Hamlet Is Not Mad

While many unanswered questions were raised throughout our class reading of Hamlet, none were as significant in the reading of the play as whether or not Hamlet was in fact crazy. The two main possibilities when answering this question are that he was either truly crazy, or it was pretense for certain people. Indications of his madness come in multitude as early as Act I. After seeing the ghost of his father, Hamlet begins to speak “wild and whirling words” (Scene V, line 127).  Hamlet’s behavior throughout the play is the most noticeable indication of madness. His behavior is nothing less than erratic, especially towards Ophelia. Hamlet first bursts into Ophelia’s chambers looking disheveled, grabbing Ophelia and staring her down. Seconds later he abruptly leaves without a word. Soon after, as Claudius and Polonius listen, Hamlet explodes with anger as Ophelia returns his tokens of affection to him. He claims to have loved her right before saying he never did. During the showing of The Murder of Gonzago, Hamlet taunts Ophelia line after line, making crude sexual jokes that are unbecoming of a prince in his right mind. Soon after the play, Hamlet uses verbal “daggers” to antagonize his mother and brutally murders Polonius on impulse. This erratic and impulsive behavior sharply contrasts the philosophical and calculated Hamlet from the beginning of the play. In that same scene, Hamlet also sees another vision of the ghost in Gertrude’s chambers. However, Gertrude does not see the ghost. This is a strong indication that while the ghost may have been real at first, it may now just be a creation of Hamlet’s mind, dragging him further into madness each time it appears. Finally, Hamlet orders that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern be executed under the king’s name. He does so because he found a letter destined to them, ordering that they kill him. However, we cannot know that they had already read the letter, or that they were going to follow that order. Therefore, Hamlet ordered the execution of two innocent men that supposedly were his long time friends. This rash decision can be interpreted as a sign of impulsive madness as Hamlet loses control of his decision-making abilities. I, however, am a proponent of the other side of the argument, which is that his madness was only pretense. At about the same time that Hamlet began to speak his “wild and whirling words,” he also warned his friends that he would “feign madness” (Scene V). He has good reasons to do so. With the royal unrest, there must be no sign that Hamlet is aware that Claudius murdered the rightful king, or action would be taken against Hamlet to make sure the truth was not revealed. In fact, Hamlet is only “mad” around certain characters (mainly the royal court and Ophelia), showing that the madness is focused. His madness is not remotely similar to true madness, such as the one exhibited by Ophelia after her father’s death. For these reasons, I believe that the madness was only a ploy to avoid suspicion by Claudius as well as to create an opportunity to strike revenge on an unsuspecting opponent.

Hamlet as the Philosopher

Hamlet is without doubt one of the most complex characters in English literature. It is also safe to assume that within the play, he is the smartest character on stage (the only exception being one of the gravediggers). As a result, he is often considered a philosopher. Hamlet’s relationship with death puts him ahead of other characters philosophically. Most of the characters simply react to death or are emotionally shaken by it. Claudius is afraid of Hamlet’s potential revenge and feels guilt at the death of his brother, which we know from his almost-confession. Ophelia was scarred into madness by the death of her father, and her brother is now crazed for murder. Hamlet, however, appears to look at death as simply another part of being human and questions it. After murdering Polonius, he accepts that Polonius is no more, and refers to him as what he now is—a body. Hamlet has accepted that after death, we are nothing but dust. He understands that after death, all are equal, no matter what they were in life. In the graveyard of Act 5, Hamlet picks up Yorick’s skull and stares into it. In a way, he is staring directly into the eyes of death. In most movie adaptations of the play, it looks as if he was trying to understand death more deeply.  A philosopher is defined as “a person who offers views or theories on profound questions in ethics, metaphysics, logic, and other related fields.” As exhibited in several of his more famous soliloquies (such as the “To be or not to be”), Hamlet shows signs of common existentialist beliefs. His philosophy regarding death is that death is relief and peace, and it is only feared because of the unknown it brings. However, it is not always unfortunate. Hamlet purposely chooses not to kill Claudius during prayer so that he will not go to heaven. This indicates that Hamlet does (at least partially) believe in an afterlife. However, he still questions his existence and whether he is meant to live. Existentialism is a profound theory about life, thereby making Hamlet a philosopher. On the other hand, an argument can concretely be made that Hamlet is in fact far from a philosopher. This far in the play, we cannot truly know whether his madness was purposeful or not. If it was not on purpose, but rather a result of seeing the ghost, Hamlet may just be a mad, depressive, obsessive, and rash prince. While at first, his actions seem calculated and his wit unmatched, this quickly degrades. The murder of Polonius in Gertrude’s chambers was rash and impulsive—very far from Hamlet’s usual calculated actions. Even if his madness was only pretense, he can still be seen as only a selfish depressive. After all, his pretend-madness and selfish actions directly lead to the death of Ophelia.

