Causes Of Antic-Disposition In Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Antic-disposition is the act of going crazy and Hamlet is well known for the one who no one knows if his “acting” is real or fake. Shakespeare hides the truth on if his antic-disposition is a figment of his own imagination that he made up in order to disguise his true self. Many people have wondered if Hamlet was very good at acting crazy or in the act of faking it he unleashed his true self who is a frantic and irrational person. Throughout the play, Hamlet’s antic-disposition is unknown to be real or fabricated. But with the different occurrences that Hamlet faces, his madness portrays him to actually be insane. Some causes of this that are hinted at during the entire play would be because of the ghost of his father, his love for Ophelia,…show more content…
Hamlet has now been out in the public eye confessing that he does not give his blessing to his mother’s marriage. The fact that Gertrude got married right after her husband’s death is what is so upsetting to Hamlet and he doesn’t think she has had enough time to grieve.(Johnson) But what Hamlet might not realize is that everyone grieves differently and maybe his grieving is getting in the way of his thoughts cause him to start to become irrational and the beginning of his “madness”. After the speech, Hamlet is surprised by a guest who stops by. It is Horatio who has been Hamlet’s friend since school and who has come to tell Hamlet about the Ghost of his father. Hamlet agrees to be on night watch with the guards in order to see this ghost that Horatio has told him about. Hamlet waits for a couple hours and when he is talking, the ghost appears and asks hamlet to follow him and to leave the others so they can be alone. Horatio tells him not to but Hamlet threatens to kill them if they try and stop him. This one act is starting to show that his emotions are getting the best of him and that the sight of his father could cause him to threaten his friend. There is definitely…show more content…
The plan for revenge all started with the ghost of his father and the secret for what really happened to him. Hamlet’s plan to fake his madness all starts with the appearance of his father and plan to seek revenge on his uncle is a secret between the two. Hamlet is completely alone on this plan which might trigger some thoughts and cause his antic disposition to be real. The big plan to find out if Claudius really did kill his father was the “Mousetrap”.(Foster) Hamlet’s crazy plan to catch his uncle was by putting on a play of his father’s death and seeing if his uncle reacts how a murderer would act after seeing his crime being played out in front of him. With this big reveal, Hamlet has become consumed with revenge and is putting all his emotions into one jar. This has started to show true underlying problem which is that he is actually mad and it is not an act. Hamlet’s famous question “To be or not to be?” is a soliloquy of him contemplating death but it is unclear whose death he is speaking of. People wonder if he is contemplating suicide or thinking about the affects to pull of his revenge scheme. While he is speaking, Ophelia, Polonius, and Claudius hear the speech but it is unknown if Hamlet knows if they are there or not. If Hamlet knew they

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