This document discusses Hamlet's feigned madness versus real madness in the play. It explores the reasons Hamlet may have seemed mad, including his father's death and his mother's hasty remarriage. However, it argues that Hamlet was feigning madness to uncover the truth about his father's murder rather than truly being insane. In contrast, Ophelia's madness from losing her father and facing rejection is portrayed as genuine by Shakespeare.
This document discusses Hamlet's feigned madness versus real madness in the play. It explores the reasons Hamlet may have seemed mad, including his father's death and his mother's hasty remarriage. However, it argues that Hamlet was feigning madness to uncover the truth about his father's murder rather than truly being insane. In contrast, Ophelia's madness from losing her father and facing rejection is portrayed as genuine by Shakespeare.
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This document discusses Hamlet's feigned madness versus real madness in the play. It explores the reasons Hamlet may have seemed mad, including his father's death and his mother's hasty remarriage. However, it argues that Hamlet was feigning madness to uncover the truth about his father's murder rather than truly being insane. In contrast, Ophelia's madness from losing her father and facing rejection is portrayed as genuine by Shakespeare.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
1. Defending a feigned Hamlet was as real and actual as any other person they met daily
2. Defending an unfeigned madness
They focus their studies in the discovery of the dramatist’s intention in the creation of the character Shakespeare’s unrivalled genius Shakespeare portrays the abnormal actions of a demented mind Symptoms Reasons Performance as a madman Court firmly believed in his dementia How difficult is even for medical specialists to be completely sure about the sanity or insanity of a person
Shakespeare lived on Muggleton Street, near to an
insane asylum. Hamlet: Enough Reasons for madness • His father died suddenly • Less than 2 months, her mother gets married • His mother marries his own uncle • His mother and uncle celebrate their marriage without caring about the mourning of the former king • His father’s ghost appears and tells him that he was murdered by his own brother • The woman he loves rejects him • He finds out that Ophelia betrays him • His mother is now married to the man who killed his father Shakespeare’s indications of Hamlet’s feigned madness 1. Hamlet had an objective, a goal to pursuit: revenge 2. After the ghost’s revelation, he made up a plan to find out if the ghost told him the truth or how to expose his father’s murder 3. He realized that knowing the truth, his world had completely changed: 1. He couldn’t comport himself as before at the court of Claudius 4. He had to convince not only the court but his astute uncle about his insanity. 5. His cunning uncle had doubts about Hamlet’s madness Shakespeare’s indications of Hamlet’s feigned madness 6. In his monologues, Hamlet never lapse into irrelevant and incoherent speech. 7. He confided his plans to his fellow friend, Horatio. He knew about his real mental condition because he never manifested sentiments of sorrow as he would if ignorant of the feigned madness. 8. His instructions to the players were direct and accurate 9. His perfect performance as a madman in presence of those whom he mistrusted and sane in dealing with his friends 10. He acted in sudden anger when he slew Polonius and at Ophelia’s grave because of the exaggerated show of Laertes. Ophelia • Shakespeare left no doubt of the genuine madness of Ophelia. • She lost her father by the hand of her lover • Her brother was far away • Hamlet treated her terribly • She faced a hard time and it probably drived her crazy • It could also make her commit suicide