Insanity In Hamlet Research Paper

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Aristotle once said, “There is no such thing as a genius, without a little bit of madness.” In the play Hamlet, there are a lot of questions the readers may be asking their selves while reading it. A question that is guaranteed to be on the mind of every audience is if Hamlet’s madness actual or is he faking. There are many views and opinions on Hamlet’s mental status throughout the play and it can be a very controversial subject. In the beginning of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, he pretends to be mad for specific reasons, but as time goes on it can be perceived as actual madness. Hamlet is approached by his father’s ghost and discovers that his uncle, Claudius, killed his father and married his mother, in order to take the crown. To…show more content…
Hamlet begins by acting mad around Ophelia, the girl that is in love with him, and he is successful in fooling her. One moment when they are talking in a room together, he goes to leave, but instead of turning around and walking out, Hamlet walks backwards out of the room, staring into Ophelia’s eyes(2.1.). Frightened, Ophelia runs to her father, Polonius, and tells him what she has just experienced. “My lord, I have been so frightened. Lord Hamlet, as he had been loosed out of hell and with a look so piteous in purport has spoken horrors to me (2.1.75-76.). She also mentions how Hamlet acts insane and shakes her, while gripping her arm (2.1.78-82.). Hearing this, Polonius goes to talk to Hamlet to see if the prince has really gone mad. During their talk, Hamlet is still acting crazy, calling Polonius a fishmonger and other types of heinous names (2.1.100-120.). Appalled, Polonius goes straight to the King and Queen and informs them that their son and nephew has gone insane. “He knew me not at first; he said I was a fishmonger: he is far gone….” (2.2.8.). With Hamlet being the prince, the queen began trying to extinguish all of the madness going on in her…show more content…
Thinking his mother can see the ghost too, he carries on a normal conversation with the ghost. The problem is that his mother is not able to see the ghost and she asks Hamlet who he is talking to. He says his father’s ghost, and after hearing this, his mother is fully convinced that he has gone mad. While he is convincing to the queen that he is pretending to be mad, Hamlet hears a noise in her chamber. Thinking it is Claudius, Hamlet starts stabbing the person behind the curtain, but instead of it being Claudius, it turns out to be Polonius. Now the Queen has seen her son kill a man, cold-bloodedly, and now there is no convincing her

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