In Act two, everyone notices a change in Hamlet because he has began his game of pretending to be insane. As his game continues, will Hamlet begin to self destruct even more?

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In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the power of evil suggests that a small amount of evil can corrupt something that was good. For instance, I believe that with King Hamlet’s murder, Hamlet will self destruct because it is just too much for him to handle. As Hamlet finds out that King Claudius (his uncle) has murdered his father, he grows outraged and now will try to find a way to avenge his father’s death. In Act two, everyone notices a change in Hamlet because he has began his game of pretending to be insane. As his game continues, will Hamlet begin to self destruct even more?

Hamlet is the center of all evil because as he decays, so will Denmark. If Hamlet keeps things inside, like he did with his disgust for his uncle and his mother’s marriage, he will destruct and take Denmark with him. As Hamlet hides his feelings, he will soon decay less and less until he is weak. Through Shakespeare, the power of evil suggests corruption and that with one person, something good can soon corrupt and go bad. It is like the saying ‘one bad banana spoils the whole bunch’ because Hamlet is the banana that will ultimately ‘go bad’ and corrupt Denmark.

Ophelia plays a very significant role in "Hamlet" because she presents a theme of love and innocence. Ophelia's love towards Hamlet is not the only love relationship in the play, but it is shown clearly in comparison to the others. As a character, she is a very obedient young girl who is ready to suppress deeply her feelings in order to obey her father's wishes. Her love and gentleness compares with Hamlet's torment and violence. There is no real evidence in the play that Ophelia and Hamlet did have a relationship, but the intensity of her feelings for Hamlet suggests that something more than a flirtation has gone on between them. She is a very naive character although before her madness becomes obvious to everyone; she suspects that something is poisoned in the Court of Ellsinore. She contrasts with the corruption of the court. Laertes advises her to ignore her feelings towards Hamlet: "Think it no more;/ For nature, crescent, does not grow alone in thews and bulk but as this temple waxes/ The inward service of the mind and should/ Grows wide withal.....Fear it Ophelia, fear it my dear sister,/ And keep you in the rear of your affection out of the shot and danger of desire." There is sense in such words since princes could only marry princesses and Ophelia was just a daughter of a king's counselor.

This opinion is supported by her father Polonius as well. She is forced to choose between Hamlet and her father and her conscience tells her to obey her father rather than to follow her heart. Hamlet appears to be deeply in love with Ophelia. But the murder of his father preoccupied his mind and he fails to return her love. As Hamlet's behaviour changes to madness she is forced to spy on him. Polonius makes her believe that she is the cause of Hamlet's madness and that she is doing the right thing by spying on him. These involvements by other characters leave Ophelia confused and uncertain of her love. She is abused by Hamlet at the "nunnery" scene. Her young and rather naive mind is constantly being abused by both her lover Hamlet and her father. Polonius's death was a final step towards her madness. She cannot bear the fact that the person she loves the most had killed her father and she commits suicide. Hamlet's behaviour towards Ophelia has been very violent and abusive during the play. Her death is perhaps the greatest tragedy in the play

From all the research I have completed it seems that Hamlet was acting most of the time but at time, his true madness shows through. The world's position of corruption has driven Hamlet to the point of insanity: he will fix it or die trying. But he still retains some sanity in planning his revenge. He tells Horatio that he plans to put on an "antic disposition" and if one notices, he only acts mad around certain characters (Polonius, Claudius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern). Around others, such as Horatio, Fortinbras, the Gravediggers, The Players, he seems to be completely sane. In his conversation with Ophelia and later with the King and Polonius, his madness takes on a somewhat merry disposition. The entire time he laughs and makes jokes, only occasionally making cryptic remarks.

But there are times that his true "madness" shows through. When he is talking to his mother, he tells her of his "antic disposition" but then procedes to yell at her. This behavior is entirely inconsistent with Hamlet's supposed great love fore his mother. Some scholars have even suggested that he was suffering from an Oedipus complex. If such a claim is true, then why in the world would he scream at her for her incestuous nature? It seems that the same things that drove him to his revenge have also almost put him over the top. Also in this scene he kills Polonius with almost no regard for the murder he has commited. While I'm sure many people then would have liked to kill Polonius, there would have to have been some idea of the trouble he would be in. But again, there steps in the true nature of his madness: he is so focused on his revenge that all other reason takes second place. Another testament to hboth his sanity and madness lies in the graveyard scene. His speech with the gravediggers seems to be that of a sane man, as does his speech to Yorick's skull. But there again do we see the true reason for Hamlet's revenge and perhaps what caused his actual madness. The injustice of the world has cause Hamlet so much grief that maybe he is just a little crazy. But while his speech his going on, something intrudes at just the right moment that we see an actual glint of his madness. While he is talking, Ophelia's funeral procession comes through. Hamlet, upon hearing what has happened, jumps into her grave and even starts to wrestle with Laertes. These are not the actions of a sane man.

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Through it all, it seems that Hamlet really is mad, but no more so than you or I, desiring revenge on someone that has wronged us. But it is his method of going about this revenge and feigning madness that make people think that he is mad in a different way. The type of madness they envision is completely false. However, there is a type of madness in Hamlet. He is driven to it by the death of his father, his mother's incestuous activities, the death of the woman he loves and his rejection of the rules of society. This ...

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