Schizophrenia In Hamlet

To start, Hamlet shows his insanity through his blinding rage. While visiting his mother in her room to discuss his outrage with her marriage, Hamlet becomes destructive. He throws his mother around the room, grabbing her and screaming at her. All this commotion scares Gertrude, his mother, and causes her to scream out “What wilt thou do? Thou wilt not murder me? / Help, Ho!”(III.iv.23-33). Gertrude is so scared of her son and who he has become that she believes that he will kill her. This shows that Hamlet is delusional because he reaches a point in which he is threatening his mother, a woman who his fathers ghost warned him about mistreating. Hamlets rage takes over his mind and does not allow him to think clearly.

Hamlet, a Shakespearean character, constantly struggles in a battle with his mind. He leads a very trying life that becomes too much for him to handle. Hamlet experiences hardships so horrible and they affect him so greatly that he is unable escape his dispirited mood. In speaking what he feels, Hamlet reveals his many symptoms of depression, a psychological disorder. While others can move on with life, Hamlet remains in the past. People do not understand his behavior and some just assume he is insane. However, Hamlet is not insane. He only pretends to be mad. Because Hamlet never receives treatment for his disorder, it only gets worse and eventually contributes to his death.

Madness is defined as “mental delusion and the eccentric behavior arising from it.” In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the delusional state that Hamlet embodies has to be seen with a “discerning Eye.” While Hamlet claims his insanity is simply an antic disposition, his awareness of his deteriorating mental state is questionable. This state of madness can be judged reasonable as it allows him to investigate and avenge the unexpected death of his father. Consequently, Hamlet’s insanity results in a ripple effect, causing madness to become a central theme in the play through its effect on both Laertes and Ophelia.

Another disorder Hamlet could fall under is Schizophrenia. Since nobody else throughout the play see the ghost, nobody really knows if this ghost is real or if it's just a figment of Hamlet's imagination. This could be Hamlet Hallucinating which is a big part of diagnosing Schizophrenia. He also shows negative symptoms, which basically is Hamlet being negative about what the outcome will be the whole play. He’s never really confident in what’s going to happen, he tries to set traps but something crazy always comes around the corner. There is no way to be certain that it’s Schizophrenia though; It doesn't seem likely that Hamlet is having delusions because he doesn’t think other people can hear what he’s thinking. He is always strong minded in the thought that his thoughts are his and

He seems to develop this sense of madness or insanity when the ghost appears, and tends to show it throughout the story. Hamlet seems to put on a different face when he sees the ghost, it is like he changed into a completely different person. He views the ghost as an illusion when he quotes "I'll cross it through it blast me.- Stay, illusion" (l.l.ln 127). Hamlet wanted the ghost to be viewed pretty far from his

    Hamlet’s insanity and emotional vulnerability was shown after his interaction with his deceased father’s ghost. In the article Was Hamlet Insane, by the newspaper The Open Court in April 1904, their own analysis agrees with this, as they state, “Indeed, even before Horatio and Marcellus had rejoined him, there is a trace of whimsicality, when Hamlet is musing on what his old father had told him, pauses to write on his tablets what occurs to him as a clever epigram. Where Hamlet, in this scene, passes beyond the line of sanity.” This statement is simply stating that Hamlet was even showing insanity before Horatio and Marcellus got back to him. This only shows how deeply influenced and vulnerable his feeble mind was. Hamlet seems even aware of the changes going on in his mind. Hamlet thinks about his moral dilemma very hard and

Hamlet has come for his session with the support of Horatio as asked. Born into royalty, and defined as someone who ‘everyone loves’, with many friends and a girlfriend like ophelia, life is not what Hamlet perceived to be. Hamlet grew up admiring his father, as his father is now gone he seeks vengeance. As he always doubts himself when he is right, hamlet finds himself in a tough situation where he is unable to gather his emotions properly and becomes cynical and bitter towards Claudius due to what the ghost had told him. Hamlet finds himself trying to get revenge but restates in the session what he said when he was going to kill Claudius, “Now might I do it, pat, now

“The spirit that I have seen/ may be the devil, and the devil hath power/ T' assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps, out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me” (II, ii, 561-565). The appearance of his father’s spirit has Hamlet examining his own sanity. He believes the ghost might be the devil trying to tempt him to murder Claudius for no reason. I don’t believe that Hamlet’s sanity should ever be questioned in regards to the sighting of his father. Since Hamlet’s friends have also seen the ghost, the audience is more likely to believe Hamlet is not merely hallucinating these late night sightings of Hamlet Senior out of

