Essay Hamlet - 1670 Words

Is Hamlet Mad? nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;quot;I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsawquot; (II.ii.369-370). This is a classic example of the quot;wild and whirling wordsquot; (I.v.134) with which Hamlet hopes will persuade people to believe that he is mad. These words, however, prove that beneath his quot;antic disposition,quot; (I.V.172). Hamlet is sane. Under his strange choice of imagery involving points of the compass, the weather, and hunting birds, he is announcing that he is calculatedly choosing the times when to appear mad. Hamlet is saying that he knows a hunting hawk from a hunted quot;handsawquot; or heron, in other words, that, very far form being mad, he is†¦show more content†¦Although the response seems crazy since a fish-seller would look completely unlike the expensively dressed lord Polonius, Hamlet is actually criticizing Polonius for his handling of Ophelia, since quot;fishmongerquot; is Elizabethan slang for quot;pimp.quot; He plays mind-games with Polonius, getting him in crazy talk to agree first that a cloud looks like a camel, then a weasel and finally a whale, and in a very sane aside, he then comments that quot;they fool me to the top of my bentquot; (III.ii.369). Although he appears to have lost touch with reality, he keeps reminding us that he is not at all quot;far gone, far gonequot; (II.ii.189) as Polonius claims, but is in fact very much in command of himself and the situation. With his ranting and ravings and his seemingly useless pacing of the lobby, Hamlet manages to appear quite mad. The naà ¯ve and trusting Ophelia believes in and is devastated by what she sees as his downfall. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are also fully convinced. They are Hamlets equals in age but are far inferior in intellect and therefore dont understand that he is faking. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;However, although Hamlet manages to convince these simple friends and Ophelia of his insanity, other characters in the play such as Claudius, Gertrude and even Polonius eventually see through his behavior. Claudius is constantly on his guard because of his guilty conscience and he thereforeShow MoreRelatedHamlet Madness In Hamlet1293 Words   |  6 Pages When reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a class, the first thing that most teachers or professors point out is the argument/idea of sanity, specifically Hamlets sanity. I believe that Hamlet is, in fact, feigning his madness. 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Claudius, who is Hamlets uncle, has recently become the new king and as well married Hamlets fathers wife, GertrudeRead More Hamlet Essay1107 Words   |  5 Pages Perhaps the most famous soliloquy in literature, these words reflect the state of desperation in which Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, finds himself as he contemplates suicide. His father, the King, has died. His mother, the Queen, has remarried within a month of the Kings passing, an act which has disturbed young Hamlet in and of it. To make it worse, she has married the Kings brother, Hamlets uncle, who is now the King of Denmark. As Hamlets despair deepens, he learns through the appearance