crazy

is hamlet mad, and if so, how came about this madness? these are the two questions most commonly summoned when debating hamlets (possible) madness.too bad, but most answers seem to prefer absolute answers ( "to be or not to be" sounds a lot better that "simultaneously both, to varying degrees"). i will be arguing that hamlet, a man who is predisposed for depression, was not mad at the beginning of the play, or perhaps his madness was only a seed. but, in the process of emulating madness, hamlet brought out his own madness.

Misogyny in Hamlet (Marialexa's Post)

Although Shakespeare’s plays may have been revolutionary in their use of language, the gender roles and stereotype were conventional and often times sexist. When he has female heroines, they tend to play a much more distressed, vulnerable and afflicted role than males. In Hamlet, these stereotypes are epitomized. Both Hamlet and Ophelia succumb to madness, but with Hamlet there is still the suspicion that he calls the madness on himself to fool the king. Ophelia, on the other hand, falls victim of all-consuming grief, trauma, and mental illness, making her look fragile and susceptible. While Hamlet died of a heroic, almost warrior-like death, Ophelia sunk to her death without a fight. In the play, it is as if woman’s only power is to manipulate and distract men. They are given no political, militaristic, or scholarly roles. Instead they are almost vilified for the seductive powers over the play’s dominant male characters. Gertrude is considered to be promiscuous and desperate in the sense that she lusted after power so much she would go as far as marry the brother and murderer of her previous husband. Ophelia is considered to have bewitched Hamlet and driven him to the brink of madness. We see light shone upon these women in relation to the men in their lives, but we do not see them independently in a role entirely of their own. We can’t judge their character without the influence of the other men in the play.

Sane or Insane

I will be discussing if Hamlet is really insane or if he is just acting. My thoughts at the beginning of the book were he was just acting different and weird for the attention because of his fathers death. He was torn at the fact of his mother marrying his dead fathers brother. But as the novel continued Hamlet started to do things that didn't make it seem like he just wanted attention. Such as, when he thought the ghost that has come to him was really the Devil and was just trying to stir up more tension and cause problems. Also when Hamlet arranges for his own friends to be murdered.

When one is crazy of insane they are the ones that are in denial. Hamlet doesn't think he is insane but that everyone around him is. He over reacts many times and make others scared because of the way he is acting.

At the moment when Hamlet is wanting to kill Claudius while he is praying, he over thinks the entire situation because he isn't thinking straight anymore. He has the most perfect chance but then thoughts start wondering through his head and he can't get himself to do it because he wants Claudius to die and suffer in Hell.

During the scene of the play Hamlet puts on his own little show for the audience. He lies his head in Ophilia's lap at asks "lady should I lie in your lap”. He has stopped caring what others think of him, he is just now living because his father came back from the dead and told him to kill Claudius and that is his motivation.

This one is actually from Ryan, the surfer girl.

I will be focusing on the theme of grief. I will look at instances where people died and how their loved ones reacted; Ophelia, Hamlet, Laertes, etc. I will try to explain how much it destroys a person if not taken the right way. It can lead to suicide if not handled in a careful and calm manner. But I will also focus on the idea that individuals need to get over grief as soon as possible. Claudius describes that people die and to get over grief as soon as possible before it destroys you. Grief ultimately leads to destruction. If you have any ideas, let me know!!!

Oppression of women

I am going to be focusing on the oppression of women in Hamlet, and how Shakespeare portrays women throughout this play. Here are some of the things that I will be talking about throughout my essay:

- How the women react to how they are treated (they do nothing about it).

- The position the women were put in....such as the queen in marrying the King. What would have happened if she hadn't married him?

- Hamlet's treatment of his mother.

- The difference with Hamlet's madness and Ophelia's. Ophelia was shown to have just turned into this lunatic who sings to herself and no one knows what is going on with her, and then in the end she winds up killing herself. Whereas with Hamlet, he isn't necessarily portrayed that way. He is shown to be noble and everyone still loves him. He has just gone a little off the deep end.

I am still needing to add a lot more key events and scenes but don't exactly know what all to use with this topic.

