Hamlet's sanity became a question for me when I realized that he was going to change the course of his actions and of his life based on a conversation he had with a ghost. On top of that, Hamlet's patterns of behavior indicate that he has some sort of mental disturbance.
Hamlet himself puts up a mask of insanity in order to achieve tactical ends, something he he himself admits. Polonius, too, hypothesizes that Hamlet's apparent mental problems are a self-aware ruse that he is using to further himself towards his ultimate end, revenge for his father's death.
Furthermore, Hamlet has undergone severe mental trauma. The death of his father and the discovery that his mother remarried his father's brother. Additionally, he learns that his uncle actually poisoned his father in order to kill him and marry Hamlet's mother in order to gain a powerful position in the Danish kingdom. Ergo, Hamlet is suffering from not only grief due to the death of his fathers, but also anger and hatred towards his uncle whom he must destroy.
However, while at the beginning of the play, the only person who comes into contact with the ghost in Hamlet, later in the play, Horatio too hears the ghost. This validates Hamlet's contact with the ghost as an actual event and not just a hallucination.
It is interesting to consider that idea that the main character of a Shakespeare play may possibly be insane. Since the play is centered around Hamlet, if he was insane, would the audience be seeing the story through the lens of a madman, or would the audience be able to tell the difference between the rumination of a madman and the actual events that occur? Such a play would be reminiscent of the sections of The Sound and the Fury which are told from Benjy's perspective. This is also an amusing connection because Faulkner named the novel after a Shakespeare quote!
In the end though, when all of the evidence is collected and compiled and analyzed, we must conclude that Hamlet is perfectly sane.
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11 comments:
Eric,
I thought you did a really good job backing up your claim that Hamlet is possibly insane--except for your last sentence haha.
I thought this was a very good line: "if he was insane, would the audience be seeing the story through the lens of a madman, or would the audience be able to tell the difference between the rumination of a madman and the actual events that occur?"
Doctor, once again you surpass us all with your blog entry. I enjoyed your thoughts about whether or not the audience's perspective is possibly tainted by Hamlet's insanity. I have often wondered about whether or not Hamlet was truly insane and if that affected the interpretation of the play. Well done my good man
Eric,
Good job! I thought your blog was very interesting and that the subject of Hamlet's insanity (or as you state at the end of your blog- his possible complete sanity) is a good one. I liked your point about his mental trauma due to his father's death I had not considered that before. It was really well-written.
Eric,
We actually spent a good deal of time in class today deciding whether or not Hamlet is actually insane, and we couldn't figure it out. He has good reasons to be, as you point out, but he does also act very logically. Thank you for a succinct summation of a slippery subject.
Sincerely,
Sophie
Tiberius, I approach this assigned task of commenting on blogs with a tired and weary mind. Yet your writing has, in fact, healed my soul and replenished the fountain within me that spews forth the fluid of life. May we discuss further your insightful insights during our third, yes the monumental third, cup of tea this GoPho Thursday.
HJC 4 Life
Eric, another magnificent job on a blog. While it was rather fortuitous that we had this discussion in our class, I thought you handled the topic of Hamlet's insanity in a very insightful and professional fashion, making many good points, including the problems that his father's death may have caused him. Overall, good job, and keep up the good work champ.
Eric, I believe this was an impeccably well-written blog. However, I believe that your methods of argumentation were at times somewhat dubious. All in all, though, great job.
Harrison
Great blog Dr. Fram! I love your connection to the Sound and the Fury and the brief consideration about what it would mean if Hamlet was insane. I had never thought about it in that way. Again, wonderful blog. I anticipate reading the next one.
Dr. Fram--The character from S & F who comes most to my mind isn't Benjy but Quentin. I think he has several things in common with Hamlet, from his intelligence to his depression to his concern for honor to his inability to act to his desire for life itself to end.
So thanks for the reference; it gave me a chance to make yet another connection between two of my favorite stories.
Eric--please see my recent e-mail to you regarding the posting of comments.
Hey Eric,
I liked your post. I think it is very well-written and you did good job examining how Hamlet may be insane. I did not really understand the last sentence though. I thought you thought Hamlet may be insane? The last sentence need much more evidence if you are going to state that Hamlet is sane. Overall though a job well done.
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