Hamlet “Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge;
You go not till I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you.”
Queen Gertrude “What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?
Help, help, ho!”
Even at the point where true insanity seems most likely, in Act 3, Scene 4 his actions are still directed to his main purpose, the revenge of his father.
“Thou wretched rash, intruding fool, farewell.”
He kills Polonius thinking him to be Claudius, without regret and then offers his mother advice which he genuinely believes to have value and through which he can explain his opinion of her and Claudius’ relationship and marriage. Hamlet is speaking openly and honestly for once. This shows a huge change of character from his first soliloquy when he says that he will have to hold his tongue.
“It is not, nor cannot come to good:
But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue” Act 1 Scene 2.
This profound change in Hamlet can also be seen in his comparison of himself to Hercules which shows Hamlet must be feeling very low and have a low self-esteem to want to compare himself to a hero. He is upset about his lack of skill and talent as shown in Hercules, which is very worrying; it shows Hamlet to be very depressed which I think is almost merging into insanity due to the profound change in character that is evident. In Act 1 Scene 2,
“My father’s brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules”.
Hamlet uses this comparison to show that he is unlike Hercules to the extreme. Hercules is a god, a mythological being who was known for strength and courage. He is saying he is not Hercules, meaning he is not strong and confrontational. But in Act 5 Scenes 1,
“Let Hercules himself so what he may,
The cat will mew and the dog will have his day.”
Here Hamlet is saying that not even Hercules could stop him from doing what is needed. Hamlet shows the comparison that a cat will mew and a dog will have its day, this is nature – what will happen and no one can change it. So therefore he is meaning no one, not even Hercules can prevent him from doing what should be done. This change from a man, who indicates his weakness compared to Hercules to a man who claims that even Hercules could not stop him, shows the growth in Hamlet from indecisive weakling to active tragic hero.
This change in personality and character shows the change in his state of mind. It is as though Hamlet has developed a second personality, the side of him that is able to take action. This shows a loss of control and a huge difference from our first impression of Hamlet, but does not mean that he is mad. It could just show the decrease of Hamlet’s care for the world. In today’s society I do not think that Hamlet’s actions would be classed as an act of insanity but merely violent, ruthless behaviour. When Hamlet most acts insane he knows what he is doing and uses clever puns and wit so I am compelled to think that it is at these times he is saner than at other points. Some one who knows what they are doing cannot be insane because they still regain some self control if only a weak grasp.
It is not a question of whether Hamlet truly is mad, because this we are not able to prove either way without personally questioning Shakespeare, it is more deciphering the act of madness from the deep depression and mental state which could be the cause of his actions later in the play and whether this grief descends into insanity at any point.
Hamlet assumed a state of madness in order to complete the task given to him by his father, this mask was able to conceal Hamlet’s true clever plan and distracted Claudius from knowing the truth, which is that Hamlet knows about him murdering his father.
He tells us at the start of the play in his first soliloquy that he is in such a low state that he would consider killing himself had not god “fixed His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter”.
This deep depression could be caused by his father’s recent death and his mother’s rapid remarriage. We do not know of Hamlets character before the start of the play so it is assumed his state of mind is caused by these occurrences.
Too many of his “wild and whirling words” carry direct meaning for us to believe he’s mad for any great length of time. In his ‘mad’ exchanges with his enemies, Claudius, Polonius and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, there is far too much method in his madness. Hamlet’s act of madness has a purpose: to confuse or frighten Claudius, to prevent Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from finding out the truth. He also uses his state of mind to indulge in some malicious humour, as is the famous style of Shakespeare. Polonius, the butt of many sly attacks never suspects him to be anything but mad. It is him who first informs Hamlet’s mother and uncle that Hamlet has been acting odd.
Polonius “I will be brief: your noble son is mad.
Mad I call it, for to define true madness,
What is ‘t but to be nothing else but mad?” Act 2 Scene 2
The more intelligent and cunning Claudius on the other hand, suspects throughout the play that Hamlet’s madness is feigned. This could be because he can see through what Hamlet says, as there are definite reasons for what he does and says. He also tests Hamlet. He spies on him and sends in Hamlet’s close friends from university as spies to investigate whether he is really mad. This in turn infuriates Hamlet more because Claudius is now turning his old friends against him. This could this be enough for Hamlet to be pushed over the edge into a more sinister mood, which would therefore be an explanation for his later actions.
