Hamlet's Madness Research Paper

775 Words4 Pages
Does Hamlet have the capacity to be consumed by madness? Many critics believe that he is, however many also believe that the actions he pursues proves that he isn't devoured in some craze, and in fact believe that what he demonstrates is a false show. From the beginning of the play, I strongly believe that Hamlet has only been acting not only to confuse and discomfort Claudius, but also to prove to others that Claudius really is guilty of the king's murder. Hamlet does this so he can prove his point to the masses and ruin Claudius’ life. Many lines in the play spoken by Hamlet provide evidence that he isn't actually crazy, he uses disillusionment to imply that Claudius was the murderer. Here's the evidence to prove it: Hamlet uses his dramatic acting to confuse and discomfort Claudius as much as possible in the play. He values his commitment to act crazy, “strange or odd” and also to “put an antic disposition on,” (I. V. 170, 172). (Antic, meaning mad). Hamlet has committed his life in creating such a…show more content…
this goes to show the wildness of hamlets dramatic skill and knowledge. His need to prove his “madness” has made him an expert at it, convincing people fiction or not. Another reason why Hamlet could've been driven to his madness could be conclude in Act 2, scene 2, when he had erratic behavior when he couldn't sustain the thought of his father being deceased. That could've driven hamlet to sadness, but not into complete madness as people suppose. “To be or not to be: that is the question,” (III.i.58) this is the line that represents that he could've been a madman, and committed suicide, but he was just putting the act on for attention from the people. Hamlet wasn't actually going to commit, he was only trying to be dramatic. someone that is truly mad would have committed suicide at their first thought of it. Therefore, Hamlet didn't commit suicide, therefore, he is not a

    More about Hamlet's Madness Research Paper

      Open Document