hamlet madness essay outline

How is the Theme of Madness Present in Hamlet?

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In Hamlet, Shakespeare takes us to the limit of portraying human minds at work. Through the theme of madness, one can notice how much thoughts can go behind a single action. The Tragedy of Hamlet is a play essentially about making up a human mind and that’s how it touches upon the idea of madness.

In the play, we have Hamlet who is either mad or pretends to be mad, there’s Ophelia who truly gives in to madness, loses her mind and we have Laertes who under the duress loses his reason. When Hamlet confronts the ghost for the first time, it is Horatio who warns that it “ might deprive your sovereignty of reason And draw you into madness? ”.

In Hamlet, one sees the madness for love which is one true madness. Polonius says to Ophelia, “ mad for thy love? ”, “ the very ecstasy(madness) of love ” after she reveals it to him. Shakespeare shows us madness and the sources of madness too.

After the ecstasy of love, it is the grief which turns him towards madness which he can’t notice by himself i.e. when the gravedigger tells him that Hamlet was sent to England because he was mad, he cries out, “ how came he mad? ”.

Hamlet is introduced in the play in a deep mournful state. He is devastated by the fact that his mother didn’t even mourn his father’s death and got seduced by Claudius, his uncle. It is Polonius who labels Hamlet as mad repeatedly. He says to Gertrude that “ your noble son is mad. Mad call I it, for, to define true madness, what is’t but to be nothing else but mad? ”.

He grants him mad and asks to “ find out the cause of this…defect .” But at the same time, one also learns that Hamlet is a supremely conscious character. It is again Polonius who notices that “ though this be madness, yet there is method in’t .”

Guildenstern understands that through “ a crafty madness Hamlet keeps himself aloof .” Throughout the play the question of madness is evoked by various characters, offering us a comprehensive view of it from a different perspective.

Claudius notes Hamlet’s greatness and at the same time utters that “ madness in great ones must not go unwatched. ” In the end, Hamlet’s mother is also unable to understand him and cries out, “ alas, he’s mad! ” So, the play meditates on the error of judging madness on the surface.

Hamlet answers on the true nature of his madness when he says that “I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft.” It clarifies the thematic concerns on madness in the play. Madness can also be a pretention.

The forces which Hamlet was confronting were much larger and powerful than him as an individual so madness becomes his tool to navigate through all those.

Justifying it to the king, he says, “ I here proclaim was madness. ” The wrongs aren’t done by him, “ Hamlet denies it. ” “ who does it then? His madness. ” At the same time, in Ophelia one may notice the true effects of madness.

It is hard to notice whether it is caused by the murder of his father by her own lover or the loss of Hamlet’s love for her or maybe both. Her symptoms are visibly that of losing one’s mind.

She gets “ divided from herself and her fair judgement, without which we are pictures or mere beasts. ” This can be the very reason to assign some madness to Laertes under the shock of revenge. The play meditates upon the varying states of human minds and how under certain duress, they may cross into the realm of madness where reason doesn’t work.

William Shakespeare

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on William Shakespeare's Hamlet . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Hamlet: Introduction

Hamlet: plot summary, hamlet: detailed summary & analysis, hamlet: themes, hamlet: quotes, hamlet: characters, hamlet: symbols, hamlet: literary devices, hamlet: quizzes, hamlet: theme wheel, brief biography of william shakespeare.

Historical Context of Hamlet

Other books related to hamlet.

Full Title: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
When Written: Likely between 1599 and 1602
Where Written: Stratford-upon-Avon or London, England
When Published: First Quarto printed 1603; Second Quarto printed 1604; First Folio printed 1623
Literary Period: Renaissance
Genre: Tragic play; revenge play
Setting: Elsinore Castle, Denmark, during the late Middle Ages
Climax: After seeing Claudius’s emotional reaction to a play Hamlet has had staged in order to make Claudius face a fictionalized version of his own murder plot against the former king, Hamlet resolves to kill the Claudius without guilt.
Antagonist: Claudius
Point of View: Dramatic

