The Cause Of Hamlet's Insanity In Hamlet By William Shakespeare

642 Words3 Pages
The debate of whether Hamlet is mad or not has waged for centuries with great scholars such as Nietzsche and Goethe writing in-depth papers about their analysis of Hamlet’s sanity. Very few believe that Hamlet is truly mad, but there are some who do believe that Hamlet is truly insane. Hamlet was not born with inherent madness, but the knowledge of the true circumstances of his father’s death and Hamlet’s inability to commit to killing the king did indeed cause his insanity. The catalyst that caused his insanity was seeing the apparition of his deceased father, the late king of Denmark, and speaking with him. The knowledge of his dead father was the true factor. His ability to see the ghost is unlike those around him. He has an unnatural knowledge of what happened to his father and it is an unnatural occurrence for the dead to come back.…show more content…
All the characters are surrounded by the madness save Horatio because he was not in the country when the king died. However, Hamlet is effected the most by the surrounding madness and it chokes him and eats at his every thought. His thoughts are filled with preserving innocence and trying to avoid the burden of responsibility. These thoughts prevent him from preforming the primary task of killing the king because after he kills the king, he will have to assume the responsibility of becoming the king. Hamlet debates escaping madness by killing himself, but realizes that he will lose his innocence by killing himself. When Hamlet speaks with the ghost he utters the quote, “O cursed spite,/ That ever I was born to put it right!"1.5 215-216. These circumstances force him to accept responsibility and loose the innocence of

More about The Cause Of Hamlet's Insanity In Hamlet By William Shakespeare

Open Document