Is Hamlet Mad - Essay Example

Two human beings cannot state the same answer to this pertinent question, because the human mind essentially thinks differently. However, this question is a matter of urgency for the reader, because the reader is confronted with this idea repeatedly, as the dialogues and scenes are ‘played out in the mind’s eyes’ (Rieger, 1994). The question begs an answer, but it cannot be a definite one, because there are essentially many Hamlets in the play, recurring differently in various scenes, and perhaps the reader may be able to catch a glimpse of the idea that Hamlet’s madness is ‘crafted’.
According to Mounet, “By stimulating madness, in the great emotional moments, he (Hamlet) comes very close to becoming it.” After all, Hamlet himself confesses that ‘It hath made me mad’. Sometimes, Hamlet is seen not to have any control over his emotions, when he yells at his mother, even when she tells him to stop. Could it be because of his extreme sadness at the cruel murder of his father, which has led to his fits of rage? Or his sadness has triggered him to go completely insane with grief? Additionally, in Act Two, Scene One, Ophelia describes Hamlet’s appearance to be highly devilish, and she states ‘to speak of horror, he comes before me’. In addition, Ophelia is deeply scared because she believes that Hamlet has gone mad. Even Ophelia’s father states that Hamlet is “mad for love”. One could perhaps even grasp the idea that Hamlet may have raged upon Ophelia because she had been advised by her father to reject his letters, which is why Hamlet feels betrayed. Psychologically speaking, his madness could have been triggered by this betrayal, because he feels that his mother had betrayed his father, by marrying his uncle, Claudius. Perhaps, he saw Ophelia be made of the same sort? Additionally, one way that the reader could seriously see Hamlet being prone to fits of madness, is because of the continuous appearance of the ghost in his life, and how Hamlet lets the ghost control his actions and thoughts. The Ghost is linked to the idea of Hamlet’s insanity. Horatio claims in Act One, Scene Four that the Ghost could deprive ‘Hamlet of sovereignty and reason. And draw him to madness.” In Act Two, Scene Two, Hamlet ponders over the idea of experiencing hallucinations, because of the ‘melancholy state’ that he is in. He starts to think over the idea that perhaps his madness could be because of the Ghost’s deceptive power.
However, one can also point towards the idea that perhaps Hamlet is not mad, but he pretends to be mad so that he can fool Claudius. The reader would notice particular evidence of this in the play. Hamlet vows at the beginning of the play in Act One Scene Five that he would act ‘strange or odd” and “put an antic disposition on”. Even much later, his old school-fellow also claims in Act Three, Scene One that Hamlet has “a crafty madness”. This translates into the idea that perhaps the madness is just an act. Furthermore, when he is making the arrangements of the ‘staged play’ with Horatio, Hamlet claims in Act Three, Scene Two, “I must be idle”. Is he stating that he would act “foolish”? However, his comments at the end of the play do not illustrate in any way that he is a lunatic. Furthermore, when he later speaks to his mother in Act Three, Scene Four, he assures her that he has been simply acting mad, to achieve something, as the lines from the play elucidate “I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft” (Shakespeare online, n.d).
Strikingly, one can also notice that Hamlet is not at all ‘mad’ or ‘insane’, because Ophelia’s madness is a stark juxtaposition to Hamlet’s feigned madness. Ophelia has lost all sense of everything. She sings nonsensical songs, as illustrated in Act Four, Scene Five. Read More