Madness vs. Grief

I will be writing about the theme of madness and how grief creates this madness. I will be comparing Hamlet's madness to Ophelia's madness. We don't really know if Hamlet is faking his madness or if it is real. Or he might have been faking in the beginning and that led him to be mad for real. He said that being mad might be to his advantage in killing Claudius. He is also looked at to be mad because he has the thought of suicide throughout the book. This is looked to be mad because it is a sin to commit suicide during these times. But his suicidal thoughts could be real and caused by his father's murder. Ophelia's madness is real. Her madness is linked to her father's death. She actually ended up committing suicide, so her and Hamlet are related in many ways. Hamlet's "madness" is also linked to his father's death. Grief and madness are linked throughout this play.

Hamlet is mad because of his father's murder and he wants to get Claudius back 


Ophelia goes mad because of her father's death which is linked to Hamlet's madness too

Hamlet killed Ophelia's father because of Claudius killing Hamlet Sr.


This theme of madness is circular. And this circularity is caused by grief.

Madness is caused by grief.

Hamlet: Grief/Insanity

I will be focusing on the connection of grief and insanity throughout the play. This will allow me to discuss Hamlet and Ophelia's grief which ultimately lead to their madness. With these characters I can compare and contrast how they handled their grief and how their insanity effected them. I will be using passages from Ophelia's singing scene with Gertrude, Claudius and Laertes. This will help me to show both her deep grief and insanity. I may also include previous scenes with her father to show where the grief stemmed from. For Hamlet, I will use the scene of his mother and him, before and after he kills Polonious, as well as the scene with he and Ophelia when she hands back his letters. These scenes of Hamlet will help me to prove his insanity is from the loss of his father and his lost connection with Ophelia. This topic will also allow me to question whether or not Hamlet was actually mad or if it was all just an act and if madness was a real theme in this play. Then i will also compare grief and insanity, I can discuss how the pain of grief potentially leads to insanity. And how it overcomes the grief.

Gertrude and Claudius

My paper will be on the greater overall symbolism and effect of the relationship between Gertrude and Claudius. My thesis statement will be something similar to: "As a playwright, Shakespeare loved to play with the meaning and effect of relationships on life. Nowhere is this more evident than in the coupling of Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, and Claudius, his uncle."
Overall, I will be analyzing the effect the relationship has on Hamlet and his emotions throughout the play. Specifically, I will be looking at scenes where Claudius and Gertrude interact, and scenes in which Hamlet mentions his mother as well as scenes wherein the two communicate.

Hamlet Mortality

This play revolves around the idea of mortality and how it intertwines with fate. Hamlet becomes obsessed with the idea of death and throughout the play ponders on the subject constantly. In the beginning some of his first lines "Too solid flesh melt" are him thinking of suicide. This thought of suicide continues to fill his mind with the "To be or not to be" speech, but soon transitions into death in general. In the grave digging scene Hamlet sees the skulls and tells how death is a certain and everyone even the great Alexander will become nothing but dirt and dust in the ground.

I would also like to talk about how despair, betrayal, and madness play into this idea of mortality. The entire play works up to the final bloodbath where almost everyone ends up dead. This goes to show how mortality really is one of the larger themes of this play.

Hamlet

I am going to right about action verses thought. In the play, Shakespeare prefers action over thought. Hamlet is a man of thought, for example, Hamlet deciding not to kill Claudius during prayer, Hamlet thought if he killed Claudius during his confession, he would go to heaven. With killing Claudius, multiple deaths could have been prevented in the play, but because Hamlet over thought Claudius' prayer, most of the main characters died in the end of the play. With the death of the characters, Shakespeare shows his favor in action over thought. Laertes can be Hamlet's foil. When Laertes found out about Polonius' death, he jumped straight into action with killing Hamlet. He did not think to much about killing Hamlet. Also, when Laertes thought the king killed Polonius, he immediately stormed the building in search of Claudius. This is another example of how Laertes is a man of action. Laertes put aside all thought for his revenge. Another man of action is Fortinbras. Fortinbras took Denmark after Poland in revenge of his father. Fortinbras taking the thrown in the end of the play shows how Shakespeare favors action and not thought. Fortinbras did not think about would could happen, but instead took Denmark without thought.

