Preview

Hamlet Insane or Sane

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
792 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Hamlet Insane or Sane
Hamlet- Sane or Insane???

In Shakespeare's play Hamlet the main character Hamlet experiences many different and puzzling emotions. He toys with the idea of killing himself and then plays with the idea of murdering others. Many people ask themselves who or what is this man and what is going on inside his head. The most common question asked about him is whether or not he is sane or insane. Although the door seems to swing both ways many see him as a sane person with one thought on his mind, and that is revenge. The first point of his sanity is while speaking with Horatio in the beginning of the play, secondly is the fact of his wittiness with the other characters and finally, his soliloquy. After talking with the ghost, Hamlet, comes back to Horatio and Marcellus and tries to explain to them never to let anyone know what has happened. Both are very scared but agree to the prince's, but both are still looking to find out what happened between the ghost and him. Further on in the evening Hamlet takes Horatio to the side and explains to him that no matter how odd he acted that Horatio say nothing. (And therefore as a stranger-you most need help you Act1 sc5 line 187-202) He basically explained to Horatio that he was going to be acting much differently than normal, and he told him not to ask questions. This here proves he knew what he was going to have to do. It shows that he was willing to get his revenge by any way possible. The second point showing his sanity is the fact that he was able to match wits with the other characters in the play. If he was an insane person why would he plan a way to let Claudius know that he knows about the death of his father. Most insane people don't have the mind for that type of thing, but he was able to do it. He was able to let Claudius know without saying a word. He had the players act it out for him and what a job they did to let him know. He even knows when his good friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, show up that

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    When we first meet Hamlet, he is a sad, dark, loathsome figure; the loss of his father and the whoring of his mother have upset him indefinitely. Like a ticking time bomb, Hamlet 's noticeable temper reflects the storm of emotions and thoughts brewing in his head, and then like a catalyst, his meeting with the Ghost of King Hamlet brings his anger to a boil. With revenge in mind, Hamlet plans to fake his madness so that he may be free to pursue his father 's killer. Everyone, except his close friend Horatio, seems convinced that he is mad. Claudius however, fearful that someone will discover his evil deed, has also had his perceptions heightened by his guilt and he experiences chronic paranoia throughout the play as a result. He is doubtful as to whether Hamlet is really mad, as we find him telling Polonius, "...what he spake ...Was not like madness. There 's something in his soul O 'er which his melancholy sits on brood, And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose Will be some danger" (3, 1, 157-161). On the contrary, I believe that Hamlet, lost in his soliloquies and vengeful thoughts, actually becomes mad. Ironically, his form of madness is paranoia.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hamlet appears to be insane, after Polonius's death, in act IV scene II. There are indications, though, that persuade me to think other wise. Certainly, Hamlet has plenty of reasons to be insane at this point. His day has been hectic-he finally determined Claudius had killed his father, the chance to kill Claudius confronted him, he comes very close to convincing Gertrude that Claudius killed his father, he accidentally kills Polonius, and finally the ghost of his father visits him. These situations are enough to bring Hamlet to insanity, but he remains sharp and credible.<br><br>Hamlet is able to make smart remarks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, comparing then to sponges, "When he (Claudius) needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the play Hamlet is he really insane or is he faking? Hamlet has a plan from the beginning and that is to find out answers about his fathers death, and his suspicions lead him to his uncle. He decides to act like he was going insane to hopefully get answers revealed from his uncles. In the play he is so used to acting like he is insane he eventually becomes insane.…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet’s behavior makes everyone worry about his insanity, but his sagacious thinking shows his actions are thought out, and his depressive state of mind. Hamlet does not appear to be suffering from insanity or from the disabling mental illness, schizophrenia. The National Institute of Mental Health describes the illness, “People with positive symptoms often ‘lose touch’ with reality” (“What is Schizophrenia” 2). With schizophrenia, just like with insanity, someone might lose their understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong. In the play, Hamlet states his plan, “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet / To put an antic disposition on” (I.v.172-173). Hamlet clearly confesses to Horatio he will have to act erratic behavior. Through this…

    • 147 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Why Is Hamlet Crazy

    • 1634 Words
    • 7 Pages

    “Great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide”. Although this quote by John Dryden was not directed towards Hamlet, this quote relates well to the argument of whether or not Hamlet was insane. The character of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is perhaps one of the most complex tragic heroes and possibly the most analyzed in all of English literature. Whether Hamlet was actually insane, or simply acting mad depends on the reader’s interpretation of the play. Hamlet is a complex character, he is the direct result of his psychological disorders. He is capable of quickly changing his emotions and state of mind from being happy, to being sorrowful, to being seemingly…

    • 1634 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Horatio's Role in Hamlet

    • 1763 Words
    • 8 Pages

    We are first introduced to Horatio when Marcellus and Barnardo, the night guards, ask him to confirm their sighting of a ghost and to speak to it, because he “art a scholar” (I.i.51) Horatio faces the ghost and questions it without hesitance or fear, yelling to it, “Stay, speak, speak, I charge thee speak!” (I.i.63) Amanda Mabillard mentions that Horatio is a “calm, resolute, and rational character,” which is “why Hamlet chooses Horatio to become the sole person on whom he can rely.” After Horatio recovers from the initial shock of seeing the ghostly apparition of King Hamlet, one of his first thoughts is that they should tell Prince Hamlet because it is “needful in [their] loves” and “fitting [of their] duty” (I.i.190). When Horatio informs Hamlet that they saw his father’s ghost, Hamlet immediately believes the bizarre tale without a doubt, which further illustrates his deep trust in Horatio. Hamlet interrogates the three of them about specific details, and they decide to meet late that night during watch duty to try to see the ghost again.…

