Theme of Madness Essay

Paul’s wooden rocking-horse could be considered a symbol of luck, as Paul makes several correct predictions as a result of wildly riding his wooden horse; however, Paul’s rocking-horse can be better described as the source, or channel, of Paul’s madness- through his crazed rocking habits- as a result of Paul’s obsession with pursuing luck. He desires to earn as much money as it will take to silence the house’s constant whispering and mocking of his family and their situation of never having…

For example, in Act 1, Hamlet pretends to be insane in order to make sure his enemies do not discover his mission to revenge his father’s murder. The theme is even more obvious when Hamlet compares the pictures of his mother’s two husbands to show her what a bad choice she has made, using their images to reveal the truth. Also, when he jumps into Ophelia’s grave, hurling his challenge to Laertes, Hamlet…

Primarily, the deception of Hamlet feigning madness, is represented by the Trojan Horse. Claudius’ secrets and powers, a secure and impenetrable fortress, are paralleled with the city of Troy. Meanwhile, Hamlet’s fictitious madness is similar to the Trojan Horse: seemingly harmless, ensuring trust, letting down guards, and allowing the breach of seemingly indomitable things. Hamlet uses his fake madness to find out if Claudius is truly guilty for the murder of King Hamlet…

James Cook said, “Betrayal is prevalent in King Lear, leading to much of the madness and villainy later in the play” (Cook). The first act of betrayal in the play is Regan and Goneril tricking Lear into giving more land and power to the sisters. This betrayal leads to political controversy and later lays the foundation for most of…

Alex’s family was on their way to Universal Studios for the Halloween Horror Nights. Alex wasn’t too excited to hear this, he was petrified of scary creatures. So Alex’s dad had promised him that he would help him get through the haunted houses if he couldn’t handle it. This year just so happened to be the 25th anniversary of the Horror Nights. The next day was when they were going to the actual horror night’s event. There were nine haunted houses, one of which Alex was okay with, “The Walking…

They heard!” (3). In this excerpt from the literary work, the narrator is rising into a frantic panic, unraveling from his previous state of “calm” madness. The heart’s beating creates a fast-paced setting, a rising action. His writing is very intense throughout the whole piece, leaving no room for thought. The tone envelopes the story in a dark theme, creating gothic…

As American author John Piper, once said, "Redemption is not perfection. The redeemed must realize their imperfections." In Charles Dicken's novel, A Tale of Two Cities, the themes of resurrection and redemption are displayed to show that suffering will lead one to be recalled to life. Throughout the novel, Dickens mainly focuses on the idea of resurrection and redemption existing as opportunities in life. Alexandre Manette, a known doctor, was living a life with his family and job when his…

crash and then burn. Revenge is an emotion that is easily rationalized; one wrong deserves another. However, this is a very dangerous theory to live by. This is clearly evident in Shakespeare’s Hamlet seeing that revenge is the play’s most dominant theme. In Hamlet, Shakespeare implies that revenge is acceptable and is as normal as the sun rising by utilizing a wide range of literary techniques such as irony, symbolism, imagery, and characterization. He also points out that revenge is a threat…

without establishing a unifying theme or…

out each other in the minds of people. In fact, this theme seems to have two sides to it, two lessons from the same phrase. The first message that the author was trying to convey is that having too much of any one of the two qualities, especially the evil side, will completely destroy one’s reputation and future path in life. The second is that humans are, in fact, a combination of both, simply stated, good and bad. Stevenson portrayed the theme of the duality of human nature very clearly,…