Hamlet, Sanity Vs. Insanity

3 Pages 874 Words

In the play Hamlet, sanity is a major theme that is used to reveal the truth about who people really are. As defined by the dictionary, sanity is “the quality or statement of being mentally sound and healthy.” Hamlet is a prince in Denmark. He is raised to be noble and groomed to be the future king. Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, enlists the help of his advisor Polonius to assist him in ruling. Polonius’ daughter Ophelia is of noble status because of her father’s position. Hamlet and Ophelia are the primary characters in the story for which sanity is an issue.
In the story, Hamlet is sane, but his behavior leads others to believe that he is insane, or crazy. Ophelia on the other hand, could definitely be considered insane, as her behavior dramatically changes throughout the story. The desperation of her behavior due to her love of Hamlet causes her to go crazy when she is not able to handle Hamlet’s actions that lead her on to believe he is also interested in her.
In the second act of the story, Ophelia walks into her room to find Hamlet sitting by the window with his clothes undone. Ophelia seems baffled at this action because it was so out of the ordinary. At this point, Ophelia had not revealed that she had feelings for Hamlet. When she saw him, she stared at him and he left the room. When Ophelia tells her father, Polonius, about what has happened, he is upset. Ophelia tells Polonius how she rejected Hamlet, and Polonius replies, “That hath made him mad.” (Act 2, Scene 1, lines 120-123) That was the first implication in the story about others thinking Hamlet was crazy.
The next occasion Hamlet provided for others to believe he was crazy came out in the 3rd act of the play. As Hamlet was walking through the castle he came across Ophelia reading and pacing in the foyer of the castle. This was typical behavior for Hamlet, but when he saw Ophelia doing this, he thought he was being set up and that Po...