Lavender's AP Lit Class Blog
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Hamlet Insane
I'm thinkg about writing about if Hamlet is just faking insane or if he is actually mad. I believe that he is faking maddness the whole time in order to kill his uncle. He tells Horatio and the guard that he will be faking madness afther all three of them see the gohst and he seems to be able to slip into logic out of maddness pretty easy, something that no true mad person would be able to do, like Ophelia. There is no evidence that she comes back to logic even momentarily after her father's death, and in the end she kills herself. Even though Hamlet does contemplate killing himself he never does because he has to kill his uncle first and because he can think what would be waiting for him after death. This makes me think that it is more depression then maddness because he can think on a stratigic level, like not killing his uncle while praying and how to get his uncle to show guilt. Polonius say there is method to this maddness, meaning there is a reason behind it. But the reason isn't love sickness, so even if Polonius doesn't know it, maybe the audience is suppose to see it as he is pretending to be mad as a reason.
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I definitely agree with the statement that Hamlet is faking insanity because of his ability to form plans and somehow kill both Laertes and the King despite them trying to kill him at first. He is no where near how Ophelia is; she is placed in a straight jacket and unable to make any sense. However, Hamlet could have also been faking his insanity but then actually become mad when Ophelia kills herself. I think there is evidence in the book for both sides of this arguement and maybe you could address the posibility of Hamlet being mad in order to show that the book would not have played out the same way if he was as mad as Ophelia (i.e. if he committed suicide). Well, I hope that helps some and I like your topic choice.
ReplyDeleteDale,
ReplyDeleteThis is a GOOD topic, but a very broad one (that you have yet to narrow down to a thesis...which is okay--you can figure out what you want to argue once you've investigated this topic at greater length). The key, though, will be to GROUND your analysis in the text itself--which means you need to go back and track down all the references to madness in the play, read them over again, decide what you think (with regard to Hamlet's 'putting on an antic disposition' or actually going mad), and then determine which passages will be most useful to you. You've already mentioned both Hamlet's acknowledgment to Horatio and Marcellus that it might be to his advantage to fake his madness (but why?), and you've noted that Polonious sees a 'method' in Hamlet's madness--all of which argues that Hamlet isn't really mad; but then what about his 'confession' to Laertes just before their final duel that it was the 'mad' Hamlet who killed Laertes father, and therefore Hamlet himself is not to blame. So which is it? You need to decide, but again--your starting point must be going back to the text (which will provide all the support for whichever argument you choose to make).