In Hamlet, Shakespeare incorporates a theme of madness with two characters: one truly mad, and one only acting mad to serve a motive.The madness of Hamlet is frequently disputed. Hamlet begins with guards whose main importance in the play is to give credibility to the ghost. If Hamlet were to see his father's ghost in private, the argument for his madness would greatly improve. Yet, not one, but three men together witness the ghost before even thinking to notify Hamlet.
The question of Hamlet's underlying sanity has become a major issue in the interpretation of Hamlet. While related concern with the Prince's inability to take action had already directed scholarly attention toward the uncertainty of Hamlet's mental state, modern psychological views of the play have challenged his sanity at a deeper, sub-conscious level, typically citing self-destructive and, most pointedly, sexual drives to explain his behavior, his words, and the mental processes beneath them
Webster's dictionary defines insane as a condition in which a person is utterly senseless; irrational. When one is irrational, one is not governed by or according to reason. So was Hamlet acting out of pure passion and insanity in his quest for revenge or was he following a clearly reasoned path towards a reasonable goal? There are three paths of interpretation one can take with this line of reasoning: Hamlet is totally and completely insane, Hamlet is somewhat mad, but still somewhat in control, or Hamlet is totally insane, and absolutely in control. With a cursory examination of the evidence, the first two options seem quite viable, but with further attention, the true condition of Hamlet's mental facilities becomes clear.
There is evidence from virtually every character in the play that Hamlet is less then sane. In fact, a major portion of the book is given to Hamlet's insanity, with several characters being given the sole task of determining Hamlet's sanity, or lack thereof.
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