domingo, 9 de noviembre de 2014

Could it be that Hamlet was schizophrenic?

As we have seen in classes, in the movie, and of course in the book itself, Hamlet is a very complex play, as well as, some other plays written by Shakespeare. But Hamlet particularly has a more complex story and of course a more interesting character (Hamlet himself.)

To be honest I have problems making deep interpretations of the play, but I must say that I found really interesting the mental processes of The Prince of Denmark because as the play develops, he, I would say, goes in a spiral of madness that captures everybody in the play making them going crazy as he is. At first in act 1 secne 5 with the “apparition” of his father’s ghost, Hamlet was alone when he saw it. In that occasion the ghost of his father demands to be avenged by Hamlet because he says that Claudius poisoned him and killed him.  Taking into consideration that specific scene, and the fact that Hamlet was alone during that dialogue, I started thinking that probably that whole dialogue occurred in Hamlet’s mind. If that’s the case then probably Hamlet was a schizophrenic because as I found out, people that suffers from this mental disorder may hear voices in his head, may have visual hallucinations, may have problems separating fictions from reality, among other symptoms that Hamlet in a way showed during the play.
At the same time throughout the play, Hamlet acts to be mad, but I thinks that he does it as a way of hiding that he’s not mentally healthy. Even though the information that Hamlet received from his father’s ghost was true and correct, probably he got it from another part and he imagined as his dead father gave it.Simultaneously Hamlet gets paranoiac arguing that everybody is doing wrong and wants to harm him. If we pay attention to those aspects we can see another symptom of schizophrenia that is the fear of imagine another people plotting against them.
Moreover I found an essay (Findaly A. 1997) that analyzes the same topic, and the author uses an excerpt of the play in which Hamlet talks about his own madness:

What I have done
That might your nature, honour, and exception
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes? Never Hamlet.
If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away,
And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes,
Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it.
Who does it then? His madness. If't be so,
Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong'd;
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.
(V. ii. 226-35)
Hamlet refers to his madness as a `sore distraction' with which he is currently afflicted (V. ii. 225), so his self-analysis is not a retrospective one except in the narrowest sense. He speaks both inside and outside his malady, as he had done earlier, making use of syntactic modification to explain and control his mental state. (Finlay A. 1997 )

To conclude I would say that Hamlet knew he wasn't mentally healthy and for that reason he acted as a mad men trying to avenge his father without thinking in the consequences of his acts. But we all know how everything ended and the deaths that occurred by those acts.
I would like to know what do you think about this, and if you have another hypotheses. Feel free to comment.





References: 

National Institute of Mental Health (n.d) What Is Schizophrenia? retrieved from: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml

Findlay A. (1997) HAMLET: A DOCUMENT IN MADNESS  2007 Gale, Cengage Learning

4 comentarios:

  1. Just when we thought we had seen enough madness!
    I didn't see this possibility before you presented it, though. Maybe Hamlet is just mad!
    Coincidentally, it matches the idea of madness as a trigger of exclusion featured by Foucault in his work, as seen in Shakesperian times: Hamlet is different from the rest of the characters, and whether he is or not mad, he seems and acts as a madman and everyone looks at him with pity.
    In the play, exclusion is not fulfilled physically, but Hamlet is, from my point of view, and isolated character, just like Malvolio in Twelfth Night and Shylock in the Merchant of Venice.

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    Respuestas
    1. Thank you for your comment Carlos. Taking into account what you have mentioned about Foucault's essay, probably Hamlet being mad wanted to act even more mad in order to be excluded from the rest so that way he could plan more carefully his revenge.
      And if we take into consideration also that he might be a schizophrenic and thought that the others wanted to harm him, probably he acted as a madman in order to be free of the oppression and dangers of society.
      As I said in my post, even though I have problems analyzing deeply the play, this specific topic caught my attention.

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  2. In my opinion, both readings about Hamlet are possible (that he pretended to be mad or that he was actually a mad man). However, I disagree with you because I believe that Hamlet was only pretending to be mad. To prove my point, I take as evidence the fact that Hamlet was not the only one to see the ghost. Marcellus, Bernardo, and Horatio saw it too:
    HAMLET - Act I

    Enter Ghost
    MARCELLUS: Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again!
    BERNARDO: In the same figure, like the king that's dead.
    MARCELLUS: Thou art a scholar; speak to it, Horatio.
    BERNARDO: Looks it not like the king? mark it, Horatio.
    HORATIO: Most like: it harrows me with fear and wonder.
    BERNARDO: It would be spoke to.
    MARCELLUS: Question it, Horatio.
    HORATIO: What art thou that usurp'st this time of night,
    Together with that fair and warlike form
    In which the majesty of buried Denmark
    Did sometimes march? by heaven I charge thee, speak!
    MARCELLUS: It is offended.
    BERNARDO: See, it stalks away!
    HORATIO: Stay! speak, speak! I charge thee, speak!
    Exit Ghost

    Another important fact is that Hamlet “is a spirit of penetrating intellect and cynicism and misery…” (Wilson, 1930, p. 164). In other words, Hamlet is so intelligent that he can reveal the weaknesses of other characters in the play. For example, when he tells Ophelia to go to a nunnery, or when he asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern the reason of their visit, is because he knows that behind them there is a hidden intention.

    As you can see, Hamlet knew very well what he was doing. He was only pretending to be mad so that he could plan his revenge and torture Claudius.

    References

    Knight, G., & Eliot, T. (1949). The Embassy of Death an Essay on Hamlet. In The wheel of fire: Interpretations of Shakespearian tragedy with three new essays (4th rev. and enl. ed., pp. 157-169). London: Methuen

    Shakespeare, W., & Jenkins, H. (1982). Hamlet. London: Methuen.

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  3. I'm reading the book at the moment when thought that Hamlet is schizo fell on my mind! I google that idea and found this. What if his friends are also imaginary or if he imagine what they said. Queen couldn't see the ghost so why would she be different than his friends!? She said to the King that Hamlet is crazy like fight of wind and sea and schizo is well known as fight of 2 personalities in one human. Also, how is that everybody is bad mean and evil except Hamlet..??? I'm 90% convinced into my (our) theory. Shere your thoughts to my email: aleksandarstanic023@gmail.com

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