Hamlet - Shakespeare, Madness, and Music - Research Paper Example

? Hamlet- “Hamlet’s madness” The unexpected events in life are generally considered as a mystery. Some people yield to unexpected incidents, but someothers try to go beyond the limits and fight against the same. Within this scenario, some people never reveal their motive behind their deeds, but conceal the same within their minds. One can see that alienation within one’s private circle may force one to act according to his/her mind. Besides, this can result in stress, emotional problems, and in the end, unexpected madness. When this theme/idea is superimposed into the context of the problems faced by Hamlet in the play, one can see that the end result was madness. Thesis statement: Through feigning madness to cover up for his actions, the protagonist of the play (hamlet) had really become mad in the end. First of all, Hamlet was not mad, but unexpected events in his life forced him to pretend as mad. But this pretension influenced his mind and resulted in his madness in the end. One can see that pretension, with or without reason, can influence an individual’s emotional equilibrium. Hamlet pretends to be mad because he wished to hide his deeds like communication with the ghost, revenge, motive, guilty consciousness, Oedipus complex, and to confuse his enemies. To cover up his communication: In the play, prince Hamlet is portrayed as an individual who is trying to cover up his communication with supernatural elements (say, his father’s spirit). He knows that other people will not believe him because it is difficult to prove that the ghost used to visit him. But the ghost reveals that his uncle is the mastermind behind his father’s death. In William Shakespeare’s work, the ghost states that, “Avenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (21). From a different angle of view, one can see that he was aware of the fact that he must cover up his communication with the ghost. To be specific, the ghost is the link between the prince and his father. If the ghost did not appear, he will not know the conspiracy behind his father’s untimely death. So, Hamlet decides to cover up his communication with the ghost and pretends that he did not know the mastermind behind the conspiracy. Besides, he pretended as mad because he was aware of the fact that others will not suspect him. To cover up revenge: Prince Hamlet knew that he cannot trust anybody because he was totally confused due to the problems within his private circle. He cannot trust his mother because she co-operated with his uncle to assassinate his father. The protagonist cannot trust his uncle because he murdered his father. But he knew that his uncle is watching him because he is the one and only person who can take revenge of the king’s murder. Still, Hamlet did not give up his aim because he must take revenge of the murder. If he tries to conduct an investigation on the murder, his uncle will try to hinder him. So, Hamlet pretends that he was not aware of his uncle’s role in the conspiracy. The best possible way to prove inactive is to pretend as an insane individual. On the other side, Hamlet’s uncle did not suspect him because he considers Hamlet as an insane individual. So, one can see that pretension helped Hamlet to keep himself away from trouble and to find out the truth in the end. To cover up motive: In the play, the playwright inculcates anti-heroic elements on the protagonist (say, Hamlet) to cover up his real motive. One can see that the protagonist is different from traditional protagonists with heroic qualities. For instance, the protagonist does not try to attack his father’s murderer. Instead, the protagonist tries to collect evidence against the murderer and traps him. This innovative method or the protagonist’s pursuit to kill the murderer is helpful for the viewer/reader to have deeper understanding of the protagonist’s motive. Marvin Rosenberg states that, “Giving such signals of pretended madness, Hamlet can still be so anguished that he is in fact on the edge of unreason, but his consciousness is clearly at work” (389). Within this scenario, the protagonist’s friend named as Horatio helps him to cover up his motive. To be specific, Horatio leads the protagonist towards the ghost, and helps him to realize the secret. This revelation of secret is important because the same helps the protagonist to plan his future deeds. One can see that the protagonist considers that others cannot help him because they are under the direct control of the new king. So, he decided to pretend that he is not normal. When one pretends as someone else, there is high scope for change, positive or negative. Still, the protagonist knows that he is pretending as an insane individual. But unexpected incidents altered the protagonist’s emotional equilibrium and he gradually turns into a real insane individual. Still, the protagonist does not forget his real motive, to kill the murderer. To cover up guilty consciousness: Gradually, Hamlet realizes that he must discontinue his relationship with his lady love (say, Ophelia). To be specific, Hamlet knew that his emotional attachment with his lover can hinder him from taking apt measures to rectify his problems. This problem eventually leads the protagonist towards a dilemmatic situation or indecisiveness. He considers that Ophelia’s love is real and she is not ready to give up her dreams. On the other side, the protagonist cannot give up his ultimate aim to punish his enemies. Still, he tries to keep his lover away from trouble by blaming her on her disloyalty. John Tobin states that, “He plays the madman most, when he treats Ophelia with so much rudeness, which seems to be useless and wanton cruelty” (265). One can easily identify that Ophelia was not a disloyal lady. But the protagonist blames her because her affection hinders him from taking an apt decision on revenge. Within this emotional turmoil, the protagonist kills his lover’s father (Polonius). Gradually, Ophelia loses control over her mind and commits suicide. But Hamlet did not expect this pathetic incident in his life. One can see that Ophelia was his one and only source of emotional attachment. He cannot expect affection from his mother because she is with the conspirators. So, this unexpected event created emotional