Schizophrenia In Hamlet Essay

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet displays clear signs of a struggle with Schizophrenia all throughout his plight following his father’s death. Among these are episodes of intense hallucination and illusion, those being during the visits of the ghost, some misguided thoughts and a loose grasp of reality, and the shifts and diction chosen in his soliloquies. In general, Hamlet displays a peculiarity and isolated nature about himself which is identical to that of a typical schizophrenic. Someone who suffers from schizophrenia typically feels the effects reach their greatest height, and most clearly exhibits outwardly visible symptoms, in young adulthood (Schizophrenia). Hamlet is approximately thirty years old throughout the play, so he would be poised to have such a condition reach its peak or final stage of development during this time. Schizophrenia is often …show more content…
Examples are bountiful in his Act two, scene two speech; “Am I a coward?... But I am pigeon-livered and lack gall… what an ass I am (II.ii.548-560)!”. Any of these phrases alone are somewhat concerning, but it’s the structure which they are put in, as well as the mood shifts as whole that evidence Hamlet’s mental state. He speaks in many short questions and exclamations, as if to have dialogue with multiple people amongst only himself, or at the very least he seems to be sifting through different disconnected thoughts swirling around in his brain. His journey from comparing himself with the actors, then intense self deprecation, and finally resolve and the formation of his plan is likely a schizophrenic episode also. A dark thought enters his head, he descends into inner discord, and finally comes out of it able to think of cohesive actions to perform again, this all being the progression of an episode from fruition to