Extra Credit for Hamlet

The Role of a Lifetime. The role of Hamlet is often considered one of the most challenging theatrical roles ever written, and has been widely interpreted on stage and screen by famous actors throughout history. Shakespeare is rumored to have originally written the role for John Burbage, one of the most well-known actors of the Elizabethan era. Since Shakespeare’s time, actors John Barrymore, Laurence Olivier, Ian McKellen, Jude Law, Kenneth Branagh, and Ethan Hawke are just a few actors who have tried their hand at playing the Dane. When Daniel Day-Lewis took to the stage as Hamlet in London in 1989, he left the stage mid-performance one night after reportedly seeing the ghost of his real father, the poet Cecil Day-Lewis, and has not acted in a single live theater production since.

Shakespeare or Not? There are some who believe Shakespeare did not actually write many—or any—of the plays attributed to him. The most common “Anti-Stratfordian” theory is that Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays and used Shakespeare as a front man, as aristocrats were not supposed to write plays. Others claim Shakespeare’s contemporaries such as Thomas Kyd or Christopher Marlowe may have authored his works. Most contemporary scholarship, however, supports the idea that the Bard really did compose the numerous plays and poems which have established him, in the eyes of many, as the greatest writer in history.

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Hamlet Madness Essay Examples

The factors and consequnces of madness in hamlet.

Since the first performance of Skakespeare’s Hamlet, the story has incited extensive controversy among scholars, because its characters and story can be interpreted in many different ways. Shakespeare’s various methods of building tension around the main character and the procedure through which Hamlet executes his...

Madness as a Tool for Revenge in Hamlet

The play Hamlet is a Greek tragedy written by William Shakespeare. Hamlet supposedly descends into madness, but this all apart of his plan to avenge the true King, his father. He brilliantly plans out his scheme for his revenge, making him a truly intelligent character....

Hamlet's Madness: a Study of Realism and Feigned Insanity

The enigmatic nature of Hamlet's mental state in William Shakespeare's iconic play "Hamlet" has fueled extensive scholarly debate regarding whether his madness is authentic or merely a calculated façade. This essay embarks on a comprehensive exploration of the complexities surrounding Hamlet's mind, scrutinizing the evidence...

A Controversy Over Hamlet’s Madness in Shakespeare’s Play

The difference between sanity and insanity varies extremely. In some situations, the line between being sane and insane could appear as being very blurred, and in some situations that same line could be plain to see. Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, is certainly not an...

Discussion of Whether Hamlet is Mad Or Just Pretending

“To be or not to be,” chances are you’ve heard this popular phrase,from the play Hamlet. “Hamlet” is a tragedy written by Shakespeare . The play shows how the prince of Denmark also known as Hamlet who is the main character experiences many different and...

Hamlet’s Madness as a Mere Act of Play

In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, insanity is seen as an illness that shifts the mind into absolute madness. This 'illness' strips the mind of reason and awareness, creating grave disturbance for a human begin. Throughout various points during the play, Hamlet is convincingly portrayed as a...

Analysis of Hamlet’s Meticulously Crafted Insanity in Shakespeare’s Play

Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark, the title character, and the hero of the play. He is the son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet. The present king who happens to be his mother’s new husband is his uncle Claudius. Hamlet is also...

Different Meanings of Madness in Hamlet

Shakespeare’s Hamlet demonstrates madness in the characters of Hamlet and Ophelia. These two characters endure similar circumstances which result in their displaying signs of madness. Hamlet’s madness remains under scrutiny regarding whether it was real or manufactured. The character of Hamlet was melancholic, maniacal, neurotic,...

The Ways Plath and Shakespeare Present Mental Illness in Hamlet and the Bell Jar

The human condition of melancholia remains consistent throughout history, and the presentation of mental illness remains a regular theme in literature. Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ (1609) is an exploration of the complexities of a human mind breached by loss, and an exposé of human melancholia. Sylvia Plath’s...

The Relation of Madness and Human Nature in Hamlet

Madness is a theme shown in many different literary works as it explores the limitations and expectations of human nature. In the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare, real and feigned madness results in characters such as Hamlet and Ophelia to lose their rationality and...

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