Was Hamlet Crazy? Or Only Acting Crazy?
Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, young Hamlet, is faced with the responsibility of attaining vengeance for his father’s murder. He decides to feign madness as part of his plan to gain the opportunity to kill Claudius. As the play progresses, his depiction of a madman becomes increasingly believable, and the characters around him react accordingly. However, through his inner thoughts and the apparent reasons for his actions, it is clear that he is not really mad and is simply an actor simulating insanity in order to fulfill his duty to his father.
Hamlet only claims madness because it allows him to say and perform actions he otherwise would be prohibited from, ...
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for her actions because she thinks he is insane. During the play he also makes many sexual innuendos and even blatantly sexual remarks towards Ophelia such as “That’s a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs (3.2.125).” His convincing insanity act gives him the chance to vent his anger towards Ophelia for her abandonment. Similarly, in another scene, he is able to tell Polonius his true feelings through his guise. Upon Polonius deciding to “take leave” of Hamlet, Hamlet replies, “You cannot, take from me anything that I will more willingly part withal (2.2.233).” Furthermore, Hamlet uses his madness as almost an excuse, and definitely part of his apology, towards Laertes for his murdering of Polonious. Would a madman be able realize he was mad and call his actions uncontrollable? Were it not for his “madness” he would have been reprimanded rather than feared, pitied, or ignored. Hamlet’s madness redirects attention away from what he is thinking about his father’s death, and puts ...
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and what he asks. It is much more plausible that a sane man could play an insane one, than an insane man could play a sane one, and so reason would deem Hamlet sensible.
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 madness or confusing his adversaries. Not one of his remarks, although laden with hidden meanings, made to Claudius for example, is a normal statement that would not be considered insane. When he talks to Rosencrantz and ...
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Was Hamlet Crazy? Or Only Acting Crazy?. (2011, March 15). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Was-Hamlet-Crazy-Only-Acting-Crazy/96123
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"Was Hamlet Crazy? Or Only Acting Crazy?." Essayworld.com. March 15, 2011. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Was-Hamlet-Crazy-Only-Acting-Crazy/96123.
"Was Hamlet Crazy? Or Only Acting Crazy?." Essayworld.com. March 15, 2011. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Was-Hamlet-Crazy-Only-Acting-Crazy/96123.
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