Humanity And Insanity In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

     Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, is a complex play, filled with layers of meaning. These are often revealed through the madness of the characters and the theme of madness throughout the play. Although Hamlet and Ophelia are the only characters thought to be so afflicted, the reactions of other characters to this madness mirrors their own preoccupations.

In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the playwright introduces the compelling, complex, and complicated character of the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet. In the events of the play, Hamlet swears revenge against his uncle for the foul murder of his father, the king. However, despite his intense catalyst, Hamlet reveals to be continuously torn between his motive of revenge and conflicted conscience, generating an inability to carry out his desired actions. While Hamlet possesses the passion and intellect to murder his uncle, Claudius, his actual inclination to act upon the murder directly opposes that of his powerfully emotional contemplations (S.T. Coleridge). Hamlet’s overzealous thoughts become unrealistic compared to his actual endeavors throughout the play.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a work of immense depth in character development, most notably the personal, moral and psychological battles

Hamlet, a man who was initially honourable, thoughtful, reflective and philosophical, sets himself on a path of destruction, indecisiveness, recklessness and impulsive acts of violence when he makes a decision to murder the individual who killed his father. Hamlet, who although his actions and emotions may be of one of an insane person, it is clear that Hamlet decides to fake madness in order for his plan to succeed in killing the man who killed his father. In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is sane but acts insane to fulfill his destiny of getting vengeance on his father's murderer. Hamlet’s path to destruction is set when his motivation to kill his father's killer becomes too much and leads to the murders of his king, his friends, his lover, his mother and another man’s family.

An individual's response to conditions of internal and external conflict is explored throughout literature. In his play, Hamlet, Shakespeare delves into the themes of appearance versus reality, lies versus deceit, rejection versus self doubt and tragedy, and in doing so attacks the frivolous state of humanity in contemporary society. In order to explore these themes, however, he uses several forms of conflict to project his opinions and expand his ideas relating to the themes of the play. Internal conflict, as well as external conflict are dominant features of his works, and in Hamlet are made evident through a succession of dire events which can attack and destroy

As readers, we get the benefit to explore our favorite characters and explore their trials and tribulations. “Hamlet” by Shakespeare explores the theme of betrayal, which takes an interesting toll on Hamlet and causes him to go “mad”. Shakespeare expresses Hamlet thoughts through his soliloquies to give a better understanding of what he is going through. Hamlet’s struggles are shown through his anger, confliction, and his determination.

In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses various characters to demonstrate the concept of passion versus reason. He uses his story to show the readers that passion and reason can both exist, but it is necessary to find a balance between the two. As evident in Prince Hamlet’s life, an overabundance of passion can be harmful to oneself and to others. Throughout the play, he faces an internal battle: he must choose between rationality and sentiment. This task becomes especially hard, however, when the ghost of Hamlet’s father comes back from the grave to share the horrible story of his murder. The late King has been poisoned and replaced by his own brother, Claudius, and, driven by sorrow and agony, Prince Hamlet decides to get revenge. Hamlet’s plan is to kill Claudius. This idea seems extreme. However, it is reasonable that the Prince would act irrationally as a coping strategy. In times of loss, especially after the loss of a parent, it is normal to experience overwhelming thoughts and sometimes “emotional issues” arise (“Adult Death of a Parent).

Much has been has been discussed of Hamlet’s madness and insanity. There have been endless arguments of whether his madness is feigned or unfeigned. Although, minimal arguments have been made about Hamlet’s pessimism. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare 's most pessimistic plays, and as such it delivers the message that in a fallen world, reality often fails to match the ideal. The human experiences held up for pessimistic contemplation in Hamlet includes death, grief, loneliness, insanity, loss of meaning in life, breakdown of relationships, and the corruption of the basic institutions of life. Hamlet, as the main character, is the embodiment of such pessimism throughout the play.

William Shakespeare, in the tragedy Hamlet, designed two characters who exhibit symptoms of madness: Ophelia and the prince. Hamlet states his own madness as intentional, purposeful, for the carrying out of the ghost’s admonition. But does Hamlet’s pretended insanity actually touch on real, actual insanity from time to time, or is it consistent?

A defendant’s sanity can often be used to acquit him or her of all charges. However, the downside of this is the potential for a false diagnosis. In order to determine one’s sanity, his or her actions and motives need to be evaluated heavily. This can lead to great debate as many different people can interpret one’s actions in many different ways. One such debate surrounds Prince Hamlet in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Following the death of his father, Hamlet appears to have started the descent into madness. His actions become hastier and more reckless as the play progresses, but he claims to his mother that he is simply “mad in craft”. This only serves to add to the debate of his sanity because it must be determined if what he said is valid. Though

His anger builds, then falls to self hatred, then grows into rage, then descends into self pity, then finally coasts into pragmatic action. Without such shifts, Shakespeare’s language would not be quite as remarkable; the flow of consciousness here really reflects Hamlet’s thought process as he goes through this emotional breakdown. Such a cathartic and expressive release of emotions, which have been bubbling under the surface for so long, creates efficient and effective action, as shown by Hamlet’s scheming done after his outcries of self turmoil. Whether intentionally or not, Shakespeare demonstrates a key element of human nature: hiding emotions can be taxing, but releasing these emotions at an appropriate time lead to greater clarity in mind and

Over the course of the play Hamlet has a number of ongoing conflicts within himself. These conflicts, in my opinion, serve as Hamlet’s greatest

Many view Hamlet, the main character, in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet as a hero. He portrays characteristics that prove to the reader that he does possess heroic qualities. Although, it is a struggle for him throughout the play, but as he goes through life and learns new ways of coping things, he develops new characteristics that he didn’t have in the beginning. Hamlet learns to overcome his anxiety, depression, and anger. In the end, he learns how to be calm and collected. The way Hamlet learns how to handle internal conflicts throughout the play, shows the readers a realistic view of the difficult encounters one may have when learning to cope with different issues.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the world’s most renowned plays, one which has stood the test of time over the course of 400 years, finding relevance even today. A complex and sophisticated work, Hamlet is a masterful weaving of the myriad of components that make up the human experience; it delicately touches upon such topics as death, romance, vengeance, and mania, among several others. Being so intricate and involuted, Hamlet has been interpreted in countless fashions since its conception, with each reader construing it through their own subjectivity. Some of the most popular and accredited methods of analyzing the work are the Traditional Revenge Tragedy, Existentialist, Psychoanalytic, Romantic, and Act of Mourning approaches.

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society,