Hamlet's Role of Madness
Ever since the first production of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, audiences and scholars have debated over the question of whether or not Hamlet's madness is real or feigned. Hamlet's moods seem to change from one scene to the next, leaving the kingdom and readers wondering what are his true intentions and state of mind. During most of the play, Hamlet's true intentions, i.e. the revenge of his father's death, are not revealed and the kingdom willing believes that he is in deed, mad. A love of acting enables him to feign madness and to appear a grieved, love stricken, Prince in order to find the perfect opportunity to enact his revenge. It is necessary for him to feign madness in order to successfully fulfill his obligations as a Prince, to find the truth about his father's death, and to find the peace in himself that justice will be served. Hamlet is melancholy in his first appearance. He is in mourning over the death of his father. The black clothes he wears reflects his dark mood. His mother, the Queen, is concerned that he has mourned long enough, and needs to get on with his life. In his response, Hamlet states: Seems, Madam? Nay, it is. I know not "seems." 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
revenge and justice are achieved, but at the highest price of death. Hamlet is hopeful that once Claudius is dealt with that life will go on and that the rotten smell in Denmark will turn sweet. In a way he is right. He trades a foul conscience for funeral flowers. He evens tells Gertrude that "I must be cruel, only to be kind;/Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind" (III.iv.199-200). This implies that he thought that the role-playing is soon to be over and that he could go on to his real destined role of Prince. Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1873
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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