Insanity In Shakespeare's Hamlet

On the other hand, Laertes wants to revenge his father’s death. Therefore this mistake murder leads Hamlet to his downfall as Claudius and Laertes want to kill him.

Laertes also brings revenge and betrayal out of Hamlet. Though an enemy, Laertes is a foil to Hamlet. Laertes helps in the development of Hamlet through the similarities they share. These include anger over the death of their fathers, and desire to exact revenge. Betrayal is also relevant because Laertes betrays Claudius in the end, revealing his plan to kill Hamlet. Hamlet betrays his father by verbally abusing his mother, against the wishes of his father. The differences between the two men are very strong. Hamlet would not kill Claudius in the church because he was praying. Laertes, however stated that he would kill Hamlet in a church, praying or not. Another difference is that Hamlet cannot be a man of action and a man of thought at the same time. He does not use his mind when he acts. He just acts. When he is pondering something, he is unable to act out his thoughts, and keeps quiet. Laertes, however, is able to act while thinking. He finds out that Hamlet killed his father and immediately devises a plan to kill him. This flaw makes Hamlet dangerous to himself, and is ultimately his downfall.

Laertes loses his family because of Hamlet’s actions. His father is killed by him and his sister kills herself because of her grief. Laertes and King Claudius begin to plot Hamlet’s murder, planning to poison him, by drink or wound, whichever comes first. However, the plan backfires on the both of them and Laertes dies from his own blade, but not before saying “The King, the King’s to blame.”

Insanity is an interesting topic to explore, tricky to determine and potentially deadly to those around the affected person. Although most people in society are sane beings, many argue that Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is not sane. His actions are not that of a sane person, but rather of a grieving man who is driven to his death by his insane lust for revenge.

Hamlet is a young man who has become crazy from his trials and tribulations in life. He lost his father due to his uncle murdering them and then had to watch his mother marry the killer. Hamlets insanity can be demonstrated by his crude language and disregard for the well being of his mother. It can also be shown by his depression, which causes him to second guess everything including his life and finally his love, Ophelia helps to justify his absurdness by acting as a mirror. His foolish behavior worries many in the kingdom and creates a hostile and paranoid environment for those around. While some in the castle may believe that Hamlet is putting on an act, he proves that he is mad through his violet actions, his mental health and Ophelia.

Laertes is mourning the loss of his sister, yet Hamlet immediately tries to turn the attention to himself as he claims he loved Ophelia more and would do anything to prove it. After Laertes and Hamlet have a physical fight in Ophelia’s grave, over her body, Hamlet begins attacking Laertes with words.

The play, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, surrounds the central idea of revenge and betrayal. Revenge drives the characters and determines their actions throughout the play, which results in several instances of betrayal. With revenge, the friendship and loyalty of characters are tested and conflicts are established between characters. Hamlet’s father, the king of Denmark, was helplessly poisoned by his own brother, Claudius. Hamlet, the protagonist, becomes aware of his father’s death and finds himself seeking revenge and starting a cycle of hatred. Hamlet embarks on his journey for revenge by displaying an act of craziness. Throughout the play, there were several moments where Hamlet’s actions caused confusion and made it difficult for

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, there is a constant theme of madness, which stems from unholy desires. The sinful desire of seeking revenge through killing another brought madness upon Hamlet. Ophelia’s unholy desire to be with Hamlet caused Ophelia to go mad. The madness seen in the characters of Hamlet is created from the overall unholy and sinful desires within the characters.

Sometimes the reasons for being mad change, “O, my prophetic soul! My uncle!” (1.5.48) is when Hamlet discovers from the ghost of his father that his uncle is the cause of his father’s death, and this causes his first bout of madness. His reason for being mad changes; “I did repel his letters and denied his access to me. That hath made him mad” (2.2.121-123), he becomes mad because Ophelia has not contacted him, and is now beginning to act mentally insane. This is important to notice because Hamlet very quickly goes from completely ready to avenge his father, to being so mentally incapable of even functioning correctly due to the absence of Ophelia. Sometimes, the feelings of madness don’t change, but rather who they are felt towards. This happens with Laertes after his father’s murder; “And, like the kind life-rend’ring pelican, Repast them with my blood” (4.5.168-169) and “To cut his throat i’ th’ church” (4.7.144), which is when he is told by king Claudius that Hamlet is to blame for his father’s death. Immediately after this his madness becomes fueled by Hamlet’s actions. These changes in feelings between characters show how a single person’s feelings may change at any given minute, and the person’s usual way of making decisions is changed.

Laertes is determined to get revenge on Hamlet now since the cause of his fathers death, by Hamlet. They plot to kill Hamlet in the final scene, Laertes, and Claudius are the ones plotting the revenge.

Gertrude realizes Hamlet’s madness after this and speaks to Claudius about it. Hamlet is so paranoid that he kills the once love of his lives father and doesn’t even feel guilty about it even after he finds out who it truly was behind that curtain.

Madness. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary assigns four aspects to madness, (1) insanity, (2) extreme folly , (3) rage, or (4) ecstasy and enthusiasm (“Folly”, “Madness”). The question being addressed here is if Hamlet’s appearance of madness helps him enact revenge on Claudius, and how madness has impacted Hamlet’s identity as a character. To answer this question, a more fundamental question must be answered: Is Hamlet mad, and if so, which of the four aspects of madness does he exemplify? The impact on Hamlet’s character is different depending on the definition of madness.

Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous work of tragedy. Throughout the play the title character, Hamlet, tends to seek revenge for his father’s death. Shakespeare achieved his work in Hamlet through his brilliant depiction of the hero’s struggle with two opposing forces that hunt Hamlet throughout the play: moral integrity and the need to avenge his father’s murder. When Hamlet sets his mind to revenge his fathers’ death, he is faced with many challenges that delay him from committing murder to his uncle Claudius, who killed Hamlets’ father, the former king. During this delay, he harms others with his actions by acting irrationally, threatening Gertrude, his mother, and by killing Polonius which led into the madness and death of Ophelia.

“Don't waste your time on revenge those that hurt you, will eventually face their own karma.” in this quote it's explaining by saying that people should just stop the revenge and just move on with their lives and forget it. In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses revenge as a major theme present throughout the work. Revenge plays a crucial role in the development of Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and Laertes, son of Polonius,ophelia. These men were all searching for revenge for their fathers.

Polonius had suggested that talking to Gertrude, Hamlet might be able to tell her what is wrong with his behaviour and why he is acting that way. While Hamlet and Gertrude talk, Polonius eavesdrops on their conversation by listening from behind the curtain. Polonius screams for help, and Hamlet thinks that it is Claudius so he stabs the