Essay On Mental Illness In Hamlet

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.

Now Hamlet uses a rational “now he is praying; And now I'll do't./ And so he goes to heaven;/ And so am I revenged. That would be scann'd:/ A villain kills my father; and for that,/ I, his sole son, do this same villain send/ To heaven”(p.79). Hamlet uses this “logic” to further justify his inconsistency between his actions and his motive. Finally, during the last scene, Hamlet encounters yet another chance to avenge his father’s, and now also his mother’s murders after his fencing match against Laertes. Claudius tries to kill Hamlet by poisoning him, and poisons Gertrude instead; this is the final breaking point of Hamlet. After the death of his mother Hamlet, can no longer hold back and strikes his foil through Claudius’s heart. Then, he forces the poisoned wine down his throat. This occurrence yet again shows Hamlet’s indecisive character. He plans out the vengeance of his father’s death so many times perfectly, but kills Claudius without a plan and everyone witnesses the murder.

Hamlet Mental Disorder “To be or not to be” is a worldly recognized phrase from one Shakespeare's masterpiece; Hamlet. The story revolves around prince Hamlet whom his life changes gradually into a tragedy after his father’s death. The story starts two months after King Hamlet’s death. At the time, prince Hamlet was filled with disgust at the current king who happens to be his uncle and his marriage to his mother to that king. King Hamlet appears as a ghost to prince Hamlet and asks the prince to revenge his death.

Sarcasm, Insanity, and Suicidal tendencies are what lead Hamlet to fall off the rails and kick the bucket. Hamlet was an interesting a entertaining book filled with lots of shock and dramatic events. Those events would not have come to occurrence without Hamlets over exaggerated emotional pull. From trying to hid his feelings by being sarcastic and frankly cruel, to putting himself into a severe depression it was hard to honorably make an analysis on how he felt deep down. With a constant curiosity with how Hamlet would be affected by his Father’s death and Mother’s remarriage was one to constantly think about.

Humans throughout time have experienced mental disorders and whether it be minor or extreme it has occurred since the beginning of time. The story of Hamlet starts off with the king being murdered by his brother. The king’s son, Hamlet, is very upset while everyone else has already moved on. The ghost of Hamlet’s father comes back and informs Hamlet that his death was not an accident and that it was Claudius, the king’s brother, who did it. Hamlet acts as though he is mad to not draw attention to himself and forms a plot to get revenge for his father’s death. Claudius realizes Hamlet is up to something so he sends many different characters during the story to watch over Hamlet. While Polonius is hiding behind a curtain, Hamlet stabs him because he thought that it was Claudius. Hearing about the death of Polonius Ophelia, Hamlet’s love and daughter of Polonius, loses her mind and drowns. Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother Laertes is very upset about the events that have occurred and blames Hamlet for everything. The two duel and during the fight Queen Gertrude, Laertes, King Claudius, and Hamlet all die. In Hamlet, a character that exhibits three common symptoms of a disorder called PTSD is Ophelia.

The act worked, proving Claudius’s guilt when he stormed out of the room in distress of what he had witnessed. Hamlet continued to only pretend to have gone mad, hoping to deceive others’ perception of him. The passage says, “For Hamlet thought more clearly than most men. He was aware of the essential principles of logic and used them consciously. He used them excessively, that was his madness,” (David 663). Hamlet only used his actions to get revenge on his murderous uncle, all other deaths and tragedies involved were merely accidents. Claudius continued in his wickedness in plotting to betray and kill Hamlet. The only thoughts and actions that concerned Hamlet were those of which resulted in Claudius’ doom. Hamlet let go of his feelings towards Ophelia only to focus on his plan, in doing so, he drove her to the point of madness from which there is no return, suicide. The death of Polonius was simply an act of self-protection in defending his mother and himself. The play ends with the death of all the main characters, excluding Horatio. Hamlet, in his dying moments, remained sane only pursuing his crazy-like actions to defend his father and the

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark was written by William Shakespeare as it became one of the most influential plays in world literature from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth-First Century. In all honesty, William Shakespeare, the “Bard of Avon”, was regarded as the greatest playwright in English literature as his most famed plays include Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. The prominent trend in most of Shakespeare’s writing is the use of tragedy as well as moral insanity, resulting in the protagonist’s demise. Shakespeare was successful in implementing elements of tragedy and insanity in the phenomenal play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, as he captured the hearts of the Elizabethans as well as our contemporary society.

Psychological illnesses possibly represent the widest spectrum in the medical field, in terms of the differing symptoms and impacts they cause. Therefore, it is no surprise that the theme of mental illness has been the subject of numerous plays, fables, poems, novels, and other forms of literature. Notably, William Shakespeare has famously portrayed characters suffering from a variety of alienations, prominently in his play “Hamlet”, in which the main character, Hamlet, shows clear signs of depression, although Shakespeare never specifies whether these signs are an act or authentic. Similarly, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, protagonist of Patrick Süskind’s Perfume, the Story of a Murderer, also displays signs of psychological illness, although not

