Essay On Insanity In Hamlet

Superior Essays
Hamlet’s Insanity There have been many arguments as to if Hamlet is insane or not. This is a topic that a lot of people have concerns about. Some believe that Hamlet has always been insane because he has really negative thoughts in his own soliloquy when he is talking to himself. Others say that he was never insane at all and he was just acting it all out as a part of his plan that nobody could know of. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet does not seem to have any negative thoughts about himself. Hamlet has a positive attitude for the most part he seems to be normal and does not have any big problem with anyone. He was acted as a normal person throughout the very beginning of the play it was just a matter of time until Hamlet snapped. The …show more content…
In the Hamlet’s soliloquy it seems as if Hamlet is actually insane even though he says it is all part of his plan to seem insane so that nobody knows what he is really planning for. When Hamlet is all by himself and he starts having these suicidal thoughts it seems as if Hamlet actually is really insane and not just mad. Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts cause a big controversial issue. All of these thoughts of suicide gathered up in Hamlet’s head is causing him to become extremely depressed which leads him to be insane. In the play Hamlet says, “O, that this this too too solid flesh would melt, /Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! / Or that the everlasting had not fix’d/ His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!” (1.2.129-132) Here Hamlet is trying to say that he wished that his body would just melt and turn into water and become like dew and wish that god had not made self-slaughter a sin. It makes it seem that Hamlet in fact is insane because he keeps thinking about committing suicide over and over again. Hamlet seems to have too many negative thoughts about his personal life. It shows that Hamlet in fact is insane because he keeps on having these suicidal thoughts. Hamlet cannot seem to control his anger towards his father 's

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the play many of the character noted that Hamlet is not mad or crazy. For instance Claudius pointed out that Hamlet was crazy. “There is something in his soul, / O’er which his melancholy sits on brood, / And I do doubt that hatch and the disclose / will be some danger” (Act III, scene 1). The King does not think that Hamlet is insane.…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The question still remains throughout the play of Shakespeare, was Hamlet pretending to be insane or not? It is difficult to identify what is hidden in the mind or whether it was true or not. Hamlet's first confusion began when his mother got married after his father passed away in a short time, and next time when he begins to follow the Ghost. The mysterious ghost appears to Prince Hamlet in the shape of his father, King Hamlet. Everything from his father’s death to Ophelia’s rejection has brought Hamlet to face his own…

    • 94 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Hamlet, enraged and obsessed with avenging his father, plots to kill Claudius and send him to Hell. Even before he is aware of his father’s murder, Hamlet shows signs…

    • 1159 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The question that swarms around this play is, was Hamlet actually insane? After the murder of his father and his mother’s remarriage to his father’s murder who is also his father, Hamlet is an extreme mourning, all the signs of depression are visible. Starting off Hamlet’s madness, his father’s ghost comes to him, declaring him to take revenge on his uncle. “Murder most foul, as in the…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The question of whether Hamlet was truly mad or not has sparked many conflicting answers about The Tragedy of Hamlet. However, there is more powerful evidence pointing to the fact that Hamlet is truly mad. As Shakespeare develops his characters, Hamlet seems to become crazier as the play progresses. Hamlet’s true madness is revealed in a number of different ways. A few examples of how Hamlet goes mad are shown when Hamlet ignores Horatio’s warning not to speak to the ghost, when Hamlet shows no remorse for taking a human life, and in the appearance of a ghost that only Hamlet can see.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Because of these events Hamlet has extreme mood swings, one minute he is in a major rage and is yelling at Ophelia or his mother, and the next he is very depressed and is contemplating suicide. Hamlet’s insanity is his fatal flaw, because it makes him a different person who makes irrational decisions and has extreme mood…

    • 1779 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the play Hamlet many people have different opinions on the main character Hamlet. Whether he is a good guy or bad guy, whether he is sane or insane, or whether he is brave or actually weak. These are all many questions that are asked when talking about Hamlet. A major topic people discuss and ask is “Would Hamlet make a good or bad king?” There are many reasons as to why Hamlet would not make a good king.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I disliked the fact that Hamlet over thought every little thing and was unable to kill Claudius when the many opportunities he was given arose. But when it came to killing Polonius, and sending Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths, after finding his own letter ordering his death, that was easy and he acted on impulse. Which is what made me question Hamlet’s sanity. Was Hamlet enjoying acting insane and subconsciously did not want it to end therefore not really wanting to kill the king? When Hamlet was in the graveyard and met the grave digger who had no sympathy for the dead which offended Hamlet, I agreed with Hamlet.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hamlet Violence Analysis

    • 1936 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Hamlet is upfront with the reader about all that is troubling him, and in the midst of his suicidal contemplations, his contemplation of life and death, he grants the reader an insight into the aspects of his life that have caused him to feel this way: “For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, / The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, / The pangs of disprized love, the law’s delay, / The insolence of office and the spurns / That patient merit of the unworthy takes…” (3.1.76-80). He has offered an explanation of his madness, and whether his madness is an act or not, it arguably does not matter, as he is able to find the same liberation and truth in his madness that Ophelia is able to find in hers. Hamlet lashes out emotionally and physically throughout the play, and this may all be attributed to his mental state, and whether or not one chooses to believe his mind was truly poisoned with madness.…

    • 1936 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Importance Of Heroism In Hamlet

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited

    He frightens Ophelia, speaks in riddles to Polonius, and walks around the castle with no apparent purpose. His mother gets so worried that she sends for his friends to come. She hoped they could figure out what was wrong with him. Hamlet is putting on a good show to distract everyone from the real problem. Upon meeting his friends Hamlet makes them admit the true reason they have come to Denmark.…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Psychosis In Hamlet

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hamlet’s hypomania sometimes leads readers to believe he has bipolar disorder, but he does not appear to show all signs needed to properly make this diagnosis. The extreme depressive episode needed for classification purposes for bipolar type I or II does not manifest itself within the play. The brief periods of sadness Hamlet endures are both part of the grieving process and a symptom of psychosis. Thoughts of suicide seem to cross his mind at times, and this is also sometimes a symptom viewed in people with psychosis. Readers would need a full written work about Hamlet pre-father’s death to decide if he is truly insane or if his actions are because of brief psychotic disorder.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Based off of the soliloquies Hamlet gives, I believe that he is completely sane and acts as any person would if they were in a similar situation. In his first soliloquy, starting with “O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt”, Hamlet allows the audience to see his grieving and angry state of mind, along with his critical view of the world and its inhabitants. Imagery is littered…

    • 1453 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hamlet Madness And Madness

    • 1819 Words
    • 7 Pages

    This discovery brings a lot of emotions to Hamlet and he vows to avenge his father’s death. The way Hamlet goes about his vengeance has made many critics question his sanity. Is his madness simply a deception or does truly become insane? Many scenes from the play show that Hamlet’s attitude was justified…

    • 1819 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet is describing the depression he feels over his father 's death and mother 's remarriage, wishing that he would die and his "flesh" would "melt." As Hamlet says "To be or not to be---that is the question," he discusses his intentions to commit suicide as he is, what would now be considered, clinically depressed (III, i, 64). As Hamlet waits for the completion of his plan to "catch the conscience of the king", he sparks an internal philosophical debate on the advantages and disadvantages of existence, and whether it is one 's right to end his or her own life (Mabillard). Hamlet is not mad, but melancholy, from which stems his appeared madness. Hamlet 's madness stands in stark contrast to the true madness of Ophelia, as it differs in origin and symptoms.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet's Madness

    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages

    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.…

    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics