Insanity In Hamlet

When one puts on the mask of madness, then one will begin to exhibit traits of insanity. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare's 1602 tragedy, the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet, changes from acting mentally crazy into actually being crazy; his audience’s views change from trusting him to fearing him as his psyche alters. At the beginning of the play, the audience trusts Hamlet because they agree with his plan of acting crazy in order to get revenge against his uncle. As the play progresses, Hamlet isn’t acting crazy anymore but actually becomes mentally psycho and therefore the audience distrusts him and his choices. This distrust from the audience turns to fear as Hamlets crazed-like actions cause him to make poor decisions. The rhetorical effect on …show more content…
However, even the first act, the audience has pause to question his sanity. Since his plans seems reasonable, he seeks evidence of Claudius’ crime, and even admits his plan to his friends; the audience gets enough evidence to side with Hamlet and believe that he is not really mad, they can trust him (sentence pattern 1). Hamlet tells his friends that they must keep his secret of pretending to be mad as revenge although “how strange or odd soe'er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on)” (1.5.189). Given recent death of father, it makes sense that Hamlet would not be happy at court. He is melancholic because of his fathers death and his mother's remarriage. However, there are already clear moments where the audience begins to question his sanity as he feels “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter!” Because he feels life is so pointless and expresses this in front of his parents, forcing them to believe he is mad (1.2.133). Although Hamlet is not too merry at court, is he the only reasonable one? What his parents are calling madness, is really just