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1
Introduction
Hamlet is a tragedy of circumstances which help to create a genius hero overloaded by an
entangling situation where the revelations of the ghost become ambiguously motivating
embodiments of delaying rather than acting
...
To face such a difficult situation, Hamlet’s melancholy and madness become his only
weapon and armor used as some kind of self defense against the horror of the situation together;
Hamlet is inflected by physical and mental disorder which reshapes his dramatic persona
throughout the play
...
The scheme of his insanity may be part of his plan of delaying his revenge and may be a
necessity to escape much longer as it is possible for him to do so
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Thus, Hamlet’s madness is considered to be for some critics fake, but for others, a real
and authentic reflection of a true melancholy
...
S Eliot in his essay “Hamlet and his problems” states that :-
The “Madness” of Hamlet lay to Shakespeare’s hand; in the earlier play a simple
ruse, and to the end, we may presume, understood as a ruse by the audience
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The levity of Hamlet,
his repetition of phrase, his puns, are not part of a deliberate plan of dissimulation,
but a form of emotional relief
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HE did this as a
kind of escape from “Suspicion”, as Eliot states
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His speeches, when he is alone or when he is alone or when he is with Horatio are of a
man whose sanity is not questioned
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The quotations from his soliloquy are a matter of fact expressions of wisdom
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“what is a man/
If his chief good and market of his time / Be but to sleep and feed”, in addition, his famous
soliloquy, beginning with ” To be or not to be ” exposes his decisive nature of sweep revenge,
yet, this is to be discovered as another stage of delay
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C
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States that Hamlet’s madness is just a matter of deep involvement in reflections
which results from psychological “weariness” due to the sudden revelations of the ghost:
His reflections have no reference to this particular moment; they represent that
habitual weariness of life with which his passing outbursts of emotion or energy
are contrasted
...
Bradley believes in the fact that Hamlet’s psychological
nature is affected by the overburden of the circumstances which make of him a character with
very special thoughts and reflections
...
Furthermore his words to both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern “I am but mad north-north
west”, when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a hand saw” make both of them realize
that although he seems mad, there is reason in his speeches
...
He tells Polonius that
although Hamlet’s speeches “Lacked form a little, was not like madness”, this is assured by
Guildenstern’s description of Hamlet’s state as “a crafty madness” (Act III, scene I, Line 8)
...
Only a sane man can plan this scheme, training the actors of the “Murder of Gonzaga”, he
tells Horatio “O good Horatio, I’ll take the ghost’s word for a thousand pound, didst perceive?”
His sound advice to the players on the art of acting shows how he is not mad; he teaches them
how to make wild gestures, loud voices, not to over-step the modesty of failure
...
We may not understand the condition through which
Hamlet passes, and create
...
Then, comes our “mediation” in not realizing Hamlet’s relation with the world
around which causes such a state
...
In the grave- digger’s scene, Hamlet’s
comment on Yorick’s skull and the lawyer’s in a way that assures his own sanity
...
As for the lawyer, his wit and eloquence disappeared by his
death, no more cunning tricks nor eloquent speeches
...
Scene I, Lines 178, 181)
This speech shows us how hamlet has a complete capacity of expressing his sanity in a
way that puzzles not only us, but also the critics
...
It is not a character marked by
strength of will or even of passion, but by refinement of thought and sentiment
...
His thought fullness, thus, is the only interpretation beyond his own fake insanity
...
Thus, Branagh explains Hamlet’s cruel speeches for both his mother and Ophelia as some
kind of embodiment of Oedipus complex symptoms
...
He certainly becomes coarse and brutal in his language when he condemns her
...
This is interpreted as a reaction of his sub-conscious
attractiveness to his mother; after he gets rid of his father as a rival
...
After all these evidences and claims that assess the fact that Hamlet’s madness is fake,
the question is raised, why did Hamlet do this?
...
Knowing the truth, Hamlet must meet his father’s murder without betraying his
knowledge till his appointed task is accomplished so he decides to maintain an “antic
disposition” as a screen behind which he can watch king and await his opportunity to take
revenge
...
He always knows what he is about; he always sees his position clearly; he always
reasons his point coherently and logically
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This view is supported by many
characters in the play
...
In act II, scene I, Ophelia describes to her father
Hamlet’s strange behaviors when he called her in her closet: he takes her by the wrist and holds
her hard and raised a sigh “so piteous and profound as it did seem to shatter all his bulk”
Polonius jumps to the conclusion that Hamlet’s abnormal mental condition is due to his
disappointment in love he calls Hamlet’s mental disorder as “ the very ecstasy of love”
...
Hamlet calls Polonius a fishmonger “ let her not walk I’ the sun; conception
is a blessing; but not as your daughter may concave – friend , look to ’t “
...
He asks Ophelia not to
marry and to go to the convent, as it is better than having children who are all sinners
...
Then there is the incident of Hamlet, when he makes a pass with his sword through the
arras, he does not know who is hiding there perhaps he thought that the King was hiding behind
the arras
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This is what he says on discovering that
his victim is Polonius
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I took thee for thy better
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Thou find’st to be too busy is some danger
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He
expresses his total grief for Ophelia’s death
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His play on words is one of the evidences that
he seeks to express his pain
...
Does he pretend to
be flippant or boorish in order to keep his thoughts to himself, or to contain his
pain? Or does he express rational criticism in savagely sarcastic comments spoken
only to himself? Or is the energy of his mind such that he thinks and speaks with
instinctive ambiguity? Words are restless within his mind, changing meaning,
shifting form, extending reference, awaking others close in sound but different in
meaning
...
For example, he uses Polonius, without confirmation if he means “Flesh manger” or “band”
...
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Conclusion
The matter of Hamlet’s sanity or insanity is part of Hamlet’s ingenuity as a dramatic
plays His swaying between action and inaction, be side, his circumstances make of him a victim
of psychological torment which conveys his own sub-conscious dilemma of encountering the
murder
...
The critical evaluation of the feigned madness refer to the complex nature Hamlet has
due to the dramatic circumstances, Shakespeare surrounds hamlet with
...
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