    • 1763 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Characters in Hamlet

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hamlet could be considered a brilliant actor, only if you believe that he is not insane, he was not! Hamlet was always the smartest person in the room, whether he was two steps ahead of someone of one step behind, he always knew what to do. It can easily be interpreted that Hamlet is acting insane just to not leave a trail for anyone to follow. Hamlet opens up to the Horatio and Marcellus and tells them that he will act mad: “How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself—As I, perchance, hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on” (1.5.177). Hamlet is clearly doing this so Claudius will not see him as a threat and will think of him as harmless. Hamlet is insane while actually sane. This is a perfect example of Hamlet being the smartest person in the room, as well as a perfect example of how madness shaped the play. If Hamlet did not act mad Claudius could have seen him as a threat much earlier and attempted to kill him much earlier. Even to the reader Hamlet seems insane, remember the reader knows what Hamlet is thinking. What Hamlet decides to do is “pronounced to be so atrocious and horrible, as to be unfit to be put into the mouth of a human being.” (Coleridge 4). Hamlet here has the reader believing that he is insane, however he could just be blinded by rage…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There have been many points in the story that can lead the audience to believe that Hamlet is mad, but none more than him thinking about committing suicide. "O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt,Thaw and resolve itself into a dew,Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God,How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world"(1.2.133-138). This quote is a perfect example to show how Hamlet thinks about committing suicide.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet's Insanity

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Hamlet, the main character, displays a very indecisive and uncertain demeanor throughout Hamlet. This recurrent behavior is displayed when: Hamlet first encounters the Ghost of his father, to learn that Hamlet's Uncle, the King, killed Hamlet's Father, also in Shakespeare's most prolific monologue of Hamlet and lastly when Hamlet stabs one of the King's confidants, Polonius. Hamlet's wavering decision making as well as his uncertainty in everything leads to Hamlet's apparent insanity; although he is not completely insane, just to a certain degree that allows him to be somewhat sane.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare’s hero, Hamlet, and his insanity is shown and is demonstrated in the different parts of the play. Many parts in the play points out his madness and his loss of control. Hamlet shows many mood swings throughout the play that makes him act mad and speaks like an insane. Hamlet illustrates many unclear emotions to show his insanity. We can see that there are two versions of Hamlet in the play because of the different actions. Sometimes he acts as a perfect prince and sometimes he acts as he is mad. There is a shift in the different personality Hamlet image, he therefore shows us that he in fact insane, with many example shown throughout the play.…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the Diary of a Genius, Salvador Dali remarked, “there is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad" This statement brings up the essence of what qualifies an individual as mad. Madness is a condition prescribed by society, a label attributed to an individual from an outside perspective. An individual can never truly be diagnosed as mad. Madness, insanity, is a completely mental condition and because there is no way to fully follow, understand, or know how that individual is thinking and what he knows; madness can only ever be an ignorant assumption, based on a permanently naïve perspective. Human interaction is riddled with character assumptions like this. As members of society we each make definitions of each other based on what we, individually, see rather than attempting to gain the perspective of the person we are defining. In literature there are many examples of this human tendency. One of the more controversial examples comes about in the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. Hamlet purposefully feigns madness, yet, it is often argued that despite his act, he was in actuality truly mad; however when Hamlet’s perspective on the events and innate human reaction are taken into account it is evident that Hamlets actions never lose logic and forethought.…

    • 2041 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Madness Analysis

    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hamlet is regarded as one of Shakespeare’s best plays. Most critics would go as far to say that it is even one of the greatest works of literature from the seventeenth century. One of the many reasons Hamlet is so highly acclaimed is due to its controversial/ambiguous conflicts. For example: Throughout the play, Hamlet characters struggle to understand whether Prince Hamlet suffers from insanity or not. “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t” (2.2.195-196). This quote shows that although Polonius thinks Prince Hamlet is crazy, he also feels he is quick-witted. During this time period, people were not educated on the matters of mental health. Present day, where people are educated on such matters, Hamlet is clearly suffering from…

    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Madness in Hamlet

    • 1313 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The theme of madness in Hamlet has been a widely popular topic in the discussion of the play by both critics and readers alike. Prince Hamlet, in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is not mad, in terms of sanity. However, he is very mad, in terms of anger, at many of the people that surround him. Hamlet is mainly mad at Gertrude her mother and, most of all Claudius. Although he is extremely angry with Claudius and his own whole situation of his father being murdered; his mother marrying his father’s murderer; and his lady friend not talking to him, Hamlet remains sane in order to carry out his plan of revenge. The madness that has appeared to grip Hamlet is an act played out by him. In order to accomplish that act of revenge on his uncle, Hamlet must have pretended to be mad so that the people of the court would not look upon him with suspicion.…

    • 1313 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people can argue that Hamlet fakes his insanity but I believe he actually does go insane. Though he may have started off saying that he would only act crazy to get information on Claudius and proceed to seek his revenge, he slowly forgot his act. “How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself/ (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/ To put an antic disposition on),/ That you, at such times seeing me, never shall—/ With arms encumbered thus, or this headshake,” (1.5.171-175) Hamlet declared to only act as if he were crazy but throughout the play he fell off the…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning of the play Hamlet makes it clear to his most trusted friends and his mother Gertrude that he is putting on this persona of being insane. He tells Horatio to ensure that he knows he is going to “feign madness,” in order to find out what truly happened to his father and find out whether or not cluadius was involved. Hamlet also tells his mother that he is not mad, “but mad in craft.”…

    • 544 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics