Topic > The Question of Hamlet's Madness

Madness is defined as doing something again and again and expecting a different result. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the young and not fully mature Hamlet could be considered mad. However, even if he says and does things out of the ordinary, he doesn't always do the same thing and expect a different result. It is a fact that he complains about absurd things that may not be true, and expresses his personal opinions that are slightly unbalanced, but he is not crazy. Hamlet is a man who is experiencing a very hard and heartbreaking time in his life, and he is just trying to get through the present moment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Hamlet is overwhelmed by his father's death, as any other son or daughter would be. A human being is not expected to get over a family death without having outbursts or hard times, as Hamlet's text states: “But two months dead, nay, not so much, not two. Such an excellent king” (1.2 142-143). As Hamlet says here, his father, the king, was a great man. It hasn't even been two months and people expect me to forget about the death and carry on as if everything is fine. Before this quote from Hamlet, as has just been shown, he was in the meeting room of the castle where a new king was giving orders. That new king was Hamlet's uncle, who shows no mercy for the death of the original king. The text shows that Claudius, the new king, shows no remorse when he says: “But you must know that your father has lost a father, that father has lost, he has lost his, and the survivor is obliged to suffer for a certain period in filial obligation. But to persevere in obstinate mourning is a conduct of impious stubbornness." (1.2 93-98). Claudius gives no help and shows no sympathy for Hamlet in this difficult time of need. He is simply saying that Hamlet is a selfish brat and needs to move on. With all of this forced on Hamlet and the pressure of forgetting his father, who was a great role model, it is not surprising that Hamlet takes action in this situation. Hamlet's mother Gertrude, marrying Claudius, affects her son immensely. This could be one of the worst things that could happen in Hamlet's life after his father's death. As stated in the previous paragraph, Hamlet needed someone to mourn his father's death with, but instead his mother marries his father's murderer. Hamlet's accumulated hostility impacts the way he speaks to others. He says his mother "calls virtue hypocritical, takes the rose from the fair brow of innocent love and puts a blister there, makes marriage vows as false as dice oaths." (3.4 51-54). Hamlet very dismissively claims that his mother betrayed his father by having this disgusting marriage. Gertrude simply threw away the love she had shown Hamlet's father for so many years. Hamlet essentially calls his new marriage false and unacceptable. Now that this marriage has occurred, Claudius has invaded the castle's lifestyle, and has violently and inconveniently entered Hamlet's life. All of these changes can cause someone to act differently and want to expose a guilty person's wrongdoing. Hamlet wants to convict Claudius of murdering his father, and many think he is mad for doing so. Hamlet is simply trying to prove here in this text that Claudius is a fake and, more importantly, a murderer. "He poisons him in the garden for his possessions... You will soon see how the murderer wins the love of Gonzago's wife." (3.2 287-290). Hamlet tells the players to insert parts of a play he had in mind, which would show how Claudius killed the king while Claudius is watching. This causes a.