Hamlet: Madness, Loss, and Tragic Endings - Essay Sample

Introduction

Madness is a prominent theme in Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. Many personas in the play are seen to be mad. Specifically, Ophelia, Hamlet, and Laertes bring out the theme of madness in the play with their actions and activities. The madness of each of the characters is caused majorly due to the deaths of their family members. However, their madness is brought out in separate ways despite their insanity being pushed by the same issues. The madness of these personas each has tragic endings, and they ensure the continuity of the plot.

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In the entirety of the play, Hamlet shows off different characteristics that indicate madness. As the play begins, the ghost of his father appears to him. Seeing a ghost is not normal, and this may illustrate that he was already mad at the beginning of the play (Findlay). The ghost informs Hamlet that Claudius assassinated his father, and this pushes Hamlet to begin his avenging goals-against Claudius. He begins to present erratic behavior, showing how madness had devoured him with the need he had to revenge the death of his parent. Hamlet, however, illustrates that this was just pretense when he expresses that "I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft." (III. IV. 187-8.). He becomes dramatically obsessed with death, which leads him to reflect on life. Even though Hamlet has feelings that he should revenge his father's murder, he is also troubled that the ghost that appeared could be a wretch sent to torment his soul instead of his father's ghost (Findlay). This brings him confusion on what he should do to respond to the sight of the ghost, and these increasing questions drive him further to madness.

Madness allows Hamlet to use different ways to bring out information on how he feels. After Gertrude remarries, Hamlet informs her of how he thinks about it. "Ears without feeling, feeling without sight/Ears without hands or eyes, smellings sans all/or but a sickly part of one true sense/Could not so mope" (III.iv.78-81). Hamlet uses this as a scapegoat to be able to tell people the truth, which facilitates the play and informs the future decisions of the characters.

The madness exhibited by Hamlet is seen to originate from an actual mental illness such as depression. Hamlet accepts the aches from melancholy (Findlay). Hamlet's father's assassination led to the worsening of a condition that existed before. In the entirety of the play, Hamlet is seen to show off a pessimistic thought. He is not able to withstand the efforts he has made to avenge his father, and this drives him further into depression.

Hamlet finally ends up dead due to madness, which aids in the development of the play. He is also seen to be responsible for the deaths of other characters such as Gertrude, who died from ingesting poison meant for Hamlet (Findlay). The revenge plan he had for Claudius only ends up destroying his family

Ophelia is also displayed as mad in the play. Ophelia is seen to be weak and is unable to make her own decisions. She also lacks individuality. The start of the play sees Ophelia informing his father Polonius, "I do not know, my lord, what I should think" (Worsley, 523). Consequently, this illustrates how weak she is that she is unable to develop an identity for herself, showing how she was madness (Worsley, 524). The identity her father had developed was what she used, and his death continually led to her insanity.

Ophelia's insanity was majorly influenced by how he lost males in her life. Ophelia was Hamlet's lover, Laerte's sister, and Polonius pawn (Worsley, 525). The death of the males in her life meant that the descriptions of their relations could no longer define Ophelia, and this led to her madness. The death of her father ensured that she lost a significant part of herself. The expectations that Laertes had on her were her being chaste while Hamlet rejected her, and increased her madness, which was further fueled by sexual frustration. This loss of love was illustrated by the Valentine song "To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day/All in the morning betime/and I a maid at your window/to be your Valentine" (IV.v.46-49).

The theme of madness is significant since it is the main theme throughout the play, and it guides the entire plot. The things all the characters do are guided by madness. Hamlet, for instance, begins to plot the murder of Claudius because he believes that his dead father, who gave him information that Claudius murdered him, visited him (Halpern, 460). This plot for the murder leads to the death of Polonius, who is Ophelia's father. This further drives the plot since it makes Ophelia mad, and her madness furthers the plot as well.

Madness acts as a domino effect that leads to different things in the play, and it starts from one character and ends up influencing different other personas in the play (Findlay). The madness in the play brings out revenge, which eventually leads to the death of people as the characters struggle to find their standing, they are influenced by the madness of their characters, and this determines the things they do. For instance, Hamlet kills Polonius, and this makes Laertes go for Claudius thinking he was the one who murdered his father (Findlay). Ophelia, on the other hand, moves to drown herself in a river due to the absence of the male counterparts.

Hamlet uses madness to write off the majority of his deeds in the play (Halpern, 456). He acts mad to ensure that all attention is moved away from him since he knows the deeds of Claudius. His madness pretense further leads him to kill Polonius after confusing him with Claudius (Findlay). He uses this pretense when Claudius asks him where he hid the body. He ends up giving out riddles to ensure that he continually confuses Claudius.

Hamlet's madness act leads to Ophelia's madness, which was through death and the absence of love. It further leads Laertes to avenge his father and the corrupt manners of the King. Laertes illustrates his plans to "cut his throat i' the church" (IV.vii.126), showing how eager he was for murder. This allows the build-up of the play and the development of the characters. The madness led to several deaths in the play, the death of Ophelia, for instance, developed from her madness where the absence of a male figure in her life prevented her from recognizing herself. Grief from her father's death increased her madness, and it overwhelmed her, leading her to drown herself in a river (Worsley, 535). Madness ensured that Ophelia killed herself since she no longer had a source of her identity.

Madness and insanity is a significant theme in Hamlet. The majority of the characters in Hamlet show the symptoms of madness, and they all become mad for different reasons. Hamlet's need to find his revenge led to his insanity. Ophelia, on the other hand, had her madness begin from the absence of identity and helplessness in her life. Laertes was also affected by madness, which was caused by his father and sister's death. Even though this madness affected most of the characters, they were all manifested in different ways to ensure that it guided the entire plot.

Works Cited

Findlay, Alison. "Hamlet: A Document in Madness." Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Dana Ramel Barnes, vol. 35, Gale, 1997. Gale Literature Resource Center, https://linkgalecom.ezproxy.monmouth.edu/apps/doc/H1420018842/LitRC?u=west25972&sid=LitRC&xid=0f47d055.

Halpern, Richard. "Eclipse of Action: Hamlet and the Political Economy of Playing." Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 59 no. 4, 2008, p. 450-482. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/shq.0.0046

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Clarendon Press, 1912.

Worsley, Amelia. "OPHELIA'S LONELINESS." Elh, vol. 82, no. 2, 2015, pp. 521-551.ProQuest, https://ezproxy.monmouth.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest com.ezproxy.monmouth.edu/docview/1689848874?accountid=12532