Assessing Hamlets madness becomes even more complicated when he apologizes to Laertes, sincerely, for the wrongs he has suffered. Hamlet blames not himself but his madness, which makes it seem as if he is admitting that he fell foul of his own pretending and did actually do mad things: including killing Polonius and driving Ophelia to suicide. Or else he could just be blaming himself for his mask of madness; the pretence going too far and achieving his revenge consumed him and was as though the mask took over his body, soul.
“Was ’t Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet.
If Hamlet from himself be ta’en away,
And when he’s not himself does wrong Laertes,
Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it.
Who does it then? His madness. If’t be so,
Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged,
His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy.”
He is grieving and could be entering into depression again now he had realised that his actions have caused the death of the women he ‘loved’: although we are never sure of his true feelings.
Hamlet goes through extreme fluctuations of mood throughout the play, he goes through intense depression and melancholy and then sudden excitement. The depths of despair and sudden bursts of hatred he reveals through his soliloquies shows his troubled mind.
Hamlet’s pretence of madness has a big effect on other characters of the play. He particularly has an effect on Ophelia, which in turn convinces Polonius of his ‘madness’.
Ophelia’s madness is very stereotypical and is never questioned. She sings and laughs and appears to have no sense of what events have happened. Such as the death of her father which is the presumed cause of this madness.
In comparison to Hamlet’s ‘madness’ Ophelia’s mental state still shows her passive nature, but looks positively pathetic and tragic when compared to Hamlet’s behaviour. Hamlet’s feigned madness and depression results in combative attacks and sly battles of wits. Ophelia descends into a harmless humour. She is mad with grief and leaves herself almost instantly to nonsense, but her madness is entirely genuine. Her words have no connection with other characters. Though there are themes running through the remarks, snatches of songs and rhymes she says in her appearances, that merely suggest the causes of her madness. She does not slip in and out of madness, as does Hamlet.
In Act 3 Scene 2 Hamlet and Ophelia confront each other, while being watched by Polonius and Claudius. Ophelia returns the love letters sent to her by Hamlet. Hamlet abandons verse for prose and presents a savage attitude. His speech is disjointed and he uses puns. He uses the word nunnery, which means convent as well as the Shakespearean slang for brothel; we are not told which meaning is intended but it is not clear whether Hamlet knows either. But this does not resemble madness, although he appears to have a change of character the themes are consistent and he is speaking his mind, although he should not be doing so to a woman as he should act as a gentleman. The king and Ophelia’s father watch this and this convinces the king that Hamlet is not insane. Claudius is clever as is Hamlet and can see through the mask at the game Hamlet is playing, although it worries the king, as he does not yet know why Hamlet is doing this.
The madness of Hamlet and Ophelia shows a lot about the society. It could be the society’s corrupt behaviour that causes the pretend madness of Hamlet and true insanity of Ophelia; the corrupt power of the court has infected other people, such as Hamlet so his actions could be blamed on the behaviour of Claudius and Polonius, which in turn killed Polonius. The feelings of the younger generation, Hamlet, Ophelia, Laertes have been ignored and quietened for so long that the depression and grief builds up to the point of loss of control.
The society sees Hamlet’s madness as dangerous; it is a way of him expressing himself and this is often confused with rebellion. Hamlet presents an aggressive and dangerous distortion of the world and his mask consumes him where by the end of the play all of the normal society has left Hamlet and it is as though he is in his own society.
It is a huge contrast to the insanity of Ophelia who simply spoke about her feelings and had no control over her mind. Although this is also going against the society because women were not meant to speak out. It was not correct for a woman to talk openly and behave how Ophelia was.
The society of Elsinore is very controlling and do not see insanity as an illness but as a threat. The king sees Hamlet’s madness as “turbulent and dangerous”. He suspects that his madness may be a pretence and considers it to be more a depression but views Hamlet as a problem because of what he may say or do, with no control over his mind. So sends him away to England as an effort to control him and have him killed, but we can see through Hamlet’s escape Shakespeare uses this to prove at this time he is not mad, he is simply clever. Hamlet has managed to prove his sanity by escaping this fate left for him by his uncle, this shows the state of mind of the prince has improved or was never mad to start with.