The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark written by William Shakespeare, is a play with a theme of revenge and madness. King Hamlet’s ghost comes to tell his son, Prince Hamlet, to get revenge on his killer. Hamlet follows his father’s orders. Hamlet is very clever. He begins acting mad in order to confuse and distract others. That way, Hamlet can quickly find out who his father’s killer is. A big question that is generated while reading this play is, was Hamlet honestly mad? Or was he just pretending like it? Many readers believe at the start he was only acting mad, but later go on to say by the end of the story Hamlet actually begins to lose his mind.
Readers can argue Hamlet overreacts and is very dramatic in multiple situations throughout …show more content…
In the play, Shakespeare shows the difference between only acting mad and truly being mad. Ophelia, Hamlet’s potential wife and Polonius’s daughter, is a character that is truthfully mad. The difference between Hamlet’s act of madness and Ophelia’s real madness is, Hamlet acts senseless simply on purpose. Hamlet decides when he should talk or act crazy in order to help solve his father’s murder. Hamlet knows he can get away with asking people strange things while pretending to be mad. Meanwhile, Ophelia’s madness is entirely different. Ophelia’s madness is not her choice; it’s the result of the stress and grief she is put under after the death of her father. Furthermore, some readers also believe Hamlet is another cause of Ophelia’s madness. Before of the lost of King Hamlet, Ophelia and Hamlet were boyfriend and girlfriend. Hamlet was even planned to eventually marry Ophelia. But soon after King Hamlet was murdered and Hamlet started acting mad, everything changed for Ophelia. Ophelia’s father, Polonius, demands that she stops seeing Hamlet. Polonius realizes Hamlet’s madness, so he believes Hamlet will propose to Ophelia untruthfully. Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, also warns her Hamlet’s love is no longer the same as it once was. All these things combined make Ophelia become mad. She cannot handle the loss of her own father and the loss of Hamlet’s love. As the play continues Ophelia’s madness begins to get increasing worse. In Act 4 Scene 7, Queen Gertrude reports while Ophelia was climbing onto a tree she fell into the water and drowned. Gertrude
Readers can argue Hamlet overreacts and is very dramatic in multiple situations throughout …show more content…
In the play, Shakespeare shows the difference between only acting mad and truly being mad. Ophelia, Hamlet’s potential wife and Polonius’s daughter, is a character that is truthfully mad. The difference between Hamlet’s act of madness and Ophelia’s real madness is, Hamlet acts senseless simply on purpose. Hamlet decides when he should talk or act crazy in order to help solve his father’s murder. Hamlet knows he can get away with asking people strange things while pretending to be mad. Meanwhile, Ophelia’s madness is entirely different. Ophelia’s madness is not her choice; it’s the result of the stress and grief she is put under after the death of her father. Furthermore, some readers also believe Hamlet is another cause of Ophelia’s madness. Before of the lost of King Hamlet, Ophelia and Hamlet were boyfriend and girlfriend. Hamlet was even planned to eventually marry Ophelia. But soon after King Hamlet was murdered and Hamlet started acting mad, everything changed for Ophelia. Ophelia’s father, Polonius, demands that she stops seeing Hamlet. Polonius realizes Hamlet’s madness, so he believes Hamlet will propose to Ophelia untruthfully. Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, also warns her Hamlet’s love is no longer the same as it once was. All these things combined make Ophelia become mad. She cannot handle the loss of her own father and the loss of Hamlet’s love. As the play continues Ophelia’s madness begins to get increasing worse. In Act 4 Scene 7, Queen Gertrude reports while Ophelia was climbing onto a tree she fell into the water and drowned. Gertrude