action over thought

Through out the book, Hamlet thinks too much. This is not always a bad thing, it can help keep us out of trouble, for Hamlet it just gets in the way. We have always been taught to “think before we act” but there are many times in our lives that we must put thinking aside and take action otherwise stuff that needs to get done won’t get done. Ask an athlete if before they make a run or a play if they think about what they are about to do. Odds are they just do it, and they will agree that thinking gets in the way. If we could bring Hamlet back to life and ask him if he regretted not killing the King I bet he would. If Hamlet would think less and act quicker he could have saved many lives including his own. We see Hamlet in several predicaments and he often walks around thinking and talking to himself about what is going on. When he speaks with the ghost he has enough reason to go and kill the king, it would be a rash decision and he probably could not prove himself innocent before a court but that still leaves this whole thing better off than it is in the end. "it is better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission", we see this mentality pay off when Fortinbras gets everything he wanted without question or difficulty.

Hamlet Post

For my essay on the play Hamlet I am torn between focusing on the two characters Laertes and Hamlet and the similar situations that they experience or the difference between how Hamlet reacts to his father’s death and how Ophelia reacts to her father’s death.

I think that the comparison between Laertes and Hamlet would be interesting because the situations mirror each other.

Toward the end of the play, Hamlet, it becomes fairly apparent that Laertes and Hamlet are very similar. Both Laertes and Hamlet are put into situations that are very similar to each other. At the very beginning of the play Hamlet is faced with the horrible feeling that his father has been murdered. Hamlet is haunted by the ghost of his father and the ghost shows Hamlet the truth about his father’s death and Hamlet is encouraged to seek revenge for his father. The ghost shows him that his own uncle killed his father and Hamlet is constantly persuaded to kill his uncle.

After Hamlet kills Polonius, Laertes is overcome with grief and just like Hamlet he is encouraged to seek revenge from an outside source. The king brings Laertes into his chambers and he tells Laertes that his father deserves to be avenged and the king encourages Laertes to kill Hamlet.

However I also think that the comparison between Ophelia and Hamlet would be a good topic because there is the option to compare how women and men react to grief differently. Hamlet and Ophelia very obviously deal with the death of their fathers in very different ways, yet for both of them it is just how they deal with the grief of losing a loved one.

Role of Friendship in Hamlet

Friendship plays two significantly different roles within the Shakespeare tragedy Hamlet. I believe that Shakespeare believes that friendship is either complete and utter loyalty between the friends or disloyalty that results from ones wish to gain acknowledgment from superior beings, such as the king. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were swayed by the superiority of the king and the power that he holds. They drifted from being the classic childhood lifelong friends of Hamlet and became spies for the king regarding the apparent madness of Hamlet. These two “friends” of Hamlet were going behind his back in order to gain the approval of the King. It is ironic that these two disloyal friends ended up being sent to their death via Hamlet’s devious plans. Horatio on the other hand is a true loyal friend. He was willing to die with Hamlet at the end of the tragedy. He was with Hamlet throughout the entire tragedy and supported him. He was a great friend to Hamlet, a true friend. He did what he was asked and loyally supported him in his endeavors. He hadn’t abandoned Hamlet at the first signs of Hamlet’s madness. Another friendship that ended in disloyalty was between the King and Laertes. They seemed to be friends when the created the plan to kill Hamlet. Their friendship originated from their hatred of Hamlet and the need for both of them to take part in the plan to kill Hamlet. After their plan failed and backfired, Laertes threw the King under the bus. The supposed friendship had been based only off of the needs of the individual, which happened to be the same idea of killing Hamlet (but for very different reasons).

The role of friendship within the tragedy Hamlet takes on a very peculiar form. The friendship either originated from the desire for ones own advancement by sacrificing friendship for selfishness (as in the King and Laeretes, as well as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s relationship with Hamlet) or the desire to help others with self improvement and problems (as in Hamlet and Horatio’s relationship). Shakespeare has a very particular view on friendship and this is evident within his tragedy of Hamlet.

Hamlet: Is revenge justified?

So i guess I'm going to write about how revenge doesn't lead to anything good. This is a tough subject because it's easy to say that revenge just leads to more pain and more hate (which it does), but if someone were to murder someone dear to me, i would want to demolish that person. I understand where Hamlet is coming from because i would want to do the same thing if someone murdered my dad.

Even though revenge seems like the thing to do at the time, people have to be bigger than revenge. Revenge is a never ending cycle of hate and as long as people keep avenging other people the cycle won't stop.

