Hamlet’s Madness

I am solely mad north-northwest when the jazz is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw (Foakes 213). This is a classic congressman of the wild and whirling articulates (I.v.134) with which village hopes to persuade people to believe that he is mad. These words, however, prove that below his fantastical tendency, crossroads is very in his right mind(predicate) indeed. Beneath his strange choice of imagery involving points of the compass, the weather, and hunting birds, he is announcing that he is calculatedly choosing the times when to appear mad. village is saying that he knows a hunting hawk from a hunted handsaw or heron, in new(prenominal) words, that, very far form being mad, he is perfectly capable of recognizing his enemies. small towns madness was feigned for a purpose. He warned his friends he intended to fake madness, save Gertrude as well as Claudius saw done it, and even the slightly dull-witted Polonius was suspicious. His public face is one of insanity sca rce, in his private moments of soliloquy, through his confidences to Horatio, and in his c atomic number 18ful plans of action, we see that his madness is assumed.After the Ghosts initiatory appearance to Hamlet, Hamlet decides that when he finds it suitable or advantageous to him, he will put on a mask of madness. He confides to Horatio that when he finds the occasion appropriate, he will put an antic disposition on (I.v.173). This strategy gives Hamlet a chance to find proof of Claudiuss guilt and to contemplate his penalise tactic (Burton 2). Although he has sworn to avenge his fathers murder, he is not sure of the Ghosts origins The spirit that I imbibe seen May be the devil (II.ii.596-7).He uses his app bent madness as a delaying tactic to procure time in which to discover whether the Ghosts tale of murder is true and to decide how to handle the situation. At the kindred time, he wants to appear unthreatening and harmless so that people will divulge information to him, of ten in the same way that an adult will talk about an important secret in the presence of a young child (Boyce 232). To convince everyone of his madness, Hamlet spends many hours walking back and aside alone in the lobby, speaking those wild and whirling words which make little sense on the surface but in circumstance carry a meaningful subtext. Although he appears to have wooly-minded touch with reality, he keeps reminding us that he is not at all(a) in all far deceased, far gone (II.ii.187) as Polonius claims, but is in fact very much in command of himself and the situation.With his ranting and raving and his seemingly useless pacing of the lobby, Hamlet manages to appear quite mad. The naive and trusting Ophelia believes in and is deva evidenced by what she sees as his downfallO, what a noble mind is here oerthrown. . . The expectancy and rose of the fair state. . . quite, quite down (III.i.152,4,6).Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are also fully convince. They are Hamlets equals in age but are far inferior in intellect and therefore dont understand that he is faking. However, although Hamlet manages to convince these unsubdivided friends and Ophelia of his insanity, other characters in the play such as Claudius, Gertrude and even Polonius eventually see through his behavior.Claudius is forever on his guard because of his guilty conscience and he therefore recognizes that Hamlet is faking. The king is suspicious of Hamlet from the very beginning. He denies Hamlet permission to return to university so that he can keep an warmheartedness on him close by. When Hamlet starts acting strangely, Claudius gets all the more suspicious and sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on him. Their instruction manual are to discover why Hamlet is pretending to be madAnd can you, by no drift of circumstance,Get from him why he puts on this confusionGrating so harshly all his days of quietWith turbulent and dangerous monomania (III. i.1-4).The reason Claudius is so r eluctant to believe that Ophelias rejection has caused Hamlets lunacy is that he doesnt believe in his madness at all (Kirsch 2 507). When Claudius realizes through the play-within-the-play that Hamlet knows the truth about his fathers death, he immediately sends him away to England. The prevailing piece of evidence demonstrating Claudiuss knowledge of Hamlets sanity is the fact that he feels threatened enough by Hamlet to order him killed by the king of EnglandFor like the agitated in my blood he ragesAnd thou must cure me till I know tis through with(p)Howeer my haps, my joys were neer begun (IV.iii.67-9).In the scene in his mothers bedroom, Hamlet tells Gertrude that his insanity is assumedI have utterd deal me to the mental testAnd I the matter will reword, which madnessEven without this confirmation, the Queen has seen through his act (Burton 2). plot of land Hamlet is reprimanding her, she is so upset that she describes his words as daggers (III.iv.98) and claims, Thou hast cleft my heart in twain (III.iv.158). The words of a daredevil could not have penetrated her soul to such an extent. The queen takes every word Hamlet says seriously, proving she respects him and believes his mind to be