Hamlet’s antic disposition is feigned Essay

crossroads has been known as one of the greatest of Shakespeares plays. This is mainly because the protagonist has mingled scholarly chiefs for centuries on end with his complex personality and muddled thoughts, which in turn leads onto his actions, or rather inaction. His incomprehensibility by many leads me only to conclude that he is mad.His irrational and rational thoughts are forever in conflict due to his state of depression and paranoia therefore, he chooses to put on an antic disposition which serves as a convenient outlet to his sanity slipping away (Wilson), masking the true nature of his mind, which has become far gone, far gone. In crossroadss introduction, we see him portrayed as a weak, melancholic man as exemplified by his clothes of nighted colours.He is consumed by the grief of the locomote of his father, the dexterity of which his mother re-marries, and her pleasure in entering the incestuous sheets with Claudius, settlements Uncle. This melancholic state is s hown to be quite serious in his soliloquies, where he states that he wants to Thaw and resolve himself into a dew. This sorrowful talk of suicide understandably shows settlements melancholic mind which can be perceived as mad.In the Elizabethan clock, Hamlets melancholy would have been seen as an imbalance of humour, therefore, although non as blatant as Ophelias madness, Hamlet would have still been perceived to be insane. Perhaps in the modern day, one would state that Hamlet is not completely sure that he is insane, just now rather that there is an underlying layer of insanity in Hamlets subconscious which influences the temperamental consciousness which the audience sees on stage.Freud states that the conscious mind is similar to a fountain which rises from a great subterranean pool, which is the subconscious. Complying with this image, due to the particular that Hamlet is inclined to take the path of self-slaughter, which he would have through with(p) were it not for hi s fear of Gods canon gainst it, I can only conclude that Hamlet is emotionally and mentally damaged. He consciously clings onto his conscious sanity by turning his hatred towards Gertrudes incestuous sheets however, he is al occupyy rotten subconsciously due to his depression.Stoll states that Hamlet was a conversion man, pleasant contemplation. implying that Hamlet never intended to take part in murder and insanity, but is merely an intellectual spirit (Coleridge). However, the renaissance was a time of change, a revival of learning and culture. How can Stoll justify Hamlets thoughts of suicide with such an absurd argument as he was a renaissance man? His thoughts of to be or not to be are marks of inclination towards the path of suicide however, suicide is nothing but an escape.It certainly does not relate to a renaissance man whose method of thinking would be that of intellectual learning and change for the better. It is a mere product of his insanity which is in turn produced by his melancholia. Perhaps Hamlets treatment of Ophelia is the prevailing factor in which we can clearly see Hamlets insanity. Wilson sawbuck states that he is murdering his love for Ophelia, on the brink of insanity, taking delight in cruelty. Hamlet has been summed up quite well within this quote, however, Knight is mistaken in stating that Hamlet was on the brink of insanity.Hamlet was not on the brink. He has passed the brink and fallen into his dismal insanity this is clearly exemplified through his temperamental behaviour. In his letters, Hamlet writes to Ophelia, never doubt I love, however, in his scene alone with Ophelia, he labels her a whore and states that he love you (Ophelia) not. His behaviour here cannot be justified by assumptions that he realised Polonius and his Uncle were there, for he only realises this sometime afterwards his mood swings where is your father? The fact that he suspects another presence to be in the room only further conveys his paranoia. I n the nunnery scene of Kenneth Branaghs Hamlet, Hamlet hears a faints heavy which gives him evidence to presume Polonius is present, however, in the original text, there is no such pause or sound. It is said in a fluent motion which when read out loud, making clear that his thoughts are compiled haphazardly upon one another exemplifying his imbalanced mind. Ophelia was not acting differently to him yet his insanity manifested itself as paranoia.It is a mere coincidence that this paranoia was founded. His treatment of Ophelia is a clear case where his insanity looms into his conscious. Surely this shows his deterioration and progression towards complete subconscious and conscious insanity. Hamlets afterwards exclamation that he love Ophelia in the graveyard scene with apparent sorrow clearly contradicts his earlier statement that he loved her not. Why he would state such lies to a women he loved for he had no reason to say he loved her after she was dead is puzzling.It is clear t hat insanity had created his imbalanced mind, and the graveyard scene merely shows that shreds of his mind before his depression and insanity set in are still present. Another such case where Hamlet shows conscious insanity is in his talk with Polonius where he calls Polonius a fishmonger and answers his questions irrationally. Although he may mask it as attempting to fool Polonius and others by acting insane, Hamlet is too convincing. Hamlet has given too much away and shown his insanity.The foolish Polonius states that Hamlets replies are meaning(a) with meaning, but Hamlet has merely succeeded in convincing Polonius with mere wit. The only thing Hamlet is pregnant with is his insanity which grows and shows itself in full bloom later in the play. Analysis of Hamlets psyche leads quite nicely into his possible Oedipal complex. This is the theory which postulates that Hamlet represses his subconscious sexual desires for Gertrude and it is this subconscious sexual thwarting which in fluences his conscious behaviour to become one of obsession and temperamental paranoia.Ernest Jones states that Hamlet feels anguish caused by his father being replaced in his mothers heart and souls and that the affection he feels for his mother has underlying erotic qualities. In regards to the replacement of his father, this is quite understandable, for change is hard. His father, Hamlets idol (as clearly conveyed through his talks of him as a Hyperion) has been destroyed and the whole structure has fallen. Hamlet wishes to almost become his father due to the subconscious sexual desires that would be fulfilled if he was to pass on this.Therefore, it is only natural that he would feel hate for an intruder Claudius for he is almost taking what his subconscious describes as rightfully his. In the closet scene, where Hamlet says to Gertrude that he will set up a glass where you can see the inmost part of you, there is a certain ambiguity in the statement which could have one mean ing of reflecting evaluation, and another more sexually explicit meaning. In Kenneth Branaghs Hamlet, this line is vividly conveyed as if he was astir(predicate) to rape Gertrude.Possibly obsession and insanity followed the anger which spewed out of him coming up to this line, and were it not for the foolish actions of Polonius, it would have gone further. Hans Eysenck has regarded this theory as stagnant speculation. However, it is not merely speculation for the evidence supporting such a theory refutes this claim. Due to the presence of the Oedipal complex, Hamlets speech clearly shows an obsession with the coupling of Claudius and Gertrude.Although this may be due to revenge, the focus on the incestuous sheets and adulterous further supports the Oedipal. Moreover, if Hamlets mind was completely focus on revenge, then he would have carried out the vengeful murder directly after the play. He does not because he is confused and internally contrast against his subconscious sexual desires and his conscious revenge ideas. This is why he does not kill Claudius for quite some time. These conflictions within his psyche is a clear characteristic of an imbalanced mind implying his insanity.