HAMLET INSANE OR NOT
Hamlet: Insane or Not?
The story of Hamlet is undoubtedly one of the most famous stories in the whole wide world of literature. It features everything one would wish for in a tale: death, love, injustice, revenge, doubt, and eventually, (in)sanity. How is it with the latter, though? Was the main protagonist of Shakespeare’s most famous play a real madman? Was he faking lunacy to baffle the others? Or did periods of sanity and insanity fluctuate throughout the course of the story? These are the questions that will be looked at and answered in the following paragraphs, and perhaps the enigma of Hamlet’s mental health will finally be resolved.
Prior to talking about Hamlet’s madness, we must consider two main options: He was either mad since birth, or struck by insanity just after the death of his father, followed by the encounter with the ghost. The answer is easy for me: even if the first one were true, it would not change much in our perception of the story, because we meet Hamlet and all the other characters at a certain definite point from which they develop, so what is important in the story are not their pasts, but their futures. Therefore, rather than pointlessly contemplating about Hamlet’s possible inborn mental defects, we should concentrate on the clearer proofs of his insanity that come after the death of the King, which the text undoubtedly offers. The first one on the almost infinite list is a sad whimper – a moan that followed the realization that his father had died:
“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
…
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world!”
(Act 1, Scene 2, Line 5)
In this monologue, Hamlet clearly expresses that he “wishes his body would melt”, for he cannot bear the burden of his father’s death and his mother’s re-marriage. This state could be referred to as a state of strong melancholy, in which one loses his purpose, and may slowly fall into
The story of Hamlet is undoubtedly one of the most famous stories in the whole wide world of literature. It features everything one would wish for in a tale: death, love, injustice, revenge, doubt, and eventually, (in)sanity. How is it with the latter, though? Was the main protagonist of Shakespeare’s most famous play a real madman? Was he faking lunacy to baffle the others? Or did periods of sanity and insanity fluctuate throughout the course of the story? These are the questions that will be looked at and answered in the following paragraphs, and perhaps the enigma of Hamlet’s mental health will finally be resolved.
Prior to talking about Hamlet’s madness, we must consider two main options: He was either mad since birth, or struck by insanity just after the death of his father, followed by the encounter with the ghost. The answer is easy for me: even if the first one were true, it would not change much in our perception of the story, because we meet Hamlet and all the other characters at a certain definite point from which they develop, so what is important in the story are not their pasts, but their futures. Therefore, rather than pointlessly contemplating about Hamlet’s possible inborn mental defects, we should concentrate on the clearer proofs of his insanity that come after the death of the King, which the text undoubtedly offers. The first one on the almost infinite list is a sad whimper – a moan that followed the realization that his father had died:
“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
…
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world!”
(Act 1, Scene 2, Line 5)
In this monologue, Hamlet clearly expresses that he “wishes his body would melt”, for he cannot bear the burden of his father’s death and his mother’s re-marriage. This state could be referred to as a state of strong melancholy, in which one loses his purpose, and may slowly fall into