The conversation between him and Polonius in act 2, scene 2 when he called Polonius a fishmonger and he goes further and insults him with remarks on his daughter and also hamlet’s act of killing Polonius as if he thought that he was his uncle. His talk with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about the honesty of the world and his talk with Ophelia in the nunnery scene i which he insults her and advise her to join a convent to escape breeding sinners and his obscene talk with her in the play scene and also the way he was talking to his mother in an insulting way. They are all proof that Hamlet's madness started to take control of him. Hamlet’s madness also caused Ophelia's

Madness is one of the central themes of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and has many effects on the characters and the complexity and depth of the plot. Insanity is apparent in small amounts in almost all of the characters in the play. It can range from full on insanity, to only shades of madness. Madness occurs in a character when he or she breaks the social norms, and acts oddly or rashly when spoken to or asked to carry out a task. Hamlet’s storyline revolves around the recurring theme of madness, which influences the characters and plot by adding intrigue to the character of Hamlet, causing death and drama, and spreading itself throughout the characters like a virus.

Samuel Coleridge believes that Hamlet “loses the power of action in the energy of resolve”(Lectures and Notes on Shakespeare and Other English Poets. He believes that Hamlet ‘paralysis’ his own ability to act upon a situation by thinking too much about it. Unlike Sigmund Freud, Samuel Coleridge suggests that, “Hamlet is brave and careless of death”(Lectures and Notes on Shakespeare and Other English Poets). A.C Bradley believes that Hamlet is neither indecisive, or afraid, but believes that, “Hamlet [is] not far from insanity” (Shakespearean Tragedy). A.C Bradley believes that the shock that Hamlet has received by his fathers death and his mothers remarriage has made Hamlet insane, thus affecting his ability to act. It would not be incorrect to think this for there are many times throughout the play where Hamlet is seen showing signs of near insanity. A common theory to prove this is Hamlets visions of the ghost. Readers believe that the reason as to why only Hamlet can see the ghost is that the ghost is only a figment of Hamlets imagination. This would evidently mean that Hamlet has reached the point of insanity. These are some of the additional beliefs of critiques as to why Hamlet delays his revenge on

Shakespeare creates Hamlet’s state of mind in such way that it is not clear whether he is really in a state of madness or if he is acting throughout the play. Madness the main theme in Hamlet, and most of it surrounds the main character, Hamlet. Because after the Ghost appeared it made Hamlet and the others that were there with hamlet when the ghost appeared question existence, but also their own sake for believing that the Ghost does really exists. Also, Ophelia suffers from a sort of madness after Polonius her father is murdered and Hamlet’s possible deception. But the main madness comes from hamlet because of the Ghost.

One of the arguments surrounding the play Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, is focused on whether Hamlet is either insane or pretending to be. The cause of Hamlet’s madness, whether it is compulsory or not, is questioned. This is unlike many other books or plays in which the “Discerning Eye” could decide whether the character is meant to be mad or not. This may lead to a possibility of multiple interpretations of the character. Hamlet’s aberrant behavior could be viewed as reasonable, or at least have some reasonable thinking. It could also be viewed as complete madness.  In the play, in spite of his troubles, Hamlet’s moot choice to be mad characterizes himself as intelligent and wily, revealing his turmoil surrounding his obligation to avenge his father.

King Hamlet’s Ghost is one of the several arguments that leaves the reader questioning Hamlet’s true sanity. Though The Ghost of Hamlet’s father may only appear a few times throughout the play, his role is crucial in understanding Hamlet’s madness. In Act 1, The Ghost is introduced to Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus. However, this is the sole scene in the play in which anyone other than Hamlet has contact with The Ghost. In fact, no character other than Hamlet has any dialogue with The Ghost throughout the entire play - leading the reader to challenge whether or not The Ghost is a mere fragment of Hamlet’s imagination. Moreover, Hamlet’s impending madness is even foreshadowed in Act I with The

Has Hamlet gone insane? Hamlet is the main character in The Tragedy of Hamlet by Shakespeare. He is a very interesting character who poses many different qualities. He is by far the most difficult character to figure out. He is so difficult that characters in the play itself can’t figure him out. The whole play revolves around Hamlet’s character and what he’s up too. Many believe that hamlet is crazy or mentally ill. Hamlet shows many signs of being diagnosed with schizophrenia.