Hamlet is INSANE

Hamlet is INSANE

We say that Hamlet was sane before the action of the play, but many plot complications drove him to mad.

Hamlet is Crazy because of the way he treats people

If Hamlet had control over his sanity, he would speak harsh words to the woman he loved

If Hamlet never loved Ophelia, fighting Laertes would not have been logical

Therefore Hamlet is irrational

Ophelia

If Hamlet had control over his sanity, he would speak harsh words to the woman he loved

If Hamlet never loved Ophelia, fighting Laertes would not have been logical

Jumping in her grave was disrespectful and pointless

Therefore Hamlet is irrational

Crude Comments

“Hamlet treats those whom he treat with dignity and respect as if they were trash” (Antic Disposition).

In Act 3 Hamlet does not treat Ophelia “the way any woman…deserves to be treated”(A. D.)

Is horrible to his mother.

Casual Killing

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Polonius

Does not seek penance for his murders. He is unstable because his murders don’t affect him gravely.

If Hamlet was so well-liked, why did he not ask for help in his situation or publicly expose Claudius?

There were many people he could have turned to for help. He would have had allies, such as Bernardo, Marcellus, and Horatio who saw King Hamlet’s ghost. Plus, at least some of the people of the kingdom would have backed him up.

That would be the more logical way to go. Who would first think to fake being insane? Only a crazy person would create a bizarre plan like his.

Dictionary

in•san•i•ty

1.

the condition of being insane; a derangement of the mind. Synonyms: lunacy, madness, craziness, mania, aberration (the act of departing from the right), normal, or usual course. , folly, hallucinations, irrationality

2.

Law. such unsoundness of mind as frees one from legal responsibility, as for committing a crime, or as signals one's lack of legal capacity, as for entering into a contractual agreement.

3. Psychiatry. (formerly) psychosis.

4.

a. extreme foolishness; folly; senselessness; foolhardiness:

b. a foolish or senseless action, policy, statement, etc.:

a presentation by Kaitlyn Gefroh,

Sydney Dauenhauer, Alex Day, and Angela Cowles

and a prezi that may drive you insane by Angie.

Works Cited

"Insanity." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2013

"Hamlet's Sanity." Writinghood, 2009. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.

“Was Hamlet Mad:Arguments FOR and AGAINST.” Was Hamlet Mad:Arguments FOR and AGAINST. Mount Vernon Nazaarene University, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.

“Erich Musick.com”Antic Disposition//. Erich Musick, n.d. Web. 06. Mar. 2013

"Hamlet's Insanity." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2013.

The Soliloquies

Hamlet’s plan to feign madness was unusual and unintelligent.

the insanity plea holds more weight

Hamlet thinks

way to much about

death to be healthy

He didn’t act sane while he was alone. For example, he often paced through the castle lobby and talked to himself.

He isolated himself from people that cared about him. He shut out Ophelia and his own mother.

His plan backfired, and he ended up killing everyone, either directly or indirectly, which only drove him further into madness.

He did not consider how his plan would end for himself.

Reference: "To be or

not to be" speech in ACT 3

Although asking if Hamlet is not insane is desirable,

or Graveyard scene in Act 5

Fortinbras

Hamlet admires someone who should be his enemy.

Does not have a logical sense of who he should trust.

Hamlet is delusional

There is no proof that the ghost was real especially after the first appearance.

Hamlet was the only one to see it in Gertrude’s chambers.

The Ghost

When Hamlet heard about his father’s ghost he said “For God’s love, let me hear!”

Ignores friends advice to not see the ghost

Based on evidence from Hamlet’s soliloquies and actions, we conclude that Hamlet is insane.

Hamlet's Appearance

Mother’s marriage

Gertrude has totally turned against Hamlet and instead is on Claudius’ side.

Gertrude doesn’t mourn with her son over King Hamlet’s death.

Hamlet is left with nothing but loneliness.

Hamlet is unstable because of his past.

Father’s murder

Hamlet had great difficulty dealing with his father’s death.

Hamlet’s mental state was altered after the death.

His feelings went from depression, no hope, madness, and then thoughts of suicide.

Hamlet had high respect for his father

Hamlet is left with no guidance or anybody to look up to.

A. His appearance is disheveled

1. “ [Ophelia] exclaims to her father, Polonius, that Hamlet has “doublet all unbraced, No hat upon his head, his stockings fouled, and down-gyved to his ankle, pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other. And with a look so piteous in purport. As if he had been loosed out of hell…” (Act 2. Scene 1. Lines 88-93)

1. Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s physical deterioration to signify his decay in mental stability.

2. One could argue that Hamlet’s disturbing physical transformation is part of his insanity act.

a. Why would it be logically for him to act crazy while alone with Ophelia?

b. Even if Hamlet imagined himself an actor, his actions are still unstable.

Proof that Hamlet wasn’t crazy before his father’s death.

Hamlet is not the only one who sees the ghost in the beginning of the play.

Barnardo, Marcellus, and Horatio saw it as well.

“Look where it comes again.”-Marcellus

“In the same figure like the King that’s dead.”- Barnardo (Ham. 1.1. 47-48)

The people of Denmark loved Hamlet.

Hamlet went to school in Wittenberg and had a normal life before his father died.

Hamlet had multiple friends.

~Horatio, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern were ones in the play

Hamlet had a relationship with Ophelia

~Ophelia wouldn’t have dated Hamlet if he was crazy to begin with.

Hamlet was sane and the plot made him mad!

http://meighan.edublogs.org/files/2011/11/Hamlet-Laurence-Olivier-1ci8ee1.jpg