Monday, March 03, 2003

Hamlet’s Reality Check
Throughout the story Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is perceived to be an insane man that is never in his right state of mind. This perception however, is only an insinuation that is based on weak evidence. The plot and story line of Hamlet prove that Hamlet is not only sane, but, he is a very logical and understandable character.
Hamlet’s keen sense of trust allows him to persuade others to believe he is mad and to keep his sanity to himself. For instance, in Act IV scene 2 lines 22-27 Hamlet says, “There are no tricks in plain and simple faith…they fall their crests…,". John Russell Brown, an English Professor at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor states, “Hamlet moves through the tragedy with a secret within him, and defies his audience to guess at it…". The secret is his sanity and the story that he is told by his father’s spirit. It is obvious that Hamlet wants to die because he forces people to think he is mad and needs to be put out of his misery. In Act I scene 4 lines 43-45 when Hamlet speaks to the ghost, “Thou comest in such a questionable shape… King, father, royal Dane. O, answer me!” his sanity appears to be slipping away. This event is merely showing how afraid he is at the sight of his father in the form of a ghost and how full of emotion he is to see his father again. Hamlet realizes that his father has come back to the mortal world for a reason and he wants to know that reason out of sheer curiosity and obedience to his father. Hamlet’s ability to predict the outcome of events helps him to avenge the death of his father and show his mind’s ability to think logically to come to a correct conclusion.
Hamlet has planned his actions before he actually does them throughout the story. For instance when Hamlet chooses the play that the players are to perform, he chooses a play that has the same murder scene as his father. This action shows that he wants to further prove that he is right about Claudius’ deadly behavior. At the same time, he wants to see what his mother thought of the entire ordeal. Hamlet has premeditated the death of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when he states in Act V scene 2 lines 50-53, “Which was the model of the Danish seal, folded the writ up in the form of th’other subscribed it, gave’t th’impression, placed it safely, the changeling never known…". He wants them lose their lives because they have been against him after all of the years of their friendship. Hamlet’s covert method of slaying Rosencrantz and Guildenstern further allows him to carry out his highly complex plan of vengeance and demonstrates his sanity and ability to logically reason. Hamlet’s capability of knowing when others are guilty of a crime assists him in killing Claudius and helping his father to achieve peace.
The puzzling massacre that occurs in the Danish royalty during Hamlet’s time made society assume that Hamlet is insane and completely at fault for the many deaths. Unfortunately, Hamlet is only trying to let his father’s spirit rest where it belongs and to finally show Claudius that he would not get by with murdering his father. The perplexity and genius of Hamlet’s scheme show that he is truly sane and understands the complex relations that occur within the Danish royal family.

Works Cited

“Multiplicity of Meaning in the Last Moments of Hamlet, 1992”
Connotations. 1 February 1992”
http://www.anglistik.uni-muenster.de/Connotations/brown21.htm

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet
London, England: Penguin Books Ltd., 1996.

posted by Adam @ 4:07 PM Comments: 0