Revenge can happen in better ways like sending the person to prison and let the law deal with them, instead of murdering the person you were trying to get revenge on. Hamlet was in a tough situation because back then there was no justice system like we have today in America and it was just what the king said. If Hamlet would have gone down a less violent path i don't think he would have gotten the king in trouble. In those situations what do you do? Do you just turn the other cheek and just let the person go off with no consequence? Or do you get payback? It seems like any decision you make is the wrong one because one option you look like a panzy and the other option you stoop to the level of the person that you are trying to get revenge on. Like i said earlier today there's better ways of getting revenge than just killing the person, but back then it seems like that was your only choice.

I don't know, i just don't know!!! There have to be better ways of getting revenge than killing someone, there has to be a way to stop the never ending circle of hate. Revenge just brings more hate because when Bill avenges someone, then Stanley will want to avenge the person that Bill got his revenge on, then Mr. Right will want to get his revenge on Stanley for killing Bill. It just doesn't stop. Just like how Claudius killed Hamlet senior, then Hamlet killed Poloinius even though it wasn't intentional, but that made Laertes want to revenge on Hamlet. In the end, it just screwed up almost all of the characters' (in the play) lives because almost all of them died. Was it worth it? Was it worth going through all that pain and suffering? This is what the endless circle of hate does. it just doesn't stop manipulating people's minds and almost every human falls into the circle at least once.

It's hard to say which side i want to be on. All i want is to stop this circle of hate, but then again i understand why someone would want to get revenge. I don't know how to stop it, but all i know is that it won't stop unless people realize what could happen to them and other people if they try to get revenge in a grotesque way. There has to be a way to get revenge without all the extreme hate that takes place in almost every revenge. I don't know how anyone can find it, but there must be a way, nothing is impossible.

PS: Sorry for all the rambling i just trying to throw out ideas here. i guess i'll be on the side of revenge shouldn't be justified, but sometimes people feel like they don't have any other options, like Hamlet.

Presentation of Women in Hamlet

Throughout the novel women are constantly oppressed, Ophelia and Gertrude specifically.


In the majority of the speeches this idea is apparent, the women have no say, and are constantly manipulated. They are portrayed as an object, or tool, rather than an actual human being.
The oppression starts out fairly early in the novel when Polonious orders Ophelia to spy on Hamlet, regardless that he is the man she is in love with. Her father manipulates her so much that she begins to question whether or not the love they share is genuine. (that is just a start to what I will explain about the oppression of Ophelia) I will further show the oppression by breaking down speeches to show how exactly the women are oppressed. for example- conversation on page 131 between Hamlet and Ophelia.

Gertrude is also mistreated tremendously,  she has no problem believing that there wasn't any foul play when her husband was killed. Claudius manipulates her so much, that he is able to convince her to marry him. She married him only a few weeks after she lost her brother, which goes to show that women would do whatever men told them to do, without standing up for themselves. Women were so oppressed and brainwashed that she began to believe Claudius would provide her with happiness even though he killed her own BROTHER.

Overall I am going to show through the speeches in the novel that women are mistreated and presented in a poor way.

Spying in Shakespeare

I have decided for my topic to be about the effect of karma in Hamlet. My thesis statement will be somewhere around: Shakespeare shows that the characters who have done wrong, deserve punishment for their actions.

I will use the following scenes:

• Polonius - stabbed by Hamlet (spying on Queen and Hamlet) (Forces Ophelia to leave Hamlet)
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - killed in England (ordered by the King and Queen to spy on Hamlet)
• King - killed by Hamlet (spied on Hamlet w/ Polonius) (murdered his brother) (attempted to murder Hamlet) (ordered Hamlet's death in England)
• Queen - poisoned by King (married King too fast)
• Laertes - poisoned by sward (attempted to kill Hamlet)
• Hamlet - poisoned by sward (killed Polonius) (faked madness) (contemplated suicide)
• Ophelia - suicide (helped her father/King spy on Hamlet) 

Karma bites them in the butt after they do wrong. I'll discuss each character and compare them and how severe their punishment was.

Hamlets madness

My essay will be about how Hamlet is really mad and how he isn't just faking it.

