Questioning Hamlet's Sanity
Questioning Hamlet's Sanity
Throughout the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the main character Hamlet is given the overwhelming responsibility of avenging his father’s unlawful death. Such an awesome burden can slowly drive a man “mad.” Because of this, Hamlet’s disposition is extremely inconsistent and erratic throughout the plot. At times he shows signs of uncontrollable insanity while, at other times, he exemplifies intelligence and “method in his madness.” Hamlet goes through different stages of insanity throughout the story, but his neurotic and skeptical personality amplifies his persona of seeming insane to the other characters in the book.
Hamlet’s disposition begins to change erratically almost immediately after his father’s death and the quick incestuous marriage of his mother to his uncle. The change in Hamlet’s temperament is so drastic that his mother noticed and makes the comment, “Why seems it so particular with thee?”(1.2.76). King Claudius notices that Hamlet seems depressed, and he inquires, “How is it that the clouds still hang on you?”(1.2.67) Hamlet’s responses to these questions are sarcastic and cynical. At this point in the play, it is evident that Hamlet is going through a rough time, in which he thinks, “How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, /Seem to me all the uses of this world!”(1.2. 135) Hamlet thinks the world is terrible and he is becoming more “mad.”
Alarge factor that plays a part in fueling Prince Hamlet’s “madness” is his discovery of the truth behind his father’s unrighteous death. The ghost of his father King Hamlet tells him, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.”(1.5.29) Hamlet’s response to this statement is one of intense hatred and uncontrolled emotions toward his uncle, the new king. He cries, “O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!”(1.5.112). At certain points in the play Hamlet gets so enthralled emotionally in his words that they end up controlling his actions. This dynamic proves true when Hamlet is on his way to England and he admires Fortinbras and his vengeance toward his own father’s death. Hamlet then gets intertwined in his words by saying,
”When honor’s at the stake. How stand I then, that gave a father kill’d, a mother stain’d,excitements for my reasons and my blood and let all sleep, while to my shame I see the imminent death of twenty thousand men”(4.1.58-62 )
Hamlet decides from this point on that his “thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!”(4.4.67-68) Hamlet procrastinates in his revenge...