Hamlet: Madness, Power and Hate
Hamlet is one of the famous works of Shakespeare. In this tragedy, we learn about the story of the Prince of Denmark, Prince Hamlet. In the story, the ghost of the King Hamlet, his father, asks him to revenge his death. “During his first onstage appearance, the Ghost of Old Hamlet discloses that Claudius not only killed him in cold blood, but also left him to die spiritually unprepared:
‘Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother’s hand
Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched,
Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhouseled, dis-appointed, unaneled,
No reck’ning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head (Zysk, p. 423).’”
The guilty one is his uncle Claudius. Once his father died, his uncle and his mother got married. During the story, the reader may think Prince Hamlet is a little crazy, but later when we continue reading, we will find out that Hamlet pretends to be mad, so he can unmask his uncle. He thinks of ways to unmask him like when a theater company comes to the palace, they interpret a play to mimic to the story of the murder of his father. Hamlet talked to the actors and the story was rewritten on purpose just to bother and make his uncle confess his crime, but the King Claudius decides to interrupt and stop the play.
Among the actions that make us think that Hamlet is mad is when he talks to the ghost of the king. He speaks and no one is able to see who he is talking to. This behavior causes people to start thinking that something is wrong with him. Also, there is a famous phrase from Hamlet “to be or not to be.” With that phrase, Hamlet is questioning life. Let us see an extract of the play:
“HAMLET:
To be or not to be — that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep —
No more — and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to — ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep —
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life (“The Folger Shakespeare Library:
Hamlet,” p.127).”
The real meaning of “to be or not to be” is “to live or to die.” There is a depressive behavior with tendency to commit suicide and that denotes some mental problems. The death of his father suggests that caused a great pain to him that there was no sense in life, since it was full of calamities. In the extract shown, we notice complaints and a negative view towards life.
During the play, Hamlet talks to the ghost of the king. He speaks and no one is able to see to whom he is talking to. This behavior causes people to start thinking that something is wrong with him. Also, during the story, the reader can see that he changes his behavior and is indifferent and cruel towards Ophelia. He denies the love he felt towards her. That behavior broke Ofelia’s heart, but at the same time made some people think that something was wrong with him. Hamlet’s mother and Claudio’s uncle also notice changes in his behavior. It is more likely that he was too upset with the marriage of his mother and his uncle that, without realizing, he ended up hurting Ophelia’s feelings. In the funeral of Ophelia, Hamlet ended up confessing that in reality he is in love with her. After, all he looked like he changes opinions and mood that made believe people, he is mad. Here is an extract:
“HAMLET:
I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers
Could not with all their quantity of love
Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?
KING:
O, he is mad, Laertes!
QUEEN: For love of God, forbear him.
HAMLET:
’Swounds, show me what thou ’t do.
Woo’t weep, woo’t fight, woo’t fast, woo’t tear
thyself,
Woo’t drink up eisel, eat a crocodile? (“The Folger Shakespeare Library:
Hamlet,” p.255).”
The driven origin of Hamlet’s “madness” was to seek revenge after talking with ghost of the King Hamlet, his father. Many literary researchers agree that he pretends to be mad but is not actually mad. He wanted to avenge the death of his father who was killed by his uncle Claudius. The supposed madness of Hamlet was a way of protecting himself and discovering the evil plans of his uncle. He felt hate for what his uncle did and disappointment that his mother had not waited longer before getting married again. Hamlet’s father died, and in less than three months, her mother, Queen Gertrude had remarried his uncle. His uncle’s desire for power and his mother’s desire to have a new relationship were stronger than respect for his father.
Among the repercussions of madness, or the supposed madness of Hamlet, are the death of Polonius and Ophelia. In his attempt to seek revenge, he went to his mother’s room to reproach her for marrying his uncle shortly after his father’s death. He confused Polonius for his uncle Claudius, stabbing and killing him. Polonius was the father of Ophelia, the woman Hamlet liked, but he denied. Ophelia commits suicide from the sadness of having lost her father and the rejection and the fact that Hamlet did not love her. Hamlet’s character becomes complex since not only do some think he is crazy, but people also feel rejected by him, as is the case of Ophelia who felt unrequited in love. The character of Hamlet also generates concern since his uncle Claudius sees him as a possible rival, he fears that he will take away the kingdom. On the other hand, Hamlet generates hate and revenge, since Laertes, son of Polonius and brother of Ofelia, wishes to fight with him and kill him for the deaths of his loved ones. Hamlet is sent to England because his uncle suspects that his madness is false, but Hamlet has to return as his ship was taken over by pirates and eventually returned. Upon his return, Hamlet meets with Horace and discovers that his uncle wants to kill him once he reaches England. This character does not stay calm, so he decides to modify the letter and say that the ones to kill are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet then learns of the duel with Laertes. This play could not be more tragic, since his uncle Claudius wanted to be sure that Hamlet would die. For this, he tells Laertes that if Hamlet did not die with the poisoned sword, then to give him poisoned wine. What no one expected is that the Queen, Hamlet’s mother, took the wine by mistake and ended up dying of poison. Hamlet and Laertes then fight, and the poisoned sword wounds Hamlet, and Laertes also ends up wounded by that same sword. Laertes confesses to Hamlet that it was his uncle Claudius who planned the poisoned wine. Out of anger, Hamlet makes his uncle drink the wine. In this way, the death of his father, the king, was avenged. Before dying, Hamlet asks Horacio to tell people what happened and appoint Prince Fortinbras as the new king. At the end, the repercussions of the madness of Hamlet tell us and can be summarized by saying that revenge is violence, and nothing good can come from it. It only causes tragedies and destruction.
Cited Works
The Folger Shakespeare Library: Hamlet. 2022. https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/ Accessed 10 June 2022
Zysk, Jay. “In the Name of the Father: Revenge and Unsacramental Death in Hamlet.” Christianity & Literature, vol. 66, no. 3, 2017, pp. 422–443. ProQuest, https://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fname-father-revenge-unsacramental-death-i-hamlet%2Fdocview%2F2447103784%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D3783. Accessed 10 June 2022
