Lora Nesifort
Eng 151W
Prof. Jacobs
Spring 11’
Hamlet’s Madness
Within the story of “Hamlet” by Shakespeare, we see the main character go through a
variety of emotions and temperaments. Because of these rollercoaster’s of emotions, many have
come to the conclusion that Hamlet has in fact gone mad. Although many have agreed to his
madness, the argument lines within the cause of it. Many theories have been claimed and even
more have been attempted to be proven. One of the theories that have I have concurred with is
the notion that Hamlet’s madness was provoked by his family and surrounding, as well as his
grief.
One of the theories that have been argued is the fact that Hamlet’s madness is associated
with the love for his mother resulting in the Oedipus Complex. Arthur Kirsch argues in his
article “Hamlet’s Grief” that the Oedipus Complex is present in Hamlet’s “O, that this too too
solid flesh would melt” speech in Act I, Scene 2. Kirsch mentioned that “This is an exceptionally
suggestive speech and the first of many which seem to invite Oedipal interpretations of the play.
About these I do not propose to speak directly, except to remark that the source of Hamlet's socalled Oedipal anxiety is real and present, it is not an archaic and repressed fantasy “(Kirsch 21).
Bennett Simon the author of “Hamlet and The Trauma Doctors” also agreed to this theory saying
“Hamlet’s alleged Oedipus complex is thus sufficient to explain Hamlet’s problem”(Simon 708).
The Oedipus Complex is a theory created by Sigmund Freud where the child has a sexual
attraction for the parent of the opposite sex and wishes death upon the parent of the same sex.
Looking at Act I Scene 2, line 120, one can notice Hamlet’s love and respect for his mother
when she asks him not to go back to Wittenberg and he says”i shall in my best obey you
madame”, but that is as far as it goes. Hamlet’s love for Gertrude was not sexual nor did he wish
death upon his father. He actually gave homage and respect for his father and refers to him as “so
excellent a king” (Act I Scene 2, line 140). If he did wish death upon the deceased King, I don’t
believe he would have mourned his death for a long period of time which the text indicates in
Act I Scene 2, lines 87-117. This shows that Hamlet’s madness was not the result of his love for
his mother through the Oedipus Complex, rather it was the result of grief and provocation from
his surroundings.
The grief of losing a loved one is in fact one of the hardest things in life to go through
and experience firsthand. In order to get through this period one must go through the five stages
of grief. Within Hamlet’s grieving period we see that he goes through two of the five stages of
grief which are anger and depression. Throughout the book we see many instances where Hamlet
is angry and full of uncontrollable emotions that show the severity of his madness. An example
of his anger would be in Act II, scene 2 when Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are having
a conversation and Hamlet compares Denmark to a prison and calling it the worst prison there is
(ActII, Scene2 234-236). His demeanor and whole attitude portrays his anger towards Denmark
and generally towards his life. He also shows a great deal of depression and also displays this
stage of grief. In Act I, scene 2, we begin to see his depression in the words of one of his famous
soliloquies. He says “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into
a dew, or that the everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst his self slaughter! (Act I, Scene2
129-132). Being that thoughts of suicide is in fact a sign of depression, this is a good example
that shows how he was depressed so much so that he was suicidal. Another example of his
suicidal thoughts would be in one of his other speeches, “To be, or not to be? This is the
question- whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or
to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them? (Act III, Scene1 57-64). Once
again he shows that the idea of taking his own life isn’t far from his thoughts and we can see that
he is in conflict with himself on whether or not he should act with this perception.
Arthur Kirsch shows how Hamlet’s madness is associated with his grief. He points out a
very noticeable event that occurs in Act I Scene 2, lines 68-86 when Gertrude and Hamlet first
appear in a scene together and Gertrude asks Hamlet why he’s still wearing black clothing
mourning his father’s death. Kirsch begins to show how Hamlet’s response “is speaking of the
early stages of grief, of its shock, of its inner and still hidden sense of loss, and trying to describe
what is not fully describable-the literally inexpressible wound whose immediate consequence is
the dislocation, if not transvaluation, of our customary perceptions and feelings and attachments
to life.”(Kirsch19). Kirsch also points out how the people who surrounded him helped inflict
more grief on him by ignoring him and not being sympathetic to his grief. He said “What a
person who is grieving needs, of course, is not the consolation of words, even words which are
true, but sympathy- and this Hamlet does not receive, not from the court, not from his uncle, and
more important, not from his own mother, to whom his grief over his father's death is alien and
unwelcome.”(Kirsch 20). We see how unsympathetic King Claudius acts towards Hamlet in Act
I Scene 2 lines 87-117 when he basically tells Hamlet that he is taking the death of his father way
out of proportion and that it is emasculate and selfish for him to continue to act in this manner,
telling him that he is being irrational since everyone that lives must die.
I believe that Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude also has an input to his insanity and because he
doesn’t quite know where to direct his anger, he directs it towards everyone. Paul A. Jorgensen
the author of “Hamlet’s Therapy” also agrees and says “The anger is against his mother, though
it is first misdirected against Ophelia and all women” (Jorgensen 255). Throughout the story of
Hamlet we can identify with the anger he has towards his mother because of the fact that she
doesn’t wait long after his father’s death to marry his brother. We can clearly distinguish this in
Act I Scene 2 when Hamlet says:
“Things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely. That it should come to this.
But two months dead—nay, not so much, not two” (lines 136-139).
“O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourned longer!—married with my uncle,
My father’s brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules. Within a month,
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her gallèd eyes,
She married. O most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not nor it cannot come to good,
But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.” (lines150-159)
These lines that come straight from the mouth of Hamlet show that his anger towards his mother
did in fact have plenty to do with his madness.
In conclusion, many ideas and inferences were speculated and viewed as to the reason for
Hamlet’s madness but the one that I concurred with that I felt was relevant with proof was the
idea that Hamlet’s madness was caused by the grief from his father’s death accompanied by
provocation from his family and surroundings.
Citation
1. Kirsch, Arthur. “Hamlet’s Grief.” ELH 48.1 (1981): 17-36. JSTOR. Web. 4 March. 2011.
2. Simon, Bennett. “Hamlet and the Trauma Doctors: An Essay at Interpretation.” American
Imago 58.3 (2001): 707-722. Project MUSE. Web. March 7, 2011.
3. Jorgensen, Paul A. “Hamlet’s Therapy.” Huntington Library Quarterly 27.3 (1964): 23958. JStore. Web. 7 Mar. 2011.