Hamlet: Name Your Poison

Dennis Shen

Period 1, 1/29/15

Hamlet: Name Your Poison

        A question thrown around often was if Hamlet was actually truly crazy, in my opinion he was both perceived as crazy, but was just drowned in emotional stress. There are many examples in the book that show adrenaline and trials leading to Hamlet becoming “crazy.” But one may say that Hamlet is not crazy, just stressed because of all the trials he has been through.

        Most cultures throughout the world and for centuries believed that life is a blessing and murder is completely wrong no matter the circumstance. Hamlet is definitely crazy in the sense that he murdered more than just a single person, however, sometimes murder is okay but that’s very rare. There was also a moment in time where Hamlet was considering to take his own life in his “To be, or not to be” speech and most people in the world consider that to be almost or even just as bad as killing someone else. But in Hamlet’s case, in my opinion, he had a reasonable reason since so many tragic and significant events happened in such a short amount of time take for example after his father’s death/murder he stated, O, that this too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world!” (Shakespeare, Act I scene ii), where Hamlet is stating how unhappy he is about his fathers death and his mothers almost immediate remarriage to his Uncle, Claudius. Throughout the play Hamlet also sees the ghost of his dead father, which some people may automatically say that he is crazy. But the first confrontation he has with his dead father, his friends also see the ghost with him and Hamlet says “The spirit that I have seen May be the devil: and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me.” (Shakespeare, Act II Scene ii) Also when the ghost told him that Claudius killed his father, Hamlet reacted “How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself, As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on” (Shakespeare, Act I scene v), basically saying he’s going to get revenge for his father by acting crazy. When he and the ghost first “met” the ghost told him to follow him and his friends urged him not to follow the ghost, this could be an example of insanity. Towards the end of the book before Ophelia dies Hamlet tells Ophelia that he doesn’t love her anymore, but later on before he goes onto fight he jumps into her grave confessing his love to her. Hamlet pronounces that he is not “crazy” and he is just acting like it so that eventually he can avenge his father, but others say that he truly did go insane and he wasn’t just acting.