The Madness Of Hamlet English Literature Essay Sample
In the play Hamlet by Shakespeare, madness presents itself as a very vivid theme throughout the entire work. Madness, by definition, means extremely foolish and crazy-like behavior. Throughout Hamlet, many acts of foolishness occur. Such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern turning on Hamlet to win favor with the king. Ophelia killing herself. Horatio almost killed himself only because Hamlet lay on the floor dying. Gertrude remarrying so soon after her first husband’s death. Claudius kills old King Hamlet just to become king. Lastly, Hamlet listens to the ghost and tries to avenge his father’s murder. As the characters listen to their inner motives, all their madness shows through their actions.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern show their madness in the same way. They both wish to gain favor with King Claudius. Claudius states, “Some little time, so by your companies to draw him on to pleasures and to gather so much and from occasion, you may glean. Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus that, opened, lies within our remedy” (Shakespeare A.II s.ii l.14-18). They want the King’s favor so much that they do not care about the friendship with Hamlet they used to have. So, they both agree, without hesitation, to aid the King and Queen. Here the King asks the two men to spy on Hamlet. Neither of them asks why the King wants this, nor do they ask about his end goal. They both just agree to it. Their agreement shows how they want good graces with the King drives them to throw out everything they ever had with Hamlet. The drive not only blinds their vision but also causes their deaths. Since Hamlet switched the letters to give them a chance to back out of turning on Hamlet. Since they both went through with turning on Hamlet, England executed both.
Ophelia let her madness cloud, not her actions, but her judgment. Ophelia lived her life blinded by love, not only for Hamlet but also for her father. In the play, Ophelia goes mentally insane. Her insanity occurs only because she lost her sense of self. She never lived for herself. She either did her father’s will, or she did Hamlet’s since she fell in love with him. Neither of them lets Ophelia live her own life. Instead, her father, Polonius, used her to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet also uses Ophelia constantly. Also, Hamlet’s cruelness to her throughout hurt her deeply. Especially when Hamlet kills Polonius, she feels hurt even more. Then she thinks Hamlet carries no love for her. A while later, Ophelia then kills herself because her mind felt clouded by the madness that grew from the love she felt for Hamlet, that he did not reciprocate.
Madness does not necessarily mean bad. Horatio, Hamlet’s best friend, falls under this. His drive came not from bad thoughts, but from his loyalty to Hamlet. Throughout the play, Horatio cares deeply for Hamlet. He also surfaces as one of the most level-headed characters. Throughout the play, Horatio tries to help Hamlet however he can. Horatio’s madness does not show till the end of the play. Horatio claims, “I am more an antique Roman than a Dane” (A.V s. ii l. 343). This line marks Horatio’s nod to Julius Caesar. In this line, he states how he felt it seemed necessary to die with Hamlet since they grew so close. Though in the following lines, Hamlet tells Horatio a true friend would live just to tell Hamlet’s story. So, Horatio does exactly that. While the craziness ends up avoided, Horatio’s rash feelings toward his best friend almost made him kill himself.
Queen Gertrude falls back under the characters driven by absurd madness. Her madness shows when she marries Claudius right after old King Hamlet’s death. Especially since Claudius happened to be her former brother-in-law. Also, the fact they only waited for two months after old King Hamlet’s death to wed Claudius. Her want to stay as queen drives her to push aside all morals. Also, she becomes blinded by Claudius’s lust for her. Which she makes obvious when her son Hamlet confronts her about the marriage. She refuses to listen or care what Hamlet feels he needs to say to her. Queen Gertrude also refuses to look at herself and assess the different things she has done.
King Claudius makes it obvious that all his actions happen because of his madness. The first action of killing his brother just to become king of Denmark shows how jealousy and greed control Claudius. They not only control him, but they also blur his vision completely so he can no longer see right from wrong. Especially since when he killed his brother, Claudius made it so old King Hamlet could not go to Heaven. Claudius also shows his madness when he sends Hamlet to England just so they can execute him as soon as he gets off the ship. By doing this, he shows how he felt willing to do anything it took to make certain the crown would belong to him for the rest of his life.
Lastly, Hamlet’s madness shows from the beginning. As soon as he listened to the ghost his mind begins to whirl with crazy thoughts and ideas. While the ghost did belong to Hamlet’s father. Hamlet could not know for certain if it did. Yet, without hesitation Hamlet listened. Not only listening to old King Hamlet’s ghost but also the way his mind warps his love for Ophelia. The woman that he fell deeply in love with, he convinces himself he never loved her. Like Claudius, Hamlet also lets his vision blur from his madness. But instead of his blurring from jealousy and greed, Hamlet’s vision blurs from his need to avenge his late father.
Inner wants and desires cloud the judgment of almost every character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Through each rash act of the characters, the audience can see the blurriness in the characters. In a way, this underlying theme of madness shows how people must be careful of their inner thoughts. Sometimes inner thoughts carried out by rash acts not properly thought out never get the wanted results. Instead, like in Hamlet, everyone who carries out their acts of craziness and foolishness ends up in pain or dies a sad death.
