Hamlet Revenge, Uncertainty, And Madness - 1252 Words

Hamlet is one of William Shakespeare’s tragedy play surrounded with three major themes: Revenge, Uncertainty, and Madness. Throughout the play, the theme Madness is surrounding the protagonist, Hamlet. Although, nowadays, Hamlet’s madness is still an enigma to the readers. His words and actions are highly debated whether he is deeply submerged in the sea of madness or he is merely acting. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, madness is â€Å"the state of having serious mental sickness, or showing foolish actions and completely unrestrained by reason and judgment.† Based on this definition, Hamlet could be seen as truly sane through his intellectual, calculating mind and other characters’ viewpoint on his action. In the beginning of the†¦show more content†¦Another time, Hamlet shows how upset and betrayed he is, â€Å"You would pluck out the hear of my mystery†, â€Å"Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you ca nnot play upon me† (II.II.373-380) or calling Polonius as a â€Å"fishmonger†. His act of lunacy gives a sense of distrust and elucidates Hamlet cleverness through his sarcastic riddles, wittiness, in the guise of madness to insult, criticize and ridicule without anyone suspicious. Also, he can gain information by observing Claudius and his henchmen’s moves to generate a new plan that leads to his motive of killing Claudius. No mad man would be able to construct such plans and thoughts. His crazy talk has a reason and the reader can easily notice the implication in it, how he astutely uses the act not only to mock but also to monitor their plans closely while they are not guarded. In contrast, unlike an insane man, Hamlet displays his intellectuality at times where it is not necessary to act mad. When Hamlet tells Horatio about the play â€Å"Observe my uncle. If his occulted guilt does not itself unkennel in one speech.† (III.II.82) or when he is directin g the players â€Å"Suit the action to the word, the word to the action† (III.II.18) these are not how a mad man can talk, these shows how Hamlet is rather calculating and perfecting his plan than being truly mad. Hamlet’s sanity can also be proven through other characters’Show MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Hamlet And Hamlet1442 Words   |  6 Pagesmultifaceted nature of revenge. Furthermore, the ability of a text to have different interpretations and discussions about these varying interpretations contributes to the textual integrity of a text. Madness and its portrayal throughout Hamlet and Hamlet’s ruminations endows audiences thoughts into the complex nature of revenge. 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