turmoil in the protagonist’s mind. Besides, he began to believe that he is mad because his belief was originating from guilty consciousness related to his lady love’s madness and death. To cover up Oedipus complex: When one goes deep into the mind of Prince Hamlet, one can see that he was a victim of Oedipus complex. For instance, his desire to free his mother from the clutches of his uncle is related to Oedipus complex. But on the surface, his deeds are not related to sexual desire. Still, one among the reason behind the protagonist’s hatred towards his uncle is Oedipus complex. If the protagonist is able to gain victory over his uncle, his mother will become free. On the other side, the protagonist’s lady love is dead. When Claudius gained confidence of the protagonist’s mother, turned against his father, and proclaimed himself as the new ruler, the protagonist was infuriated with anger. The main reason behind this hatred/anger is Oedipus complex. Kendra Preston Leonard opines that, “Over time, Hamlet’s actions and performed madness became not only interpretative puzzles for actors and directors but also for critics and psychoanalysts; Sigmund Freud famously argued that Hamlet’s troubles were all due to his Oedipus complex” (8).Within this context, the protagonist’s aim to slay his uncle and to claim victory over his enemies reflects his sexual attachment towards his mother. But one can argue that the protagonist was interested in keeping himself away from physical relationships. Still, the protagonist’s unending desire to free his motherland (say, Denmark) and his own mother from the clutches of his enemies is symbolic of Oedipus complex. So, the protagonist decided to act like an insane person because he was not ready to share his personal feelings. But one must not misunderstand that the protagonist’s aim was to marry his mother. Instead, the protagonist was the victim of Oedipus complex. To confuse the foes: Hamlet knew that his enemies were powerful because the whole nation is under their direct control. Besides, his mother is supporting his uncle’s cruel deeds. So, the best possible way for Hamlet to deal with this problem is to confuse his foes by acting like an insane person. Peter J. Leithart states that, “In this way, Hamlet keeps anyone from suspecting the true cause of his madness-his knowledge of his father’s murder and his struggle with the ghost’s demand for revenge” (137). He cannot take actions against his uncle because there is no proof to prove his guilt. If he can confuse his enemies, he can have enough time to collect evidence against his enemies. This is important because Hamlet is helpless without solid proof against his foes. Besides, his aim is to prove that his uncle is the mastermind behind the murder. Now, the people of Denmark have a new king and they are ready to accept him as their ruler. Besides, revenge is Hamlet’s personal problem, not the problem of the whole nation. If the whole nation is under internal problems related to the murder, Hamlet can gain upper hand and act against his foes. But now, the situation is different and he must confuse his enemies and act secretly. From a different angle of view, Hamlet’s decision was right because he cannot expect anything good from his foes. One can see that he is the prince without any power. So, all these problems forced him to pretend as an insane individual. Still, Hamlet’s theory proved to be successful because his pretension kept his enemies away from him. But the end result of pretension was madness because Hamlet was totally confused due to the occurrence of unexpected events in his life. Real madness: In the beginning, the protagonist was totally confused because he was not able to identify the mastermind behind his father’s death. When his friend helped him to meet the ghost, he came to know that his uncle is the villain. So, he decided to act like an insane person because it was the best possible way to cover up his ultimate aim. In the beginning, the protagonist knew that the mask of madness can help him to keep himself safe from the conspirators. But he never knew that stress originating from unexpected incidents can transform him from sanity to insanity. To be specific, the death of the protagonist’s lady love affected his emotional equilibrium. Gradually, the membrane between sanity and insanity became thinner. Besides, regular meeting with the ghost and helplessness created confusion in the protagonist’s mind. At the same time, he was forced to act as an insane person. On the other side, the protagonist’s mother was not ready to help him because she was under the direct control of the new ruler of Denmark. Besides, he unknowingly kills his lady lover’s father and creates new enemies. But the protagonist did not expect this much problem in his life. In addition, all these problems within his life forced the protagonist to be insane in real sense. So, the stress and emotional trauma related to pretension and unexpected events force the protagonist to be the victim of insanity. Summing up, one can see that the protagonist pretends to be a mad individual, but this pretention eventually transforms his to madness. To be specific, the protagonist’s real aim was to cover up his aim and to have enough time to take measures against his enemies. But some unexpected tragedies within the protagonist’s life forced him to undergo real madness. Still, madness does not hinder the protagonist from attaining his ultimate aim. From a different angle of view, pretension hindered the protagonist’s deeds but helped him to be victorious in the end. So, one can see that unexpected tragic events can affect one’s emotional equilibrium and one’s deeds in future. Works Cited Leithart, Peter J. Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide to Six Shakespeare Plays. Moscow: Canon Press & Book Service, 1996. Print. Leonard, Kendra Preston. Shakespeare, Madness, and Music: Scoring Insanity in Cinematic Adaptations. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2009. Print. Rosenberg, Marvin. The Masks of Hamlet. Cranbury: University of Delaware Press, 1992. Print. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. US: Saddleback Educational Publ, 2011. Print. Tobin, John. Hamlet: Evans Shakespeare Editions. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Read More