How Is Hamlet Insane

Additional proof that Hamlet must be sane is that even in his ?madness? he is clever in his retorts and speech, and has a full understanding of the situations around him. He plays his madman character almost too well, and each phrase he utters appears to be an attempt towards conveying his

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, we, as readers, increasingly question the sanity of the protagonist, Hamlet, as the play continues. His seemingly psychotic banter with the other characters of the play begins to convince us that Hamlet is, indeed, insane. Hamlet, however, states, “How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself, as I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on” (1.5.171). He specifically tells Horatio and Marcellus that he will be acting mad, as a front. Hamlet has an exceptional grasp on mental philosophy and the uses and effects of logic, more so than the other characters of the play. Because of this, Hamlet appears insane to others, but in fact remains true to his

Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" is about a complex protagonist, Hamlet, who faces adversity and is destined to murder the individual who killed his father. Hamlet is a character who although his actions and emotions may be one of an insane person, in the beginning of the book it is clear that Hamlet decides to fake madness in order for his plan to succeed in killing Claudius. Hamlet is sane because throughout the play he only acts crazy in front of certain people, to others he acts properly and displays proper prince like behavior who is able to cope with them without sounding crazy, and even after everything that has been going on in his life he is able to take revenge by killing his father's murderer. In the play Hamlet by William

Determining whether someone is insane or sane is very difficult to do. Looking at the actions of the individuals does not give the full picture. Hamlet plays the role of an insane man in order to get revenge on Claudius. Hamlet only tells Horatio and his mother that he is pretending while others believe he is insane. There are some that believe that Hamlet is insane due to the loss of his father but their evidence is not very strong. By looking at examples from the play that show Hamlet is pretending to be insane, we will clearly see that Hamlet is very successful in the act of being mad.

Hamlet is far too on top of things to be mad. Hamlet’s intellectual brilliance is first brought out in Act I, scene V when he plans on acting mad to confuse his enemies. Hamlet is also quick to figure out who his enemies and who are his real friends. “I know the good King and Queen have sent for you” (I.iv.37). Hamlet instantly knows that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not paying a social visit to Hamlet, but were in fact sent as spies for the former King of Denmark to find out the cause of his sudden madness. Hamlet immediately knows that he cannot trust his former school friends, and that he must take caution in what he says when is around the both of them. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern talk with Hamlet, but "with a crafty madness [Hamlet] keeps aloof" (I.iv.37), and they are unable to find the cause for his odd behavior. Hamlet’s true intellect is brought out in Act III, scene II when he plans on putting on a play. "If his occulted guilt do not itself unkennel in one speech, / it is a damned ghost that we have seen, and my /imaginations are as foul as Vulcan’s stithy" (III.ii.84). When Hamlet comes up with a brilliant plan to put on a play about someone killing a King, he determines whether or not Claudius is guilty of murder, or if the ghost is really his dead father or an evil spirit whose setting him up to kill an innocent man. Hamlet coming up with a successful plan to prove

Hamlet’s absurd actions began when he got a visit from his father’s ghost. As he was conversing matters with the ghost, he acknowledged that he may need to disguise himself with strange behavior (antic disposition) in order to not give himself away. He wanted to ensure that he wouldn’t make it conspicuous that he was planning to kill Claudius in order to achieve his own equanimity. Hamlet mentioned to Horatio, Marcellus, and the Ghost, “How strange or odd some’er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on)... ” (Pg. Act I Scene V Lines 175-177). He needed to surreptitiously act in a strange manner in order to convey the idea to the culpable King that he didn’t have a plan, although he did. Hamlet would not have given them the caveat that he would act mad if he actually was crazy. One who is mad will most likely not admit it, but Hamlet certainly admitted that he would be acting this way to communicate a certain impression. At the climax of the play, the queen claimed that Hamlet was mad when he interacted with his father’s ghost after he murdered Polonius. She vehemently claimed, “Alas, he’s mad” (Pg. 177 Act III Scene IV Line 109). She declared

Hamlet was a tragedy that highlighted the trials and tribulations of nobility and the treachery of power. The play showcased an unstable Prince seeking revenge using his insanity as a weapon. Hamlet was never actually mad but instead acting, using his insanity in his favor and manipulating everybody he came across. Hamlet was a chess player but instead of moving game pieces he moved people into the correct position so that he would be poised to take the king. Insanity is to Hamlet as the Piano is to Beethoven, merely an instrument used to advance his

Other times, he is completely psychotic. For example, when young Hamlet finds out his late father is dead, he is emotional at first but soon acts as if there is a mission for him to fulfill. Also, during this process of having a mission to fulfill, Hamlet's step's and processes are so concise and important it seems as if he would have to be sane in the moment. Finally, when Hamlet is doing his actions of trickery, the situation is so serious that it would seem possible for him to be insane and to come up with such wit. It is a fact that insane people come up with the craziest ideas and somehow pull it off, therefore, Hamlet does slip into insanity in some parts of the

When Hamlet is going crazy in some points, and you feel like he is totally going insane, you may want to think. What if he is becoming insane little by little, but as it is said in The Hamlet, everyone is already getting scared. No one really knows what is happening, and they don't want Hamlet to go into the darkness of insanity. And if Hamlet is becoming insane, the only thing that can save him, would be the one thing that made him go insane in the first

By understanding that social taboos do not apply to the insane, perhaps Hamlet concludes that the insane are not treated as full human beings due to their mental state. If he reaches that conclusion, then he would have reason to believe that Claudius might let his guard down in front of Hamlet. After all, Claudius does not know that Hamlet is out to kill him, which, added to Claudius' thinking that Hamlet does not have the mental capacity to understand his speech, makes the possibility of Claudius slipping up and admitting his guilt far greater. Greater, that is, than if Hamlet had not acted insanely. For those same reasons, Claudius might let down his guard physically, giving Hamlet an opportunity to strike him dead, thereby avenging his father.

Hamlet wants juicy, dirty secrets and he has found a perfect way to get them because mad people can pull anything from someone. This madness allows him to get away with outlandish things, being in places he should not be, and overhearing private conversations dripping with

By evidence, he left everyone who was not in on his plan fooled into thinking he was insane, even though he stated himself multiple times that he was not truly insane, very prominently so to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and to Gertrude. Even though he had confidence in front of everyone else and did state to others on his own will that he was faking his madness, he was, like anyone else, his own worst critic and did not believe the bravado and "act" he was convincing others with in his ploy. Even though others would think that Hamlet was completely absorbed in carrying out his father's word and his own vow, he still took time at points within the play to question his own motives and actions. Hamlet clearly transitioned, as one can see, from "insanity" instantly to bouts of rationalism, like his bouts of solemnness to extreme depression, and effectively succeeded in achieving his goal with the murder of King Claudius in his last moments. Although the interpretation of Hamlet's actions and character can vary from adaption to adaption there is no denying the textual evidence, the original source of the genius tragedy created by the Bard

However, some believe since Hamlet is acting crazy, he slips into actually being insane. As they say,

In the beginning Hamlet was pretending to be mad to avenge his father's death, but in trying to avenge him, he lost his mind. While trying to seek revenge on his Uncle for killing his father, he caused multiple other casualties. When he went to speak with his mother about why he was acting so strange, he stabbed Polonius for spying on him. He also saw the spirit of his father right in front of his mother but she could not see nor hear him at all.

Throughout the play, there are several places that Hamlet can notably be seen as faking his insanity, or even can be seen in the way the other character