HAMLET MADNESS

Introduction

One of the most analyzed plays in existence in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, with its recurring question: “Is Hamlet’s madness feigned or real?” This question can only be answered through the portrayal of his character when he is associated with the other characters in the play. In Shakespeare’s play Prince Hamlet pretends to insane or mad, in order to thwart and baffle those who prevent him in his quest for revenge.

In the 16th century, mental health issues were understood very differently than they are in the 21st century. The term “madness” could be interpreted as indicating several types of illness from which Hamlet probably suffers, including bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. There is no doubt that Hamlet decides to feign illness in order to distract Claudius from his activities in uncovering his father’s murderer, whom he believes is Claudius.

Hamlets madness, real or feigned?

“Colour me in kindness,Cover me with love.I am blessed.You're burying your father,You're burying your son,You are dead.I know nothing of real pain,I'm a child and I am spoiled.I hate myself for my complaints,I'm pathetic and I'm bored.I cry simply at the thought.I crumble at the sight.If I ever had to feel, II would fall to my kneesAnd pray for God to save me.”

Interactions with Claudius

Hamlet slowly loses parts of his personality and correspondingly loses his sanity because of his obsession with getting revenge on Claudius

"Hamlet: 'We'll have to-morrow night. You could for a need,study a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines, whichI would set down, and the insert isn’t, could you not?'"

• ·        This is the first sign of Hamlet's madness that the audience sees.
• ·        Hamlet normally overthinks and overanalyses situations and in this case, he does not think enough.
• ·        Hamlet still had his morality and did not want to kill Claudius if he was not guilty.
• ·        To keep his morality, he lost his logical thinking.
• ·        This resulted in him losing his sanity and acting on instinct.
• ·        Claudius being confirmed as the killer angered him and he let his anger take over his mind.

Secondary Source

Hamlet seems like a kind, young gentleman and is easily able to mask his madness. Hamlet loses his father and then eventually loses his life to his "new father," after trying to get revenge for the death of his father. He hasn't had to make hard decisions, up until the death of his father and meeting his ghost. Hamlet is a coward and because of this, he cannot avenge his father's murder. Keeping it inside causes him to go mad. He feels very sad about his father's death but is not able to go through with getting revenge because there is no clarity in his mind. He shoves his feelings away and accepts that things may not work out the way he wanted to. In doing so he also accepts the madness.

Interactions with Gertrude

Hamlets interaction with his mother, Gertrude, plays a large part in his sanity because in the play we find out that her character lies to him constantly. In the play Gertrude marries Hamlet’s uncle Claudius after the death of Hamlet’s father. Throughout the play, we see that this makes a large impact on hamlet. We find out that Claudius is Hamlet’s father’s killer and that Gertrude could potentially have had a part of the murder. When Hamlet finds this out by his father's ghost he tells him that he cannot harm his mother “But virtue, as it never will be moved, Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven, So lust, though to a radiant angel linked, Will sate itself in a celestial bed And prey on garbage”. The ghost explains that Hamlet cannot be harmed by him because they are not sure if she was actually a part of the crime. This causes problems for Hamlet because his mother could potentially be the killer or accomplice to his father's death and Hamlet is not allowed to do anything about it. At one point in the play, Hamlet is furious with his mother, ending in accidentally killing Polonius. In this point in the play, we see Hamlet's real breaking point of faking madness and being really mad. “A bloody deed; almost as bad, good mother, As kill a king, and marry with his brother”. At this point, Hamlet has officially cracked and murdered someone. He now knows the truth about his mother and this is his turning point. He is so mad at his mother because she is supposed to be the one that is always there for him but all she does is lie.

Secondary Source

In Hamlet, he constantly has to be quiet. He can’t let anyone know about his plan or it will ruin it. In the end, the silence and planning kill him. I connected Hamlet's madness driven by silence to the song Car Radio by 21 Pilots. The lyrics “Sometimes quiet is violent, I find it hard to hide it, my pride is no longer inside, it’s on my sleeve, my skin will scream, reminding me of who I killed inside my dream, I hate this car that I’m driving, there’s no hiding for me, I’m forced to deal with what I feel, there is no distraction to mask what is real, I could pull the steering wheel” is a connection to how Hamlet has to constantly be quiet but forced to deal with all of these problems on his own. The part of the lyric “Sometimes quiet is violent” represents how being quiet actually damaged Hamlet more than helping him. He constantly had to work around people and keep to himself, which was difficult for him. As well as the lyric “I hate this car that I’m driving” represents how he hates that his life has come to not being able to trust his own mother. He hates his life because he has been finding lately that everything that he believed was a complete lie. Lastly the lyric “I could pull the steering wheel” represents how Hamlet finally goes insane and pulls the steering wheel which is his madness. Pulling the steering wheel represents his final breaking point when he doesn’t care anymore. He completely turns his life, like a steering wheel and changes everything that he believes in.

Interactions with Polonius

All of Polonius's plans to get information from Hamlet slowly caused him to go insane. Even though Polonius is not directly talking to Hamlet whoever Polonius has sent to talk to Hamlet leads him to not trust anyone and isolate himself from everyone.

“My lord, he’s going to his mother’s closet. Behind the arras I’ll convey myself To hear the process I’ll warrant she’ll tax him home:”

·        The plan to listen in on Hamlet's conversation with his mother is the main reason Hamlet goes completely insane.

·        Hamlets fear is that people are watching his every move when Polonius starts freaking out from behind the drape about what Hamlet is saying to his mother, Hamlet thinks it is his uncle and lunges forward and stabs him only to find out it is Polonius.

·        Once all of Hamlet's sanity is gone the King sends him to England to be killed.

Secondary Source

“If I'm a bad person, you don't like me. Well, I guess I'll make my own way”

Connect to Polonius and how Hamlet does not like him nor does he trust him, this causes Polonius to have to take matters into his own hands and keep coming up with plans.

“Well, you treat me just like another stranger. Well, it's nice to meet you, sir. I guess I'll go, I best be on my way out”

This part of the song is like the time in the play when Hamlet acts like he doesn’t know who Polonius is or if he had a daughter.

“This is the best thing that could've happened. Any longer, and I wouldn't have made it”

This part of the song is like Polonius saying that it was better for Hamlet to have killed him because he has not been able to figure out why Hamlet is crazy and the King might have killed

“Ignorance is your new best friend”

I feel that this connects straight to Polonius because through everything he does to try and gain information he is only thinking about himself and how it will benefit him, he never once thinks about the consequences of his actions and how it will affect others.

Conclusion

In Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, corruption within Hamlets life and his unhealthy obsession with a vengeance are the main causes of his madness which embodies his character. This is shown within his interactions with Claudius, Gertrude, and Polonius.