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Ever since the first production of William Shakespeare s Hamlet, audiences and scholars have debated over the question of whether or not Hamlet s madness is real or feigned. Hamlet s moods seem to change from one scene to the next, leaving the kingdom and readers wondering what are his true intentions and state of mind. During most of the play, Hamlet s true intentions, i. e. the revenge of his father s death, are not revealed and the kingdom willing believes that he is in deed, mad. A love of acting enables him to feign madness and to appear a grieved, love stricken, Prince in order to find the perfect opportunity to enact his revenge.
It is necessary for him to feign madness in order to successfully fulfill his obligations as a Prince, to find the truth about his father s death, and to find the peace in himself that justice will be served. Hamlet is melancholy in his first appearance. He is in mourning over the death of his father. The black clothes he wears reflects his dark mood. His mother, the Queen, is concerned that he has mourned long enough, and needs to get on with his life. In his response, Hamlet states: Seems, Madam?
Nay, it is. I know not seems. Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forced breath, No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected having of the visage, Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, That can denote me truly. These indeed seem, For they are actions that a man might play; But I have within which passed show- These but the trappings and the suits of woe. (I. ii. 81 - 91) Hamlet is revealing the depth of loss he has for his father. This melancholy should not be mistaken for madness.
He is truly grieving for his father, and will later do whatever it takes in order to avenge him. He is also warning his mother with his words that there are many other moods that he can be in and that she and Claudius have not seen them all yet. Hamlet is a complex man with many moods but is intelligent enough to know when to reveal his true feelings and when to play a role. This is a foreshadowing that Hamlet s later moods, specifically madness, may in fact be a role.
At the next meeting of Hamlet we see what motivates him into seeking vengeance towards Claudius. In Act I, Scene IV Horatio and Hamlet are waiting for the ghost of the late King Hamlet. Hamlet begins speaking of what happens when a man has an extravagant development of a character trait, such as melancholy or even insanity. He feels that even if these men are perfect in every other way that this flaw will be their path to evil or perhaps the stamp of one defect often do to his own scandal (I. iv. 35 - 40). This line has a double meaning.
On one hand he is speaking of Claudius need to be in power that leads him to kill Old Hamlet. However, it also can be interpreted as an allusion to Hamlet s own demon, which is his need for revenge. Hamlet s flaw is not that he wants justice for his father s death, but in the way that it becomes an obsession and is hidden from the rest of the kingdom until the fatal end. The beginning of Hamlet s plan to appear mad is when Hamlet returns from speaking with the ghost his father. The ghost corroborates that Claudius did, in deed, kill Old Hamlet, and Horatio is shocked by Hamlet s words and state of mind. He is the first to question Hamlet s sanity in the kingdom.
By making everyone present swear to keep the ghost sighting a secret, Hamlet has the perfect opportunity to start his role. Hamlet plans can be seen when he is trying to convince Horatio to swear on his sword. He is preparing for the future by prompting Horatio that As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/ To put an antic disposition on (I. v. 196 - 197). Hamlet is already plotting his role and anticipating the circumstances, which could, in the future, reveal that he is not actually mad.
This is a common fear among people who live a lie, no matter how safe they feel the truth is a chance encounter can ruin the entire deception. At this point Hamlet begins to play out his feigned madness on the members of the kingdom. First, he writes a letter to Ophelia that scares her. She shares it with her father Polonius, who shares it with the King. Soon after everyone in the kingdom is aware of the situation. They talk about other strange behaviors Hamlet has been exhibiting, such as walking around late at night and reading for hours.
Polonius even confronts Hamlet about the letter and confuses them even more. How pregnant sometimes his replies are! a happiness that often madness hits on, which reason and sanity could not so prosperously be delivered of (II. ii. 225 - 228) Polonius thinks while talking to Hamlet. Polonius believes that Hamlet is mad in love with his daughter. It is interesting how readily the kingdom is to believe that Hamlet is mad.
