Hamlet's Choice Essay

Hamlets Choice

Deception is defined as misleading someone. One is usually deceitful when they need to hide the truth, or to create a scheme to reveal it. Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a play which explores the ways that deception can work. Throughout the play, Hamlet is faced with avenging his fathers murder. He decides to fake madness to gain the opportunity to kill Claudius. As the play progresses, his portrayal of a madman becomes increasingly believable, and the characters around him react accordingly. However, through his inner thoughts and the evident reasons for his actions, it is clear that he is not really mad and is simply acting insane in order to fulfill his duty to his father.

Hamlet claims madness because it allows him to do and say things that he otherwise would not be permitted to, while keeping people from taking his actions seriously. One benefit of Hamlets madness is that it allows him to talk to others in disrespectful and harsh ways. He is able to insult Polonius and Ophelia without repercussion, and help Gertrude she her recent mistakes. Although his acting backfires during his talk with Gertrude, Hamlet is able to severely criticize her because she thinks he is insane. Gertrudes talk with Hamlet soon turns into a heated argument, and she becomes frightened that Hamlet intends to harm her. She cries out, causing Polonius, who is hiding behind a curtain, to also cry out. Hamlet blindly stabs through the curtain to find he has killed the wrong man. This rash action works against Hamlet, acting as a catalyst to future events, and ultimately, his death. During the play he also makes many sexual remarks towards Ophelia. His convincing insanity act gives him the chance to say what he really feels with no consequences. This freedom gives Hamlet more opportunities to avenge his fathers wrongful death.

Madness is a condition of the mind which removes all rational thought, leaving someone with no proper conception of what is happening around them. Even though Hamlet displays numerous signs of madness, he never looses touch with reality. He continues acting rationally both in his thoughts as well as while speaking with certain individuals. Hamlet tells Horatio that he is going to fake insanity and that if Horatio notices any strange behavior from him, it is because he is putting on an act. Hamlet also tells his mother That I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft" (Act III, scene iv, lines 187-188). In addition to this, Hamlet's madness only appears when he is in the presence of certain people. When Hamlet is around Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, he behaves irrationally. When Hamlet is around Horatio, The Players and the Gravediggers, he acts calm and rational. If Hamlet were truthfully insane, he would not have been able to suddenly stop displaying his insanity as he did around Horatio and the Gravediggers. It can be inferred from the text that there was a method behind his madness. He used his madness to convey cryptic messages to people, and also to gain information about his fathers murder.

A lot of what Hamlet says seems cryptic and makes very little sense to those around him, which is exactly what he wanted, but Hamlet's actions and words have logical reasoning behind them. When Hamlet first acts crazy, he calls Polonius a fish monger. Polonius takes this as Hamlets mind fading, but Hamlet uses this as a metaphor, calling Polonius a pimp for putting his own interests before Ophelias happiness, and using her sexuality to gain favour with the King. Hamlet is also able to make smart remarks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, comparing them to sponges and musical recorders. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern soak up all the king's favors, only to become dry again after they are done being used by him. They are also easy to use and play with, just like an instrument. Just as Claudius uses Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as puppets to get what he wants, Hamlet uses his insanity to get people to not take him seriously, thus moving him forward in his revenge plans.

Through Hamlets experiences, we learn that our perception of sanity is different to everyone. We also learn just how easy it is to deceive people by confusing them with our words. Hamlets words were not normal, but were elegant and rational nonetheless. What we choose to reveal to others and what we choose to keep in is completely up to ourselves. Hamlets actions, no matter how believable, were no more than a scheme to kill Claudius and put his fathers soul to rest.