Madness is a condition that is difficult to distinguish between true and false. As in the encounter of the ghost of Hamlet ‘s father with Hamlet, Hamlet is asked to avenge his father ‘s death. To accomplish this task in a less apparent manner, Hamlet decides to feign madness. In the long run, Hamlet truly does go insane. Consequently, his behavior thereafter is frequently unfathomable.
William Shakespeare, the writer of the tragic play, Hamlet, leaves Hamlet ‘s sanity up to interpretation. Throughout Shakespeare ‘s Hamlet, Hamlet ‘s questionable madness is explored through his real madness, feigned actions, and the reactions of others towards his madness. In some instances, Hamlet ‘s madness can be seen as authentic. When Hamlet hacks through the arras and kills Polonius, “How now! A rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!” (Shakespeare 3.4. 25) Hamlet knows that the second Polonius opens his mouth to scream for help, it will not be the king behind the arras.
Hamlet most definitely wants it to be the king behind the arras. Instead, he lunges, knowing good and well that he is about to kill somebody that is not the king. Hamlet kills without thought of what he is doing, showing his feigning of madness is starting to become madness. Nevertheless, Hamlet assumes to be delirious before he put on his act. As in the beginning of the play, Horatio and Marcellus try to hold Hamlet back, but Hamlet rebels. Hamlet states, “Still am I called.
Unhand me, gentlemen–/ Heaven, I ‘ll make a ghost of him that lets me!/ I say, away” (Shakespeare 1.4. 84-86). Hamlet is acting without thought. He blindly chases this figure or spirit that may or may not be his father. For all he knows, this spirit wants him dead, but instead, he acts out and pursues the figu.
.adness now is not regarded as harmless but now seen as dangerous. Claudius, still has no idea what is wrong with Hamlet and he will never understand. Claudius does not want to see why Hamlet is mad.In conclusion, Hamlet’s madness is seen controversial through his real madness, feigned actions, and reactions of others. Shakespeare thus leaves his audience to fabricate their own perception with serving only minor stage directions.
They are then left with Hamlet’s lingering words, actions, and the reactions to predisposed whether Hamlet’s madness is actually feigned or legitimate. Nevertheless, The evidence does not actually define Shakespeare’s character, Hamlet. To relate, modern audiences must do their research to become accustomed to the way of thinking done by people of the Renaissance. All in all, Hamlet’s true soundness is left up to the people of today’s time.
