Richard Almanza

IBSL/CP11 English

Mrs. Wagener

14 April 2011

The Reality of Hamlet’s Insanity

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet appears insane to his friends

and family. Many people believe that Hamlet was completely insane because of the

deaths in the end but others believe that his actions were a symbol of his grief. Through

his actions and words, we can understand that Hamlet was a sore man that feigned to be

insane in order to further his own plans for revenge. There are specific parts in the play

that portray Hamlet’s grief for his father and sanity through his words and actions.

After Hamlet speaks to the ghost and figures out the truth about his father’s death,

Hamlet tells Horatio that he is going to act insane. He also informs him not to bother him

if he notices him putting on an act. We know that Hamlet is sane at this point but we also

know that from this point on he will begin to act irrational in front of the royal people.

We can interpret this through his own words

How strange or odd some'er I bear myself/(As I perchance hereafter shall think

meet/To put an antic disposition on)/That you, at such times seeing, never

shall,/With arms encumbered thus, or this headshake ,/Or by pronouncing of some

doubtful phrase,/As "Well,well,we know," or "We could an if we/would,"/Or "If

we list to speak," or "There be an if they/might,"/Or such ambiguous giving-out,

to note/That you know of me-this do swear,/. (I.5.170-179)

Only a sane person would be able to come up with a rational plan in order to achieve his

goal. At this point, the reader can understand later in the play why Hamlet’s behavior is

eccentric.

From a different character’s perspective such as Claudius and Polonius, they

believe that Hamlet acts insane for a certain purpose. Throughout the play, Polonius tries

to figure out whether love is the cause of Hamlet’s behavior. After Polonius concludes

that Hamlet is not madly in love with Ophelia, he thinks that there is a method behind his

madness. Through Polonius’s words "Though this be madness, yet there is/method

in't"(II.2.207-208) we can understand that other characters believe that Hamlet is not

insane but just has a plan. Claudius also believes that Hamlet is not insane but has a

higher purpose. Claudius states "Love? His affections do not that way tend/Nor what he

spake, though it lacked form a little, /was not like madness. There's something in his

soul/O'er which his melancholy sits on brood/And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose"

(III, i, 165-169) you can clearly interpret that Claudius has a different opinion on the

cause of Hamlet’s madness. Although some characters believe that Hamlet is not mad,

they still do not know the truth that it is a sign of his grief.

Shakespeare gives a definite example of someone who is mad, Ophelia.

Compared to Hamlet, Ophelia displays a terrifying behavior that reflects her insanity. She

went around dancing, singing, and throwing flowers around. After being rejected by

Hamlet and her father’s death, she could not take it anymore and as a result, she drowned.

When Hamlet comes out and proclaims his love for Ophelia this demonstrates his sanity

because he put all of his acting aside and realized what was actually going on. Hamlet has

complete control over his mind and knows what he is doing. Ophelia would be a better
example of someone who is rather insane than grieving because Hamlet’s behavior

portrays someone who acts mad but with a purpose.

Hamlet’s grief and sanity is clear when he told his mother the truth about his

father’s death and his plans. Hamlet states "That I essentially am not in madness/ But

mad in craft" (III, iv, 188-189) through this quote we can understand that Hamlet’s

madness is in craft which means that his madness has a different route or different reason

for his grief. At this point, we can see Hamlet’s sanity is still there because he knows

when to act mad properly.

Overall, Hamlet was not insane because he does certain things for a purpose. You

can tell that Hamlet has complete control over his mind when you see him act differently

with certain people. Although Hamlet displays himself as a corrupt ill-minded man, he

still maintained his sanity until the end of the book because he demonstrated certain

actions that reflected his sanity.

On my honor, I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this

assignment.