In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the young prince of Denmark is faced with many conflicting events that affect his psychological mindset. After spending the majority of his life under his father’s shadow, his father’s sudden death is traumatic and leaves Hamlet to ponder on his own under the influence of the new King of Denmark, his uncle Claudius. The unraveling events that occur in the tragedy trigger the prince of Denmark’s turn to insanity and leave us questioning whether or not his grip on reality is present. Throughout the many soliloquies, episodes of hysteria, and cries for help, it is revealed that it is not clinically proven that the prince is mentally insane; he is just trying to cope with all of the traumatic events surrounding
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For starters, in order to diagnose a mental illness, symptoms and signs must be present. In Hamlet’s case, the signs and symptoms that were present were all just a front that was put on in order to find out the truth about Hamlet’s father 's death. “I perchance hereafter shall think meet, to put on an antic disposition on,” (Hamlet 8) is what Hamlet tells Horatio in a meeting after speaking with the ghost. Hamlet willingly tells Horatio that he is going to be acting strange and to just ignore it, which in fact is something a mentally insane person would never relapse on. We also encounter other moments where Hamlet willingly admits his insanity is a fake. “I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft,” (Hamlet 62) is what Hamlet reveals to his mother whom then identifies Hamlet’s sanity. It is seen throughout the tragedy that Hamlet’s insanity only manifests itself when he is around certain people like Polonius and Claudius. He believes in his sanity at all times and expresses his true concerns throughout his soliloquies, but he never doubts his control over his psyche (Crawford …show more content…
PTSD can be caused by many factors, including instances of physical harm or abuse, any harmful event, or even the unexpected death of a loved one. In Hamlet 's case the unexpected loss of his father drove him to getting the psychological disorder. Individuals who have PTSD are always stressed and frightened as well as paranoid with everything around them. Other symptoms of individuals with post traumatic stress disorder are flashbacks, frightening thoughts, guilt, depression, and being on edge (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder np). Hamlet’s father 's death sprung Hamlet into a slew of these symptoms that correlate with Hamlet having PTSD. Throughout the story, it is clear that Hamlet’s paranoia is present. He is suspicious about many everything regarding his father and Claudius after speaking to the ghost. Hamlet seeing a ghost in the first place can be seen as a symptom of PTSD; Hamlet is reliving and remembering his father and is expressing that through his mind 's reality. While some may refute this statement saying that other members of the king 's courts saw the ghost so it could not be a figment of only Hamlet’s imagination, but it quite possibly could be that all of the men so loyal and devout in their King Hamlet are suffering from a form of post traumatic stress. In the event of the closet scene, when Hamlet was speaking to
For starters, in order to diagnose a mental illness, symptoms and signs must be present. In Hamlet’s case, the signs and symptoms that were present were all just a front that was put on in order to find out the truth about Hamlet’s father 's death. “I perchance hereafter shall think meet, to put on an antic disposition on,” (Hamlet 8) is what Hamlet tells Horatio in a meeting after speaking with the ghost. Hamlet willingly tells Horatio that he is going to be acting strange and to just ignore it, which in fact is something a mentally insane person would never relapse on. We also encounter other moments where Hamlet willingly admits his insanity is a fake. “I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft,” (Hamlet 62) is what Hamlet reveals to his mother whom then identifies Hamlet’s sanity. It is seen throughout the tragedy that Hamlet’s insanity only manifests itself when he is around certain people like Polonius and Claudius. He believes in his sanity at all times and expresses his true concerns throughout his soliloquies, but he never doubts his control over his psyche (Crawford …show more content…
PTSD can be caused by many factors, including instances of physical harm or abuse, any harmful event, or even the unexpected death of a loved one. In Hamlet 's case the unexpected loss of his father drove him to getting the psychological disorder. Individuals who have PTSD are always stressed and frightened as well as paranoid with everything around them. Other symptoms of individuals with post traumatic stress disorder are flashbacks, frightening thoughts, guilt, depression, and being on edge (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder np). Hamlet’s father 's death sprung Hamlet into a slew of these symptoms that correlate with Hamlet having PTSD. Throughout the story, it is clear that Hamlet’s paranoia is present. He is suspicious about many everything regarding his father and Claudius after speaking to the ghost. Hamlet seeing a ghost in the first place can be seen as a symptom of PTSD; Hamlet is reliving and remembering his father and is expressing that through his mind 's reality. While some may refute this statement saying that other members of the king 's courts saw the ghost so it could not be a figment of only Hamlet’s imagination, but it quite possibly could be that all of the men so loyal and devout in their King Hamlet are suffering from a form of post traumatic stress. In the event of the closet scene, when Hamlet was speaking to