Insanity In Hamlet Vs. Ophelia

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In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the idea of characters mimicking or doubling each other is very prevalent throughout the text. However, the idea of doubling characters and foiling characters play two different roles throughout the text. Doubling characters indicates that the characters are similar in the way that they act whereas foiling often when two characters contrast or differ greatly from one another. Two of the most important characters in the play, Hamlet and Ophelia, double one another with their madness; however, there are some differences in the way that the characters portray their insanity and use it within their families. Hamlet chooses to have full control over his madness whereas Ophelia actually starts going mad due to the grief …show more content…
One example of how Hamlet uses his madness to manipulate those around him is when Hamlet is talks to Polonius after Hamlet has just run into Ophelia. Polonius is convinced that Hamlet is madly in love with his daughter, Ophelia when, in reality, Hamlet is just pretending to be crazy in order to get his revenge against Claudius. Polonius says, “As it hath used to do that I have found/ The very cause of Hamlet’s lunacy” (2.2 51-52). Polonius believes that the cause of Hamlet’s lunacy is because he loves Ophelia but, Hamlet is just tricking everyone around him into buying into the crazy. Hamlet wants nothing more than to seek revenge for his father’s death. For Polonius to say that he has figured out the “cause of Hamlet’s lunacy” is very vain of Polonius because he believes that everything happening in Hamlet’s life is revolving around him and his family. A commonly reoccurring theme in the play is being self-centered and being unaware of those around you. An example of this is when Hamlet is preparing to kill Claudius. Hamlet is unaware of the struggles that Claudius is facing trying to rid himself of the guilt that he is carrying and Hamlet thinks that he is going through his difficult time

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