A Sane Hamlet Research Paper

In Shakespeare's play Hamlet the main character Hamlet experiences many different and puzzling emotions. He toys with the idea of killing himself and then plays with the idea of murdering others. Many people ask themselves who or what is this man and what is going on inside his head. The most common question asked about him is whether or not he is sane or insane. Although the door seems to swing both ways many see him as a sane person with one thought on his mind, and that is revenge. The first point of his sanity is while speaking with Horatio in the beginning of the play, secondly is the fact of his wittiness with the other characters and finally, his soliloquy.

Throughout the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, the main character is given the overwhelming responsibility of avenging his father’s "foul and most unnatural murder" (I.iv.36). Such a burden can slowly drive a man off the deep end psychologically. Because of this, Hamlet’s disposition is extremely inconsistent and erratic throughout the play. At times he shows signs of uncontrollable insanity. Whenever he interacts with the characters he is wild, crazy, and plays a fool. At other times, he exemplifies intelligence and method in his madness. In instances when he is alone or with Horatio, he is civilized and sane. Hamlet goes through different stages of insanity throughout the story, but his neurotic and skeptical personality amplifies his

Prior to his father’s death, Hamlet is portrayed as perfectly sane. Hamlet is friends with Horatio, Guildenstern, and Rosencrantz. Such friendship depicts sanity, as only sane people can make friends. Hamlet has an affection towards Ophelia. This also defines sanity. It means that Hamlet is normal and has feelings just like any other person. Sanity involves being able to make right decisions. Throughout the play, Hamlet is able to make rational decisions, just like a sane man would do. When his father’s ghost appears, he resolves to speak rather than running away. Hamlet also displays rational thinking when during the court scene he is able to cleverly prove that Claudius killed his father. In Act 2, Scene 2, Hamlet displays rational thinking and the know-how that his father was murdered, contrary to the belief that he died of other causes. Hamlet says, “That I, the son of a

Was Hamlet insane? Scholars have debated this question ever since Shakespeare presented this play to the public. Although I am not a scholar, I believe that there is enough evidence in the play to suggest Hamlet had been sane. He may have been depressed and angry however this was due to the treachery and betrayal contaminating Denmark. The insanity act had been an instrument to allow Hamlet the freedom to achieve his goal of revenge.

On the other hand, Hamlet acts perfectly sane when acting insane is unnecessary. When he talks to Horatio about watching Claudius for signs of guilt during the play, he says ?Give him heedful note, for I mine eyes will rivet his face, and, after, we will both our judgments join in censure of his seeming (3.2.87).? His words to Horatio are those of a sane man. Horatio is one of the few people to whom he does not need to prove he is ?insane,? and as such, he does not try. Also, when he is explaining to the players how to act, he is surprisingly organized and natural sounding. For example, he asks ?You could, for a need, study a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines, which I would set down and insert in ?t, could you not (2.2.565)?? His question is direct and simple as all his instructions are, and it seems that the player not only understands completely, but also is comfortable with Hamlet and what he asks. It is much more plausible that a sane man could play an insane one, than an insane man could play a sane one, and so reason would deem Hamlet sensible.

mother? Is he in fact sane and the world mad for failing to understand the

   Hamlet contains the classic argument between whether or not Hamlet is mad, or a sane man under difficult circumstances. Hamlet assumes antic-disposition at times to uncover the truth of his father's death.  From my perspective I believe that Hamlet's actions and thoughts are a logical response to the situation in which he finds himself.

Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" is about a complex protagonist, Hamlet, who faces adversity and is destined to murder the individual who killed his father. Hamlet is a character who although his actions and emotions may be one of an insane person, in the beginning of the book it is clear that Hamlet decides to fake madness in order for his plan to succeed in killing Claudius. Hamlet is sane because throughout the play he only acts crazy in front of certain people, to others he acts properly and displays proper prince like behavior who is able to cope with them without sounding crazy, and even after everything that has been going on in his life he is able to take revenge by killing his father's murderer. In the play Hamlet by William

To fully comprehend the density of each character throughout the play of Hamlet, I believe that as readers we should analyze the characters as a whole person and not just classify them as sane or insane. However, Hamlet was plagued with such tragedy. The tragedy exhibited throughout the play brought on vengeful behavior from each character. Perhaps, readers confuse extreme vengeance with absolute insanity. Although, insanity affects characters, thoughts, and actions in the play by the drive to avenge a loved one.

Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, must seek revenge for the murder of his father. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to murder Claudius. Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes more and more believable in his act, even convincing his mother that he is crazy. However, through his thoughts, and actions, the reader can see that he is in fact putting up an act, he is simply simulating insanity to help fulfil his fathers duty of revenge. Throughout the play, Hamlet shows that he understands real from fake, right from wrong and his enemies from his friends. Even in his madness, he retorts and is clever in his speech and has full

This being because in the beginning the reader can easily see that Hamlet is depressed because of recent events in his life, and decides to pretend to be mad in order to gather information that will confirm the ghost's story. He chooses madness for several reasons including it fits right into his melancholy. However it is a fine line between pretending to be crazy and really being mentally ill. This leads the reader to question if hamlet ever crosses the thin line set before him in the play of sanity and

Marxist/Economic determinist criticism, was a theory founded by Karl Marx in the nineteenth century (1818-1883). Marx based his theory on the struggle, “between segregated classes, the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’, this includes the bourgeoisie—those who control the world’s natural, economic, and human resources—and the proletariat, the majority of the global population who live in substandard conditions” (Tyson, 54). The fundamental groundings emphasize the ‘superstructure’ of ideology (religion, arts, philosophy, politics and law) expressing the concerns of the upper class.

Hamlet is not truly insane because whenever he is pretending to be mad, everything he says has a hidden meaning. This is seen when he talks to Polonius:

In Shakespeare’s play called Hamlet, an heir to the Danish throne name Hamlet saw a ghost whom resemble that of his father. The Ghost told Hamlet that he was murdered by his brother, Claudius, and wants Hamlet to seek vengeance for him. At first Hamlet was hell bent on bringing down Claudius and his mother Gertrude for the murder of his father, then he started rethinking about the whole situation. He began to assume that the Ghost was actually sent by the devil to make him commit a crime. Hamlet asked his friend Horatio to help him discovered the truth about what had happened.

From the very beginning of the play, Hamlet is less of a person and more of an actor in his own life. After being told by the ghost of his father that Claudius is the murderer of his father, Hamlet slips into a new skin, one of a crazy, depressed son of a king. “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/To put an antic disposition on” (I.v.176-177). For centuries, the question of Hamlet’s insanity has baffled readers and English enthusiasts alike; the main debate: is Hamlet’s craziness fake or real? The answer is yes, he is both pretending to be crazy and is actually crazy. The events that occur throughout Hamlet and Hamlet’s actions drive him to madness and he uses more instability to cover it up. He acts mad to find out if Claudius has killed his father, but becomes truly mad after he kills Polonius, drives Ophelia to insanity and she dies, and when he causes the deaths of Laertes and Claudius. By the end of the play, appearance and reality have meshed together into the same truth and Hamlet’s facade of insanity has driven him to commit acts that make him lose his mind and cause his untimely death.