• The main thing that had made him insane was the death of his father
• Then once he talked to the ghost and found out that his father was murdered by his very own brother, that was the main breaking point of all of his madness
• He was contemplating suicide the whole play
• During the play about his fathers death you could see his madness in just what he was saying, and how he was interrupting the entire play

Some examples of his madness

• when he was throwing and pressing Ophelia's face up on the mirror
• Interrupter the play of his fathers death
• Killing Polonius....

I need some help

Is Hamlet mad? I think so.

Our first glimpse of Hamlet, the prince of Denmark is at the royal Danish hall with his mom, Gertrude and the newly placed king, Claudius. Hamlet is dressed in full black for the mourning of his father and is already contemplating the thought of suicide. He is torn apart by his father's death and slowly throughout the play becomes encompassed by the revenge he must fulfill for his father. This revenge brings Hamlet to a state of madness that worsens and brings Hamlet from the methodical, pensive prince he was to a brutal, action-first madman. Hamlet comes to the goal of revenging his father once Horatio and two Danish guards bring him to talk with his Ghost of a father. The Ghost is a key element in Hamlets madness and is the original catalyst for his insanity. This ghost converts Hamlet from "thought to action," and shows the conversion from sanity to madness. He urges Hamlet forward to action boldly and to avenge his father who now suffers in a "land he cannot describe." Hamlet acts against his judgment more and more throughout the play. First, he holds himself against the temptation with not killing the king. Then he kills Polonius with the aggravation that he isn't acting with action, thus killing the wrong man. And finally you witness the ultimate change in Hamlet when he fights Laertes regardless of the bad feeling he has about their match.
Hamlet converts from the intelligent prince to a hasty murder. This madness is pushed from the Ghost, who changes Hamlet irrational. The final point of Hamlet's madness is when he accepts his own death and declares that fate has already set it's course and he has no input on it's decisions. He has accepted his thoughts of suicide and and realized that to take revenge for King Hamlet he must go to extreme lengths to do so, regardless if these mad lengths entail his own death. Hamlet turns truely suicidal and thus mad.

Rachel-Hamlet

Death is inevitable. It is the most certain thing we as humans understand. Of course there is also much we do not understand about death and thus we are fascinated by it. Hamlet and Shakespeare are no exceptions to this human obsession. Death seems to be an all consuming topic in Hamlet and that is what I will be discussing. But it is much to broad to talk about generally so I will mainly be talking about how Shakespeare's thoughts on fate drive this obsession. How his idea that we are all set on a predestined and unchangeable path from the beginning, and that every path ends inevitably in death.
There are many things that point to this idea within the play. Hamlet's contemplation of suicide (pg.29+97). Also the casualness with which Hamlet regards certain deaths versus others. This could definitely be due to his ideas about fate. As well the way our decisions are nothing but illusions. We may think we are shaping our future but it has already been decided for us. This is evident in his decision not to kill the king during prayer. And the biggest thing that I want to discuss is how fate, no matter how it guides us, directs us all to the same end because death is the great equalizer. (pg. 251) I have actually already written my first draft so these are the main points I have covered in my paper and in addition I have included my opinion on Shakespeare's broader message. But any feedback would be awesome, if anyone has any other passages that refer to death that I have not already mentioned herein.
As well here are some other passages I will use to discuss the idea of fate: (pg. 271-72) (pg.259).

Hamlet Essay-Notes

There are simply hundreds of Essay topic that could be written about Hamlet. It was a hard decision choosing what I wanted to write about. I thought about the treatment of women or Hamlets madness. I wanted a topic that I could maybe use both of the others so I decided.....

-What is the significance of suicide in Hamlet, and what impacts does it have on the main characters?

-Suicide is a very important theme in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Hamlet constantly questions whether or not he should be living or not.

-I will discuss how suicide was viewed in the setting, socially and religiously.

-And how in the Christian religion it is viewed as a sin.

-I’m going to use the two soliloquies “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt” and “To be or not to be.” These are the two quotes that really show evidence of Hamlets contemplation of suicide.

-I will probably also bring in how madness is a key factor in his contemplation of suicide and if he was really mad from early on or how acting mad really drove him to true craziness

-I will discuss why humans, very capable of suicide, choose to live even in the cruel, and injustice world.

