Hamlet

The Ambiguity of Hamlet

William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, is a tragedy of a young prince who is faced with the responsibility of getting vengeance for his father’s murder. This clever prince decides to fake madness as part of his plan to gain the opportunity to kill Claudius вЂ"his uncle and king of Denmark. As the play progresses, his depiction of a madman becomes increasingly believable. However, through his inner thoughts and the apparent reasons for his actions, it is clear that he is not really mad and is simply an actor simulating insanity in order to fulfill his duty to his father.

Is Hamlet sane or insane: that is the question? Did Shakespeare intend for Hamlet to play the role of a mad man only to fulfill the oath to his father or did the events that young Hamlet experiences throughout Shakespeare’s play make Hamlet snap? Many events that occur in Hamlet’s life such as: watching his mother marry Uncle Claudius and seeing the ghost of his dead father would portray the thought of insanity. Yet it is evident that Hamlet proclaims insanity because it allows him to perform actions that would otherwise be punishable. But did he transform from acting to being insane?

Hamlet’s “madness” allows him to talk to Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, and Polonius in a manner unsuitable for a prince. This is mostly evident in ACT III Scene IV in Hamlet’s confrontation with Gertrude. Here Hamlet is able to severely criticize Gertrude for her actions without being punished because she thinks he is insane. Hamlet then kills Polonius in the closet scene thinking that it was Claudius spying on them. During the play Hamlet also makes many sexual remarks towards Ophelia such as in ACT III scene II where he said “That’s a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs in.” His madness act gives him the chance to show his anger towards Ophelia for her abandonment. In addition, Hamlet uses his madness as almost an excuse, and definitely part of his apology, towards Laertes for his murdering his father Polonius in Act V during the fight scene. This almost proves that Hamlet is sane, would a madman be to able realize he was insane and call his actions uncontrollable? His plan in playing the role of a madman is genius! By playing the role of a madman close to perfection, it ironically reveals his sanity.

Furthermore, Hamlet proves his sanity in his famous soliloquy in ACT III Scene I where he contemplates whether or not he wants to be alive. The fact that he weighs his options proves his sensibility. Hamlet never commits any action without thinking of the consequences. In this famous soliloquy he contemplates whether to face his troubles, like a noble man or end them and die. He asks himself whether to sleep forever or suffer the pains that have consumed his whole life. Then the thought of him being in an eternal nightmare arrives in his mind. Now not only is Hamlet afraid of being trapped in an eternal abyss but he is also worried about the unknown of death as stated in ACT II Scene I:

Hamlet: But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscovered country, from whose bourn

No traveller returns, puzzles the will,

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied