Hamlet's madness

A detailed Summary of Hamlet's madness

There are three equally possible interpretations of Hamlet's behaviour. Firstly, it can be argued that Hamlet pretends to be maf in order to follow the ghost's instructions to avenge his death. By doing this he would appear to be a harmless madman. The second option is that Hamlet initially pretended to be mad but could not cope with the situation and the task in hand so much so that he actually goes mad towards the end of the play. The final interpretation is that Hamlet shows signs of true madness or mental instability throughout the play and is therefore not pretending. There is evidence to support each of these claims, but at the end it is left to the audience to decide on the true extent of Hamlet's madness.

The view that Hamlet pretends to be mad is supported by his warning to Horatio that he will put on an 'antic disposition'. This would seem to suggest that Hamlet does initially intend to feign madness. His

In lines which would appear to be sincere, Hamlet actually tells Laertes before their duel that he has been mad and apologises for his actions: 'How I am punished with a sore distraction. What I have done that might your nature, honour and exception roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness'.

In my opinion, there is no doubt that Hamlet's initial plan was to firgn madness. Although it may have been to prevent him having to take action, it was most likelt to allow him time to think and fully comprehend the news about his father's death. However as Hamlet's character deteriorates through the play, I was able to gain the impression that Hamlet's mind was becoming more and more disrupted by the responsibility placed on his shoulders by the ghost and the result of his killing of Polonius and Ophelia's death. Therefore, a loss of control and a failure to overcome a powerful emotion, failure and discust, resulted in his mad

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Approximate Word count = 625
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Hamlet's madness

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