-Ophelia will also be analyzed in my essay and how the death of a loved one can make people insane and drive them to suicide.

-And I will analyze the mystery of her death.

-I will also depict the conversation between the two gravediggers discussing whether she should have a proper Christian burial or if she actually did commit suicide.

Action Versus Thought

In the novel Hamlet, Shakespeare depicts action versus thought. He potrays thought through Hamlet. Hamlet is the thinker in the novel. Hamlet thinks first of how to make sure Cladius truly killed his brother through the play instead of taking immediate action. He then has a chance to kill Cladius while Caldius is praying, but ponders it because he thinks he will send Caldius to heaven.
Hamlet thinks through everything before he carrys through with it.
On the other hand, Fortinbras is the one who portrays direct action. As soon as he takes the throne after the death of his father, he wants to take direct action and revenge his father by fighting against Denmark. He is pursauded by his uncle not to attack Denmark. But he then goes to attack Poland, to recover land simply for revenge of his father, and for honor. He then from there goes on to take over Denmark, and recover land his father lost. He immediately revenges his father, he takes direct action.
Shakespeare likes action over thought. Hamlet could have saved his mothers life as well as Ophelia, Polonius, Laertes, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern if he would have killed Cladius the first chance he got. Instead he waited and becuase he thought about it many people died who didn't have to die. Hamlet could have saved those lives if he would of taken direct action. Fortinbras also portrays how Shakespeare likes action more. Fortinbras conquers Poland simply for revenge and honor, and in the end Fortinbras ends up taking over Denmark, he ends up being king and on top of everything. By Fortinbras being the victor in the end, Shakespeare shows that action is better than thought.

Hamlet Essay

For the essay on the play Hamlet, by William Shakespear, I was planning on writing about how having a close relative murdered leads to madness. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet loses his father. Hamlet goes mad after he finds out that his father was murdered. Then Ophelia's father is murdered by Hamlet. She goes mad and commits suicide. Ophelia's brother Laertes comes back to Denmark when he hears of his father's death. When the King tells Laertes that his father was murdered, Leartes goes mad and plans to kill Hamlet.
To prove that Hamlet goes mad, we can look at act 5 scene 2 when Hamlet is talking to Laertes before he has the fencing fight with Laertes. Hamlet says "What I have done that might your nature, honor, and exception roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness."
To prove Ophelia's madness, we can look at when she was running around the castle singing songs in act 4 scene 5. She first sings of he father's death and about Saint Valentine's day.
To prove that Laertes has gone mad, we can look at act 4 scene 7 when he is talking to the King about how they are going to murder Hamlet.

Hamlet Essay

Shakespeare’s Hamlet grabbed my attention from its possible misogynist perspective. Although revered for his many prolific pieces, Shakespeare is often accused of being a misogynist. His masterpieces reveal a controversial portrayal of women. Primarily in the Hamlet play, there is a vast amount of evidence suggesting that it was written from a misogynist view.

One of the more obvious examples suggesting that Shakespeare was indeed a misogynist includes Hamlet’s aggressive response to his mother’s quick marriage. Beginning on page 173, Hamlet slowly builds up to completely demean Gertrude’s decisions and overall her as a person. His attacks on her reveal the superiority men can have over women.

Ophelia on the other hand is also portrayed as the "bad guy." Her passionate relationship with Hamlet is frowned upon by Polonius, Gertrude, Claudius...the list goes on. Her forbidden love for Hamlet doesn't stop her from having sexual relations with him and in the end backfires. In fact, her love for Hamlet goes so far as to drive her crazy (literally.) She sings of Hamlet backstabbing her with the very promise of marriage and essentially commits suicide. After killing herself, the reader gets a sense of just how insecure the women are in this play and how desperate(for lack of word) they are for love.

The play also subtly portrays a misogynist view when Laertes talks to his sister Ophelia about Hamlet. He tell her to not lose her virginity to "keep her treasure." Laertes's advice possibly suggests to the reader that women are supposed to always be pure, and not commit the ultimate sin that Eve carried out.

Overall, the play in general introduces the reader to only two women as opposed to the several male characters. Was this a coincidence or carefully though out by Shakespeare? My goal is to decipher the text and look for evidence suggesting that Shakespeare indeed wrote this play from a misogynist point of view.