Hamlet: Is Versus Seems

In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, it is safe to assume that Prince Hamlet is always the smartest character on stage. On the outside, Hamlet always appears to be two steps ahead, planning every move he makes, but appearances are sometimes deceiving. In Act 2, Scene 2, Hamlet admits and bemoans that he has been unable to act upon his oath for revenge so far. Despite “seeming” in total control when confronting Ophelia and Polonius, he is in an inner conflict with himself. Seeming and “is-ing” are also present in Hamlet’s social behavior. He purposely acts erratically and mad around specific people, while being logical and rational with others. Arguably, however, we cannot yet know for sure which of the two is his true nature and which is acting, bringing forth the issue of seeming and being. Hamlet is not the only character that raises questions of seeming and being. Claudius provides what is perhaps the clearest example of seeming versus is-ing in the play. He appears to be a fair and worthy ruler. He married the queen for the good of Denmark and prevented war with Norway. He is even sympathetic to Hamlet, regarding the loss of his father. “Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet to give these mourning duties to your father, but you must know your father lost a father” (Act 1, Scene ii). Throughout the play thus far, he seems to care for Hamlet’s mental state of being. However, we know that he in fact murdered King Hamlet to marry the queen and gain the power he wanted. His murderous nature and intentions would be the “is-ing,” while his benevolence and kindness reflects the seeming aspect of Claudius’ nature. Another character that demonstrates the principle of seeming and is-ing in the play is Polonius, Ophelia’s father. When we are first introduced to Polonius, he is portrayed as a noble and honest man. He gives Laertes fatherly advice as he prepares to leave on his trip to Paris. Slowly, however, another side to Polonius is revealed. It becomes clear that instead of being the caring and trustworthy father portrayed initially, Polonius is mostly concerned with his private agenda and will go to great lengths to see it through. For instance, soon after Laertes has left, Polonius calls on his servant to spy on Laertes. However, he asks his servant not only to ask around, concerning Laertes, but to purposely bash his reputation to earn listeners’ trust and obtain information. Polonius’s nature is also shown when he uses Hamlet and Ophelia’s romance to his advantage by trying to portray himself as a savior to the King and Queen. The fact that he is willing to stain his own son’s reputation to make sure that his name will not be affected by Laertes, and use his daughter’s romance to promote himself around Claudius sharply contrast the earlier Polonius that was the giver of fatherly advice. This contrast is that of seeming versus being, and it is not clear which is which.

"A Late Walk"

“A Late Walk”

When I go up through the mowing field,
The headless aftermath,
Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
Half closes the garden path.

And when I come to the garden ground,
The whir of sober birds
Up from the tangle of withered weeds
Is sadder than any words

A tree beside the wall stands bare,
But a leaf that lingered brown,
Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
Comes softly rattling down.

I end not far from my going forth
By picking the faded blue
Of the last remaining aster flower
To carry again to you.

-Robert Frost

Robert Frost was an American-born poet in the nineteenth century, who is most well known for his more “traditional” style of writing, rather than aligning with contemporary modernist writers. A majority of his work focused on everyday life of the simple man, connection with nature, and a masterful use of colloquial speech. Written in 1915, “A Late Walk” narrates the story of a farmer’s walk home as autumn leaves and winter approaches. With a strong focus on emotion, Frost uses the farmer’s experience to explore and make more tangible, the human emotions created by mortality. The narrator of the poem is most likely the farmer, as he is walking through mowed fields. The mowed fields indicate that the poem takes place after harvest, possibly in the late fall. The fields are described as a “headless aftermath,” which is reminiscent of war and execution. The famer is therefore portrayed as a soldier returning from war, which evokes a feeling of closure. “Headless aftermath” can also refer to the practice of executing monarchs with the guillotine (cutting off the head). In relation to the poem, it would connote the end of a rule or era and the beginning of another. This, paired with late fall, indicates that the narrator is foreshadowing the coming of winter. The narrator then reaches the “garden path,” meaning that he is walking home, this would also relate to the allusion of the soldier returning home mentioned previously. In the second stanza, the speaker describes the “whir of sober birds.” The seriousness of the birds, which are traditionally associated with singing and spring, further reinforces the notion that dark days of winter are fast approaching. The “withered weeds” are also reminiscent of dying plants (and death I general). The speaker expressed immense sadness at the sight. The third stanza describes a lone tree with a single leaf, standing by a wall. Trees and leaves symbolize life, while walls symbolize separation and enclosure. The fact that the tree is trapped, planted against the enclosure of the wall, could be a reference to mortality. Just like the end of seasons, human lives (and maybe the famer’s) come to an end.  The speaker’s thought is strong enough to disturb the single brown leaf into tumbling down. Because leaves are representative of life, symbolically, the farmer’s thoughts are accelerating the oncoming death. The narrator concludes the poem by picking a flower for a loved one inside, beyond the wall. The flowers are blue asters. In ancient times, asters were believed to drive away evil and death through the burning of its petals. This could indicate the farmer is attempting to push back the evil of winter and death. In everyday life, blue is associated with melancholy and sadness, which express the feelings of the speaker at that moment in time. The fact that he is carrying it “again to you,” and that it is the last of the asters, indicates that it might be the last time the farmer performs the ritual.