sound. Furthermore, she believes Hamlets confession of sanity immediately. She does not question him at all but instead promises to keep it her secret. I have no life to breathe What though hast state to me (III.iv.200-1).Even Polonius can see that Hamlet has not completely lost touch with the world. Although he oftentimes misses the meanings of Hamlets remarks and insults, he does recognize that they make some sense. When asked if he recognizes Polonius, Hamlet promptly replies, Excellent well you are a fishmonger (II.ii.172). Although the response seems crazy since a fish-seller would look completely unlike the expensively dressed lord Polonius, Hamlet is actually criticizing Polonius for his management of Ophelia, since fishmonger is Elizabethan slang for pimp (Boyce 237).He plays mind-games with Polonius, getting him in crazy talk to agree first that a cloud looks like a camel, consequently a weasel and finally a whale, and in a very sane aside, he then comments that they assume me to the top of my bent (III.ii.375). After the confusing conversation with Hamlet he remarks, Though this be madness, except there is method int (II.ii.205). When his theory of rejected love proves wrong, he becomes very suspicious of Hamlets behavior and offers to test it by hiding behind the arras in Gertrudes bedroom so that he can get wind in on Hamlets private conversation with his mother. Polonius suspicions about the legitimacy of Hamlets madness lead to his death when Hamlet stabs the arras in the mistaken belief that the eavesdropper is Claudius.Hamlets soliloquies, his confidences to Horatio, and his elaborate plans are by far the most convert proof of his sanity. Throughout the play, Hamlets soliloquies reveal his inner thoughts, which ar e completely coherent (Kirsch 511). In one such speech, Hamlet criticizes himself for not having yet taken action to avenge his fathers murderO what a page and peasant slave am IPrompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,Must, like a whore, buy food my heart with words (II. ii. 545, 581-3).Hamlet calls himself a dull and muddy-mettled rascal (II.ii.563), a villain and a coward, but when he realizes that his anger doesnt achieve any social occasion practical other than the unpacking of his heart, he stops. These are not the thoughts of a madman his emotions are real and his thoughts are those of a rational man. Even when he contemplates suicide in the to be or not to be soliloquy, his reasons himself out of it through a very sane consideration of the dangers of an secret afterlife And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied oer with the pale cast of thought (III. i. 85-6).A further important proof of his sanity is how patiently he devises plans to prepare for his revenge. As he explains to Horatio, his antic disposition is a device to test his enemies. His mounting of the play-within-the-play is another well-laid plan to trap Claudius into admitting guilt The plays the thing Wherein Ill catch the conscience of the king (II.ii.602-3) and even when the play brings him concrete proof, he is careful not to haste to take his revenge at the wrong moment.He could easily kill Claudius while he is praying but restrains himself so that there is no chance of Claudiuss entering heaven. Although Hamlets patience can be seen as an prototype of his procrastination, the Foakes think that it is rather a sign of rationality. Hamlet shows himself perfectly capable of action, as well as of rational thought, in escaping the kings armed guard, dispatching Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths in England, dealing with the pirates and making it back to Denmark. In addition, the letter Horatio from him through the ambassador bound for England is clear and precise and shows no signs of a befuddled mind (Burton 1).Finally, we are convinced of Hamlets sanity by his very normal reactions to the people around him. He is perfectly sane, friendly and well-mannered with the players, giving them good acting tips, which they appreciate and respect. When Polonius and Claudius test the rejected love theory by loosing Ophelia to him, Hamlet acts completely rationally. He greets Ophelia sweetly, gets a little cold when he remembers that he has not seen her for this many a day, is very hurt when she returns his remembrances, and becomes completely furious, insulting womankind in general, when she lies to him about her fathers whereabouts and he realizes he is being spied on. He reacts the way any hurt young rejected lover would. This shows that he is very sane and rational indeedThroughout the play, Hamlets calculating mind lets him get away with all of his actions. He is the most sane person in the play and he uses his antic disposition to manipulate people, play a trick on everyone, and investigate anything he wants. He is fully aware of all of his actions and the consequences that they will have on the other characters in the play. Shakespeares genius shows through in the character of Hamlet. He was able to show Hamlet outwardly as a madman, but salve keep the audience believing that he was still very sane underneath. Hamlet puts on his antic disposition very well. He is, in fact, sane throughout the entire play (Boyce 239).