Hamlet's Madness
Madness is the mental incapacity caused by an unmentionable injury, and in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the protagonist exhibits a duplicitous, almost insane nature. Hamlets father is murdered by his uncle, Claudius, the new king. After much grief, Hamlet starts to plot his uncle's death, and due to the stress some think, "Alas! He's mad" (3.4.107). The pressure of vengeance are too much for Hamlet and his constantly trying to determine what is real and what appears to be real leads to the collapse of his mind.The initiating incident that sends Hamlet's mind spiralling downwards is when his father is murdered and the events around it. The loss of his father leaves him grief stricken however his pain is soon turned to rage when his father's ghost visits him; telling him that the man his mother has remarried is his killer and brother and now the new king. His dead father demanded, " Revenge [for] his foul and most unnatural murder" (1.5.25), so Hamlet committed himself to restoring honour to his meeting and hearing what happened to his dead father's apparition was too much for anyone person to handle. He then realises how his mother, "...post[ed] with such dexterity to incestuous sheets" (1.2.156-57), and was most likely involv
Hamlets becomes so focused with getting revenge that he forgets to think of the penalties to his actions and becomes out of control. At the end of the play whether it be from insanity of determination, Hamlet dies for his vengeance. His mind was burdened with the guilt of Ophelia's suicide, his father's murder, and his torn relationship with his mother and friends. His judgement between what is real and what appears to be real is fully intact but his reckless behaviour and antics prove that his mind was clouded. William Shakespeare uses Hamlet to show how death and vengeance can put such stress on the mind and body, that eventually it will do one considerable amounts of damage. This long procrastination period is only one of the few stresses's that Hamlet's mind has to bear. Once he does start to plan Claudius's murder he begins to push himself to the extreme. During this period his 'friends' and family begin to notice a loss of control in Hamlet, rash behaviour, changed attitude, aggression and other mood swings. His girlfriend Ophelia begins to wonder about his mental state; her father, Polonius, demands that she stays away from him for he is surely mad. She takes her fathers advice, at first unwillingly, and ends her affair with Hamlet. This comes as a shock to Ham
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Approximate Word count = 864
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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