Hamlet’s overconfidence in his plan eventually leads to his revenge, but also to his own death. Hamlet allows months to pass before he begins any action on his uncle Claudius. When a group of actors visit the court, Hamlet laments that they seem to care more about their fictions than he does his murdered father. So, Hamlet decides to create a play to inspire guilt from Claudius. However, “[a]lthough the re-enactment of his father’s murder in the performance indeed proves Claudius guilty, it also makes him aware that Hamlet knows his secret and hence Claudius will endeavour to kill him” (Domínguez-Rué & Mrotzek 675). Now, Hamlet is on Claudius’ radar as someone who could threaten him and his kingdom. Claudius tries to trick Hamlet into returning to England, where he would be executed, though Hamlet outsmarts him. Instead of fleeing from the country and waiting for a more opportune moment to strike, Hamlet becomes wrapped into a duel with Laertes, the son of Polonius, who Hamlet murdered. Horatio, Hamlet’s confidant and best friend assures Hamlet that the duel is surely a trap and that “[Hamlet] will lose this wager” (Line 3844). Nevertheless, Hamlet’s arrogance and desire for revenge incinerate his common sense and self-preservation. At the duel, he is promptly ensnared in a trap, which costs not only Claudius’ life, but also those of Hamlet, Laertes, and Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude. Hamlet realizes his mistakes in his final moments, and comprehends how his desire for revenge had destroyed the lives of everyone around him. In this way, Hamlet successfully represents a Shakespearean tragic hero, through his noble birth and frightening death, but especially through his flaw of

Through notable Dialogue given by specific characters, William Shakespeare reveals the focal motive for Hamlet throughout the play which is to avenge his father by killing Claudius after determining the truth. Hamlet formulates many opportunities to terminate and expose Claudius including a play that reenacts the death of his father with different characters in which he will “catch the conscience of the King” to see whether or not he actually poisoned King Hamlet (II, ii, 633-634). In addition, Hamlet’s decision to put on this play spurs a reaction from his Uncle, Claudius, further motivating him to follow through with his father’s request of ending Claudius. If Claudius would not have taken offense to the play, it could have completely shifted

There are a variety of different themes that are shown within the play “Hamlet”. These themes vary from death to obsession and also betrayal, all of which contribute in some manner to encourage Hamlet's madness. In every theme, the audience can somewhat relate on a level both back in the day and in contemporary times as death, obsession and betrayal are common entities, well known today and will continue to be known and understood until the end of time. There are many themes that reoccur, all of which relate back to Hamlet's madness, specifically including death, obsession, and betrayal. It has been rumored that Hamlet, the play in this case, is a perfect combo of internal and external forces. Hamlet experiences turmoil, based not only on his inner mental state, but also on the external circumstances of both the murder of his father committed jointly by his mother and the constant spying on him by Claudius and Polonius. In this case, Hamlet mostly likely is just suffering from some mild paranoia..

Claudius and Polonius continue to seek the reason for Hamlet's madness, as they again watch an encounter between Ophelia and Hamlet. The King, not convinced, begins to suspect ulterior motives for Hamlet's madness and decides to send Hamlet to England for the safety of everyone. Hamlet continues with his plan by instructing the players on the basis of the play, to assure that the plan goes accordingly. The stage has been set and everyone arrives at the theatre, and as the play begins Hamlet and Horatio watch Claudius for any suspicious behaviour. As the murder scene of the play arrives, Claudius jumps from his seat, calls for the lights and departs. Hamlet and Horatio, decide the behaviour indicates guilt and revenge must be taken. Frightened by the play, Gertrude sends for Hamlet to meet her, however on the way Hamlet stumbles across a kneeling Claudius who is praying to God. Hamlet contemplates whether or not to kill him, and finally decides by killing Claudius while he is praying will send him to heaven, thus Hamlet decides revenge will be taken at a more appropriate time. Hamlet visits his mother, but during the discussion hears a rustling behind the tapestry and stabs at it. Polonius, who was spying on Hamlet, is killed. In a rage, Hamlet curses the dying man for being a

The play Hamlet is based around the events in Hamlet’s life. Hamlet is the son of the King and Gertrude. At the beginning of the play, the King is killed by his brother Claudius. Claudius than quickly marries Queen Gertrude to obtain the throne. These all cause issues with Hamlet. At first he is just upset at the fact that Gertrude married so quickly, and did not give much time to remorse about the death of the king. This is until he finds out that his father was killed by his uncle, and his uncle had stolen the throne from him. Hamlet was known before all of these issues to already be a short fuse. He had threatened to kill himself several times, and he would have random spurts of rage. Hamlet was filled with so

The play opens after the death of Old Hamlet. Shortly after, Gertrude marries Claudius, who happens to be Hamlet’s uncle. These actions cause Hamlet to believe that his father was murdered by Claudius, who was having an affair with Gertrude. These thoughts angered Hamlet who began to think of ways to kill the king. Throughout the play Hamlet juggles the idea of murdering Claudius back and forth. He even thought of ways to expose what he did. He changed the lines in the play to throw hints to the audience and in his conversation with the queen he inferred that the king was a murderer, but she did not understand. Before the conversation he had with his mother, he had gone to the kings chambers with a sword to kill him. The sight of Claudius down on his knees stopped him. He thought the king was praying for forgiveness. Hamlet believed that by this point if he killed the king he would go to heaven. Hamlet did not want him to go to heaven, therefore, he did not kill him at that time. Soon Hamlet will realize that he should have killed him when he had the chance.

Hamlet inserts a scene into the play that is a recreation of his father’s death, to observe the reaction of the King. With the help of his friend Horatio, they both watch for a look of uneasiness, or guilt, while the King watches the reenactment of his murder. The King stands and demands for play to stop and storms out of the room. Convinced the Ghost was telling the truth, Hamlet decides that he will kill him but that must wait because his mother calls to speak to him. On his way to speak to his mother, he passes by a room and spots Claudius in a vulnerable state, but he could not kill him because he is in a praying position and if he was to kill him he would go to heaven and that is not what Hamlet wants. During his discussion with his mother, he frightens his mother to the point of where she believes he will murder her, so she screams for help and Polonius, who was hiding in her room, attempts to save her, however, Hamlet stabs him with his sword and kills him. After the incident, the King sends Hamlet away to England, with an order of his death, luckily, Hamlets ship was attacked by pirates making him able to escape back to Demark.