Sanity

William Shakespeare is history’s most greatest, influential, and philosophical playwright. His most acclaimed work, Hamlet, is extensively studied and analyzed as it confronts and speaks openly about many moral, ethical, emotional truths and dilemmas. Hamlet is a revenge tragedy, in which the indecisive and contemplative protagonist is driven to avenge his father’s death, yet the act of his revenge is necessarily delayed in order to highlight Hamlet’s emotional and psychological complexity. The theme of revenge in the play is undoubtedly the most significant as it underlies every scene and introduces retributive justice for the bereaved characters within the play. This is demonstrated as the act of revenge causes Hamlet to be inundated with moral and spiritual considerations, brings out extremes and polar opposites to display human complexity, and is the catalyst for the carnage that takes place within Elsinore. Hamlet is ineffectual in his course of action to vengeance, as his contemplative and introspective inclinations obstruct him from obtaining revenge for his father. He frequently imposes and ponders upon philosophical dilemmas in order to ensure that his act of retaliation can equate to the enormity of his father’s murder. This is made clear as Hamlet takes into consideration Christian attitudes and beliefs when his opportunity for revenge arises. Hamlet is keen to kill Claudius in a state that would ensure his damnation and prevent his attaining of salvation, which…

“ There’s a big difference between sanity and insanity,” a television show actress, Megan Gallagher, once stated. This statement can be seen by Edgar Allan Poe, with his story, “The Tell Tale Heart.” To begin with, the story started in the 1800s, a vexed butler, also the narrator of the story, was paranoid about an old man’s pale, blue “vulture eye.” The butler stalked the old man every night, when he fell asleep. Until one night, he made a slight noise that appalled the old man; the loud…

Is Hamlet Insane? The sanity of the human being is a treasured thing and, by its nature, a vital component of what makes a person. Yet in order to avenge his father’s death Hamlet willingly sacrifices his own sanity, at least in public, so that he may conspire without suspicion. In fact, Hamlet plays the part of an insane man so convincingly, many have claimed that at some point in the play the madness stops being an act and Hamlet truly loses his mind. However, Hamlet shows a clarity of actions…

The increase of power can be directly correlated to the decrease of sanity, Macbeth is a perfect example of this.This titular character of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, gains power quickly, and loses his grip on reality as he goes. Shakespeare’s play follows the thane of Glamis, Macbeth as he gains first the lordship of the land of Cawdor, then the crown of the entirety of Scotland. As Macbeth gains power, he becomes more and more paranoid and insane, seeing ghosts and believing he is…

Throughout the duration of this play Hamlet’s sanity is brought largely into question. Both sides of the argument have very compelling evidence to back them up, both for his sanity and against it. Hamlet has drifted down into a deep state of mental chaos that he can never climb out of,or so it seems. His actions both, help and harm him, but more evidence can be found stating that he is sane. Hamlet’s dialog throughout the entirety of the play is largely nonsensical. Some examples are: “I see a…

of human psychology, it is now understood that certain behaviours emerge as a result of traumatic experiences. Shakespeare defines madness in his play through contrasting it with another 's sanity. In Shakespeare 's Macbeth, aspects of both madness and sanity work side by side, madness of one reflects and the sanity of another. Madness that emerges from within ones sanity, madness that is brought out by another 's desire. Contrasting Macbeth 's sanity to Lady Macbeth 's ambitious insanity…

One’s sanity is not something you can control. Without sanity comes madness, but it is within our minds and grows over time if not released or helped. For Hamlet, he chooses to give the appearance as if he is mad I order to find the truth about his father’s death. At the beginning of his plan, everything is going good but as time goes by Hamlet is slowly losing control of his madness, and his mind begins to spin out of control. Something that started as an act of insanity or antic disposition…

The Cynicism Surrounding Sanity The legitimacy of mental illnesses and insanity has been questionable within a myriad of societies throughout history. No individual is psychologically identical to anyone else, so there is no divine truth in determining what is sane and what is not. Because of this, some people are subjugated from the masses and some research correlates insanity with the creation of serial murders and criminals. Others are less fortunate and become prisoners of their own minds…

Serial Killers: Born or Bred to Kill? Criminals like Charles Manson can attribute their sadistic nature from a childhood of neglect and abuse, whereas serial killers like David Berkowitz – who grew up in a healthy, supportive family – have no justifiable reason for their actions, other than their own desire to kill. Unfortunately, both types of men infamously manifested their destinies into become the human incarnation of the Grim Reaper himself. There have been numerous studies conducted in…

Written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is a play that highlights one common theme: the gradual loss of sanity. Macbeth progressively becomes plagued by intense, consuming guilt as his desire for power drives him to attain his goals by any means necessary, including the act of committing murder. Feeding his hunger for dominance, he murders King Duncan in cold blood in order to become the King of Scotland, has Banquo killed by three murderers to maintain his position as royalty, and finally, he…