Hamlet's insanity
In William Shakespeare's Play Hamlet, many issues have been raised about Hamlet's over all sanity. He has experienced many things that might make one think he has gone crazy, for example, his father's murder, killing Polonius accidentally, and his mother's abrupt remarriage. Hamlet begins to act shady towards the middle to the end of the play while talking to others. In several scenes it appears that Hamlet has gone crazy. Many critics have varying opinions of this issue. Joshua Wells wrote an article that comparing Hamlet's sanity and insanity. Another critic, that did not mention his name, thinks that Hamlet is sane. Hamlet was not actually insane, it was simply a ploy to seek revenge for his father's murder. Wells, in his article "Was Hamlet Mentally Disturbed?" stated that Hamlet is truly insane. In the first act Hamlet appears to be crazy when he hears of his father's murder. He speaks irrationally to Horatio, who comments that Hamlet is speaking " wild and whirling words"(I.v.149). Also, Hamlet plays with Horatio and will not tell him what the ghost told him. Horatio asks Hamlet about the news he heard and Hamlet replies "O, wonderful!"(I.v.130). The news is actually not good news at al
There are many good reasons to believe that Hamlet is truly crazy. He acted rashly and many of his thoughts were random. He did not act as though he had just lost a loved one; he acted like the world had come to an end. Therefore, the people around him thought he had lost his mind. Hamlet does some other actions throughout the play that give the impression that he has gone crazy. One is that his moods change abruptly for no reason. While he is talking to his mother in her chambers, they are speaking calming to each other and then Hamlet starts acting violently towards her. He also jumps on a pirate ship without a second thought or anyone to protect him. At the same time, he has Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed, even though it was not part of his revenge plan. Finally, Hamlet hides Polonius' body and will not tell anyone where it is. He tells Laertes that he killed Polonius in a fit of madness (Wells). Wells notes that characters in the play suspect that Hamlet is not crazy. Claudius notes that Hamlet "was not like madness. There's something in his soul, /O'er which his melancholy sits on brood, /And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose/Will be some danger..."(III.i.175-178). Claudius does not think that Hamlet is crazy, he thinks there is something inside of Hamlet that is bothering him. Polonius says that Hamlet's actions have "method" to them, there appears to be a reason to his actions and his actions are logical in nature (II.ii.226-227). Then Hamlet, himself, says two times
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Approximate Word count = 1012
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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