, was now the King. In attempt to get revenge for his father, Hamlet kills Polonius, but as consequence for that, King Claudius exiles Hamlet to England. Where King Claudius had already arranged for a fight between Ophelia’s Brother Laertes and Hamlet. Hamlet then told Horatio how he planned to overcome Claudius’s scheme to have him murdered…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hamlet Madness And Madness

    • 1819 Words
    • 7 Pages

    William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of his greatest plays. The protagonist Hamlet is a complicated character that many critics have discussed about a lot. A quick overview of the play Hamlet; Prince Hamlet learns about the death of his father and the immediate marriage of his mother, Gertrude to his uncle, Claudius. He notices Claudius is already crowned King in his absence. Hamlet later discovers that his father died an unnatural death, he was murdered by his own uncle.…

    • 1819 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays