Madness can either be the result of a stroke of genius or a series of unfortunate events. In the play The Tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the prince, Hamlet, is portrayed as insane. Although his nature may seem abnormal at times, it is simply a harmless symptom of his life being transformed into a whirlwind of wrongs and rights. He uses it to his advantage, playing on these behaviors in order to manipulate Claudius, his evil stepfather. His paradoxical behavior flips between sane and insane as he attempts to get revenge for his father’s untimely murder and the adulterous marriage of his mother and uncle. Hamlet is not truly mad but merely portrays himself as mentally insane. While he still truly believes that he is sane, he insists
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The guise put on by the prince has a pattern to it and each action is tied to a desired result, making them logical in nature. Although Polonius veers towards believing Hamlet is mad, he does admit that there is a chance that he could be faking it. As well as Polonius, King Claudius notes that Hamlet’s actions appear merely strange, not mad. The King sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on a mission in order to see why the prince “puts on this confusion” (Shakespeare 123). His implements the word “puts” as a way to describe how he displays (what does this mean) his madness shows the knowledge that it is merely an act, not a true mental illness. “And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose/ Will be some danger; which for to prevent,/ I have in quick determination” [Act III, scene I, lines 180-182]. Claudius himself confesses that he does not believe that Hamlet is truly crazy, even though his actions could reflect that conclusion. “Shakespeare 's prince resolves to adopt madness as a cover, but it is not clear when he is feigning and when he is out of control: there is, as Claudius and Polonius quickly recognise, often reason in his madness”, Hamlet always uses his cover of madness for a reason. If both Claudius and Polonius, Hamlet 's two main adversaries, realize that, it leads to the suspicion that he is not truly mad.
His behavior contrast that of Ophelia’s, who is truly …show more content…
Once Claudius thought he was insane, he was safe, and then he could carry out the rest of his plan. “There seem to be two main assumptions, that he is trying to frighten his enemies into exposing themselves, and that he is not so frightened himself as to hide his emotions though he hides their cause”Hamlet uses his madness as a way to scare Claudius into confessing the murder. He does not hide his true manic emotions with a completely sane mask. His emotions are
The guise put on by the prince has a pattern to it and each action is tied to a desired result, making them logical in nature. Although Polonius veers towards believing Hamlet is mad, he does admit that there is a chance that he could be faking it. As well as Polonius, King Claudius notes that Hamlet’s actions appear merely strange, not mad. The King sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on a mission in order to see why the prince “puts on this confusion” (Shakespeare 123). His implements the word “puts” as a way to describe how he displays (what does this mean) his madness shows the knowledge that it is merely an act, not a true mental illness. “And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose/ Will be some danger; which for to prevent,/ I have in quick determination” [Act III, scene I, lines 180-182]. Claudius himself confesses that he does not believe that Hamlet is truly crazy, even though his actions could reflect that conclusion. “Shakespeare 's prince resolves to adopt madness as a cover, but it is not clear when he is feigning and when he is out of control: there is, as Claudius and Polonius quickly recognise, often reason in his madness”, Hamlet always uses his cover of madness for a reason. If both Claudius and Polonius, Hamlet 's two main adversaries, realize that, it leads to the suspicion that he is not truly mad.
His behavior contrast that of Ophelia’s, who is truly …show more content…
Once Claudius thought he was insane, he was safe, and then he could carry out the rest of his plan. “There seem to be two main assumptions, that he is trying to frighten his enemies into exposing themselves, and that he is not so frightened himself as to hide his emotions though he hides their cause”Hamlet uses his madness as a way to scare Claudius into confessing the murder. He does not hide his true manic emotions with a completely sane mask. His emotions are