Hamlet
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a most mysterious and complex character; his mind is the subject of more detailed psychoanalysis than any other character in English literature. It’s not often that readers come across a man who fakes madness, and ultimately plunges himself so deep into this artificial madness to a point of total metamorphosis into a new being."I am but mad north-northwest: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw" (II.ii.387-8). This is a classic example of the "wild and whirling words" (I.v.133) with which Hamlet hopes to persuade people to believe that he is mad. These words, however, prove that beneath his "antic disposition," Hamlet is very sane indeed. Beneath his strange choice of imagery involving points of the compass, the weather, and hunting birds, he is announcing that he is calculatedly choosing the times when to appear mad. Hamlet is saying that he knows a hunting hawk from a hunted "handsaw" or heron, in other words, that, very far form being mad, he is perfectly capable of recognizing his enemies. Hamlet's madness was faked for a purpose. He warned his friends he intended to fake madness, but Gertrude as well as Claudius saw through it, and even the slightly dull-witted Polonius was su
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Rosencrantz Guildenstern, Polonius Hamlet, Claudius Hamlet's, Hamlet Hamlet, Iv133 Hamlet, Ophelia Hamlet, Wherein I'll, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, IIii190 Polonius, Gertrude Polonius, rosencrantz guildenstern, / , polonius hamlet, antic disposition, theory rejected love, wild whirling, lost touch, avenge father's, proof sanity, hamlet's madness, avenge father's murder, wild whirling words, perfectly capable,
Approximate Word count = 1798
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
 |
