Hamlet And Ophelia's Madness
Throughout the play, Hamlet, a large majority of the characters express some sort of interruption in their mental stability. The storyline of Hamlet follows a tragic path of madness, beginning with the murder of the King by Claudius and ending with the eventual death of almost every main character. Primarily the two main characters, Hamlet and Ophelia, show increased and differing levels of madness throughout the play. Hamlet’s madness, though sometimes genuine, is typically faked for effect and purpose of keeping his façade up, while Ophelia’s madness doesn’t appear until the end of the play but is very real. Within the play, the categories of madness, both real and faked, are used as an outlet to display things the plain text on paper simply cannot. In this paper, I will argue the significance of Hamlet and Ophelia’s madness and the difference between the two.
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His madness is truly driven by his Father’s death, though his Father’s death also drives his fake madness. The King’s death causes Hamlet’s true madness in that he is motivated to do things out of character that could categorize him as mad, out of vengeance for his Father’s death. An example of this would be Hamlet’s constant hesitation associated with the murder of Claudius. Hamlet constantly is presented with the opportunity to kill King Claudius but hesitates because he views the task from too many different angles, driving him genuinely mad without ever realizing or stating this madness directly. Part of this uncertainty comes from that Hamlet is unsure whether the ghost telling him to kill Claudius is truly his father, shown in the following quote, “The spirit that I have seen, May be the devil: and the devil hath power, To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps, Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me ” (1388; 2.2.
His madness is truly driven by his Father’s death, though his Father’s death also drives his fake madness. The King’s death causes Hamlet’s true madness in that he is motivated to do things out of character that could categorize him as mad, out of vengeance for his Father’s death. An example of this would be Hamlet’s constant hesitation associated with the murder of Claudius. Hamlet constantly is presented with the opportunity to kill King Claudius but hesitates because he views the task from too many different angles, driving him genuinely mad without ever realizing or stating this madness directly. Part of this uncertainty comes from that Hamlet is unsure whether the ghost telling him to kill Claudius is truly his father, shown in the following quote, “The spirit that I have seen, May be the devil: and the devil hath power, To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps, Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me ” (1388; 2.2.