Hamlet is Whack - Parts 1 and 2

Hamlet is Whack - Part 1

Hamlet is praised as being one of the most human of any of Shakespeare's plays. Throughout the story, Shakespeare uses his diverse characters to explore varying mindsets, reactions to crises, and even mental conditions. The most obvious example of this is Hamlet, whose mental state during the story seems to be in a downward spiral. However, due to the subjective nature of the story, there is no definitive answer as to what could be wrong with Hamlet. But no worries, I've watched enough crime drama's with my grandma to be able to get to the bottom of this dilemma. So without further delay, I believe that Hamlet is experiencing manic depression.

Let's begin by building an understanding of what manic depression is. Some symptoms (according to psychcentral.com) are said to include, "Having uncontrollable racing thoughts or speech," "Making poor judgments," and "Engaging in risky behavior." Of course, those who experience manic depression also experience typical symptoms of depression, such as suicidal thoughts, frequent crying, and feelings of worthlessness.

Throughout the course of the play, Hamlet experiences a fair share of these symptoms. For example, he exhibits both uncontrollable speech and suicidal thoughts throughout many of his soliloquies. During one of which he states, "Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew," clearly expressing that he wants to die. Zooming out a bit, his ability to frequently pump out large and poetic rants when he is alone, gives me deep concern and the impression that something is wrong.

In addition to this, Hamlet has also taken some pretty big risks in the story. In fact, the entire plan to commit treason by killing the king to avenge his father's ghost seems like a pretty significant risk to me. Especially considering the fact that Hamlet would most likely be put to death for killing the king in the event that he was caught. Also, Hamlet not even knowing if what the ghost had told him was true, ups the ante a bit. During this gigantic risky scheme, Hamlet even made some unwise and poor judgments as well. One of the most notable being his decision to assume that Claudius was the one behind the curtain, making him end up killing Polonius.

Oh! And speaking of ghosts--we have no actual confirmation that the ghost Hamlet sees even exists. And assuming that is isn't real makes the idea that Hamlet has manic depression even more likely, as another symptom just-so-happens to include "hallucinations." Hamlet even saw the ghost on multiple occasions, so it didn't end up being a rare instance for him.

Hamlet is Whack - Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

After the ghost reveals that his uncle was responsible for King Hamlet's death, Hamlet tells Marcellus and Horatio that he may have to, "put on an antic disposition." This was Hamlet's decision to fake madness in order to help him get revenge on Claudius. I personally believe that Hamlet chose to do this to make others less suspicious of his own actions and just brush them off as meaningless tangents of a madman. An example of this working is after Hamlet kills Polonius. After Claudius finds out what Hamlet did and questions where the body is, Hamlet jokes around by saying that Polonius is, "At supper," and being eaten by worms. In this instance, Hamlet was able to make light of the King's question and avoided immediate punishment. Another example includes when Hamlet called Claudius his mother without consequence and when he openly criticized Gertrude (to her face) and Claudius in Act 3, Scene 4. Seriously, he flat-out told Gertrude that she and Claudius were corrupt and that she should, "Confess yourself to the heavens." Even after saying these things to Gertrude, the only thing she was concerned about (before Hamlet killed Polonius) was how her poor son had gone crazy. 

But this does bring up another interesting discussion of who is smarter: Hamlet or Claudius. Hamlet, for being able to avoid an immediate death sentence, or Claudius, for knowing that being sent to England is infinitely worse than death.