They do not try to explain his behavior as melancholy, or distress at his father s death, but instead go for the extreme reasoning. The play is set in a time in which the subtleties of mood in a person are not so easily recognized. A person is not merely mildly upset or slightly distressed, they are either happy or sad. If the sadness continues for too long, then they are put into the category of madness. Hamlet is aware of the kingdom s perception.
He believes that a person could have many moods, but that others could accurately only detect a few. He counts on this perception in order to be successful in his plan of feigned madness and revenge. Hamlet mimics his own role-playing when he decides to put on a play for the King and Queen. This reveals his true nature and intentions more that any other place in the play. Hamlet was born into a situation of duty and responsibility. If he had not been a Prince of Denmark, perhaps he would have been in a company of players.
He understands that he is unable to change his destiny and must settle for the performance of a madman as his only true acting role. Even his name suggests his need to act he is Ham -let after all, not Home -let. He calls attention to his playing a role when he states: O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! It is not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul to his own conceit. (II.
ii. 556 - 559) The act of his life that he is in now is just like a scene in a play, where the player lies to himself for his own advancement or motives. Hamlet is not happy with the role he is playing, but cannot stop until the entire play is finished, or else his conscience and the justice for his father s murderer will be troubled and unresolved. He is advancing towards the action of justice with his acting; he will not be able to act on his revenge without first act -ing. Right before the opening of the play within the play he is makes fun of everyone else s perception of him.
I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw (II. ii. 388 - 389) he jokes. Again he is letting people around him know that he is not as mad as he seems, but they do not understand him. He is making fun of his own role as a mad person. He is in a joke that he dares not share with anyone else.
He tests the people around him by giving them hints and clues that he is deceiving them, but everyone else is too preoccupied with their own problems to notice. The reference to a direction north-north-west may indicate that his madness is above everyone else. A southerly wind can be when others are looking at him. The hawk would just fly past him or even above him, meaning that the people who see him as mad are not a threat.
A handsaw however, is at the same level as him and might indicate a weapon. He is deceiving everyone, friends and foe, and must be especially careful in being able to tell the difference when his revenge and true sane state of mind are revealed. Hamlet s decision to feign madness affects everyone he knows and loves. Ophelia is completely confused by Hamlet and is an unknowing victim of deception. The sacrifice of his future with Ophelia reveals the extent he is willing to endure in order to enact his revenge and seek justice. It seems that he loves her, but is unwilling to focus on happiness while he has the dark cloud of fate over his head.
The fact that she kills herself underscores the obsession that his plan has become. He does not want her to die, but does not realize the extent that her feelings were and how fragile her situation had become. It seems cruel in hindsight the he acts indifferent towards her during their last meeting alone. Not being able to tell her the truth of his madness, he gives her several clues.
I am proud, revengeful, ambitious /What should fellows as I do /We are arrant knaves all, believe none of us (III. i. 134 - 139) he warns. She misconstrues the meaning of what he is saying, and would probably not understand why someone would pretend to be mad. The complete consequences of Hamlet s feigned madness on the rest of the characters are only shown in the final act. This is the day of reckoning for Hamlet and the final scene for his real role as a Prince and the faked role of a lunatic. Hamlet s goals of revenge and justice are achieved, but at the highest price of death.
Hamlet is hopeful that once Claudius is dealt with that life will go on and that the rotten smell in Denmark will turn sweet. In a way he is right. He trades a foul conscience for funeral flowers. He evens tells Gertrude that I must be cruel, only to be kind; /Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind (III.
iv. 199 - 200). This implies that he thought that the role-playing is soon to be over and that he could go on to his real destined role of Prince. The tragedy of Hamlet is that he has to become something else in order to play the role he was born to do, the Prince of Denmark, if only for a brief moment. There is no lasting satisfaction from all of the inner pain, cunning, deceit, conceit and planning that went into his role of a lifetime. Hamlet s demon is responsible for his death. His obsession with playing the role of a mad man in order to enact revenge, consumes his life.
He thinks that he understands the many moods and nature of man, but actually only knows himself. Hamlet finally achieves the elusive peace he is longing for, but only with a permanent sleep is his mind at ease.
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Research essay sample on Hamlet Is Mad State Of Mind
