Hamlet: Is Hamlet Crazy Or Insane?

Many people have seen Hamlet as a play about uncertainty and about Hamlet's failure to act appropriately. It is very interesting to consider that the play shows many uncertainties that lives are built upon, or how many unknown quantities are taken for granted when people act or when they evaluate one another's actions. Hamlet is an especially intriguing production, both on the set and on the screen because of its uniqueness to be different from what most people expect to be in a revenge themed play. Hamlet's cynicism and insane like behavior cause him to seem indecisive, but in reality he is always judging and contemplating his actions in the back of his mind in order to seek revenge for the murder of

     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.

One of William Shakespeare's most well- known characters is Hamlet. This story has a great plot and entices the reader throughout the entire play. A controversial part of the play is whether the main character Hamlet is sane or insane. Readers may argue that Hamlet is insane, but, due to his cunning remarks and decisive plans, Hamlet is not mad, but instead completely sane.

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

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.

Is Hamlet truly insane? Has Hamlet been faking his insanity to trick those around him so it doesn’t come as a surprise when he is to kill his uncle? Or has the death of his father, King Hamlet driven young Hamlet to true insanity? In this piece the topic of whether Hamlet may be insane and why he isn’t insane will be discussed. You will hear what I believe about Hamlet and what I think he is really doing.

Throughout the play of Hamlet, one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedy's the main character, Hamlet is faced with the responsibility of getting vengeance for his father's murder. He decides to pretend madness as part of his plan to get the opportunity to kill Claudius who was the suspected murderer. As the play goes on, his portrayal of a madman becomes believable, and the characters around him respond quite vividly. Through his inner thoughts and the obvious reasons for his actions, it is clear that he is not really mad and is simply an actor faking insanity in order to complete the duty his father assigned him.

The insanity of a person can be contributed through the trauma that is caused by a few events in a person’s life, but in the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare wrote the main character prince Hamlet experiences a few dramatic events from the play which his attitude changes throughout. In order to figure out whether hamlet is insane is by figuring out what the characteristics of his insanity. Characters see Hamlet in different shades of gray, each side more or less sane than others. His sanity can be his truth or his lie.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet tells the interesting tale of a prince put in peculiar situation. After his father has been murdered by his uncle, he watches as his uncle then marries his mother becoming the king. As upsetting as this is, Hamlet does not act until given orders to kill his uncle by the ghost of his father. After the meeting with his father’s ghost, Hamlet starts to act crazy. Contrary to published criticisms, Hamlet is faking psychosis throughout his journey to cover up his true plans.

When one performs an act several times, eventually that act will become natural. Aristotle once said: “You are what you repeatedly do.” In William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, Hamlet acts insane after he finds out his father has been murdered by his uncle. Now that his uncle is King, Hamlet hopes to kill him. Hamlet himself is not mad, but he acts as if he is to hopefully get away with more than usual.

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 went through a lot of things. His dad was murdered by his uncle, who married his mother. That alone would make many people go insane. Hamlet is insane because he gets confused, sees ghosts, and admits to being mentally ill. That is the just the surface. His actions and dialogue provide concrete evidence. It is a very controversial question.

Moreover, Hamlet believes that pretending to be insane will help him discover the truth about his father’s death and uncle’s guilt. This hypothesis is not at all logical and, in the end, Hamlet “catch[es] the conscience of the king” (2.2.567) with an edited play. Another case for Hamlet being sane is that when he is alone, his thoughts are very thorough. However, though they are thorough, they are not always coherent.

The play Hamlet was written by William Shakespeare between 1599 and 1601. Shakespeare was a “dramatist, whose job was to entertain and edify audiences”(Bevington 3) he wrote plays making you view and see both sides of the play. Hamlet presents himself as "mad north-north-west" (II.ii.376), defining himself that he is mad sometimes and sane other times. Hamlet transforms among sanity and insanity, this does not help him in seeking revenge against his uncle that the king wishes him to do. With his own melancholy thoughts, Hamlet often is remembered as taking his own life.

In Hamlet, he seems to be mad, but there is a question that everyone asks when reading or watching this play “was it, or was it not true that Hamlet was faking his insanity, really suffering, or maybe even both.” First, this is what insanity is: insanity is acting crazy, but not knowing that they’re acting crazy. Also, it’s going through a lot of stress at the same time causing you to act stranger then a normal person. Hamlet was not totally insane. It doesn’t fit.