Hamlet by Shakespeare is a classic five-act Shakespearean tragedy. Hamlet’s sanity and his ability to switch from sane to insane is the sum of his claim to madness. Hamlet is sane based on his actions in the play.
Sanity: the ability to think and behave in a normal and rational manner; sound mental health, from Merriam-Webster dictionary. Hamlet uses his sanity to manipulate and take advantage of those around him. This leads the people who love him, and even just watch him to treat and act a different way they encounter him. Hamlet feigns madness as to dismiss any thoughts or suspicions of his plan to avenge his father. “Hamlet was feigned in order to escape suspicion, and successfully…”(Eliot 1). He uses this to add to his plan to gain the opportunity to kill Claudius. Though, through his thoughts shown in the play, and the apparent reason for his actions, it is clear that he is not really mad and is simply acting as if he is insane in order to proceed with the notion of murdering the new king in revenge of his father.
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Hamlet’s sanity versus when he ought to be insane is a main theme. “As I perchance hereafter shall think to meet, To put an antic disposition on” (1.5. 179-180). Hamlet claims from hereafter he decides he is going to have an “antic disposition” and persuade them of his madness.“I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw” (2.1 376-7). Hamlet uses strange and absurd imagery to convince his insanity. Hamlet is indeed sane. He says he, of course, knows a hawk from a handsaw when the wind is “right”, which is saying he knows when enemies are there, and he is not stupid. Using imagery in this way presents you to have a wild and insane present, yet he is sane. He adapts to his surroundings and knows when acting this way is beneficial to him.
Hamlet claims madness because this allows him to finish the duty of avenging his father’s murder. Hamlet is often extremely disrespectful to Ophelia, acting in this insane way. During a scene, Hamlet figures out Polonius and Claudius are listening in, Hamlet starts to act in
a crazy way, saying harsh things to Ophelia, to dismiss any remark of love for her. “ Get thee to a nunnery... Farewell. Or, if thou wilt need to marry, marry a fool…To a nunnery, go..”(3.1.149-150) Hamlet is then able to blatantly demean her for her actions because she assumes that he is insane, whilst he just takes advantage of this to disrespect her. During the play’s scene he makes many sexual advances and sexual remarks towards Ophelia such as “shall I lay in your lap…I mean my head upon your lap…That’s a fair thought to lie between maids-legs..”(3.2.118-125). Everyone surrounding him allows him to say these things because they think he is insane, whilst he is playing them.
Polonius notices Hamlet’s sanity when they have a conversation. Hamlet uses weird imagery again, which in the end convinces him of being a madman. “sir, should be old as I am if like a crab you could go backward. though this be madness, yet there is a method in ’t.” (2.2.192-195). Was it not for his madness, he would have been reprimanded rather than feared, pitied, or ignored. Hamlet's false madness causes no attention from what he is actually thinking about his father’s death. This allows only Hamlet to know what he was really thinking at that moment and does not require Polonius to ask any questions or him to answer any questions based on the strange behavior, which allows him to continue to plan his attack on Claudius.
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