Is Hamlet Truly Insane?

The titular character in “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare is arguably one of the greatest fictional characters ever created. He is clever, brooding, witty, and his emotional turmoil is fascinating to observe. What also makes Hamlet interesting is that the audience rarely ever knows what he is going to do. He is a bit of a mystery and he leaves the audience with questions about what he is doing and why. One of the biggest questions that people have about Hamlet is if he is truly insane. Some believe that Hamlet is only feigning his insanity. Others believe that he is sane for a portion of the play. The point at which he switches to madness though, is debated. By looking closely through the play though, it can be proven that Hamlet feigns madness …show more content…
Luckily, there is an absolutely insane character in “Hamlet”, Ophelia. Ophelia is unaware of what is happening around her and can’t hold a simple conversation. Even when faced with death, Ophelia allows herself to sink into the water and drown. If this is what a crazy person acts like, then Hamlet doesn’t match the description at all. He is completely aware of his surroundings and situation. Not only does he hold conversations, but takes part in complicated wordplay and makes witty comments. The other characters in the play seem to actually treat Ophelia and Hamlet differently as though they sense that Hamlet isn’t truly mad. After Gertrude and Claudius realize that Ophelia is seen they stop addressing her and speak as though she can’t understand what they are saying. This is very unlike Hamlet to whom they try to reason and argue with for the entirety of the play as though he is just being unreasonable instead of …show more content…
Within the play Hamlet, Ophelia, Laertes, Polonius, Gertrude, Guildenstern, Rosencrantz, and Claudius all die. All but Claudius’ could have been avoided if Hamlet had just swiftly killed the King as he originally said he would. Polonius’ death is a result of the pressure Hamlet is under to kill the King and the fact that Claudius could have been behind the tapestry instead. Ophelia goes insane and drowns as a result of Polonius’ murder. Laertes poisons Hamlet to avenge his father’s death and then is cut with his own poisoned sword. The poisoned sword had been Claudius’ idea. Gertrude drinks the poison Claudius attempted to have Hamlet drink. Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are killed in England after Hamlet finds a letter revealing to him that he was being sent to England to be executed and changes the letter to lead to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz’s deaths instead of his own. Hamlet also eventually kills Claudius, but not without the casualties of most of Hamlet’s friends and family. Although, Hamlet’s plan of feigning insanity works and Claudius is eventually killed, it probably wasn’t the best