Hamlet

5 Pages 1236 Words

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character exhibits a mysterious and ambiguous nature. The state of Hamlet’s sanity becomes a prevalent question throughout the play as contradictions in his character are revealed. In the play Hamlet faces an internal struggle brought on by the Ghost of dead King Hamlet. He must seek revenge for his father’s murder by killing Claudius. However, by taking on this responsibility, Hamlet must confront his own fears of death and the consequences of committing murder. Stemming from this battle within him are two conflicting behaviors seen in Hamlet throughout the play. One is of a calm, rational, and well-spoken man. The other is of a man consumed with madness. Hamlet’s mood shifts between the two continuously and causes one to question if he has truly become mad or if he has a well-calculated plan “To put an antic disposition on” (I, iv, 171) as he tells Horatio and Marcellus early on in the play.
The first signs of Hamlet’s possible madness come from his behavior towards Ophelia. In a conversation with Polonius she reveals to him her perception of Hamlet in his recent visit. She states that he came to her “with a look so piteous in purport, as if he had been loosed out of hell to speak of horrors.” (II, i, 81-83) Polonius is then convinced that Hamlet’s love for his daughter and her rejection of it has driven him to madness and is the explanation for his erratic behavior.
In another confrontation with Ophelia, Hamlet again appears to be fairly irrational. When Ophelia meets him to return his gifts, he claims, “You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not.” (III, i, 115-116) However, during Ophelia’s funeral in Act V, Hamlet leaps into the grave in grief and says, “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum.” (V, i, 221-...