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Shakespearean Hamlet is a tragedy written in the golden age of Elizabethan theatre; a time when the notions of Renaissance humanism gradually pressured the more communal and God-fearing values of the Middle Ages. This transition and the resulting conflicts of ideas are noticeable on many levels of the play and, arguably, they are a large part of the explanation for why this old tragedy has been relevant and fascinating for more than 400 years. Shakespeare Stages his play in a kingdom Of Machiavellian power struggles and uses the theme of revenge, a pagan virtue, as the driving force of the plot.
But at the same time he induces the kingdom with at least some adherence to Christian values and designs the protagonist not as a staunch veneer, but rather as a hesitating thinker. In other words, Shakespeare sets up a medieval stage and lets a reflective humanist enter. Consequently, the conventional plot elements of the tragedy are not only played out as simple actions on stage: they are twisted and elevated to moral conflicts and opposing philosophical and theological ideas that can be related to the rise of renaissance humanism.
One of the conventional plot elements that Shakespeare uses in Hamlet is that of madness. He lets his protagonist put on an ‘antic disposition’ to fool his adversaries, a plot device often seen in Elizabethan plays. A closer look at how Shakespeare uses it, however, will show that Shakespeare does not treat madness merely as a device to forward the plot, but actually lets the theme of madness expand on the ideas inherent in the play, in particular the clash of the medieval values with those of the rising humanism.
MADNESS Madness is a broad term and discussing it in relation to Hamlet calls for a more accurate understanding of the word. The only explicit definition the play itself offers is Polonium’ remark: To define true madness, What sits button be nothing else but mad? (II, ii, 93-94) The lines mock Polonium’ dubious eloquence by their redundancy, but nevertheless they give a clue. Examined closely, these words propose the notion that madness is an all-encompassing state of mind that does not leave room for much else. When being mad, one can be nothing else.
This corresponds to the modern ‘psychosis’. According to The National Institute of Mental Health a psychosis is a serious mental disorder in which a person loses contact with reality and experiences hallucinations or delusions. ‘ 1 The point is that when one loses contact with reality it is not possible to function armorial in any minor area at the same time. This is obviously not an adequate description of Hamlet, at least during large parts of the play. Therefore it is helpful to introduce another modern term: ‘neurosis’. This is a ‘… Mental or emotional disorder that may involve anxiety or phobias but does not involve losing touch with reality. ‘ 2 Naturally, madness can be many things but one important distinction is whether the inflicted person loses his or her grip on reality or if it is passing instability that still enables the inflicted person to react to actual reality. It is also important to look at how madness was garden in Shakespearean time. In his book Madness and Civilization Michel Factual points out that the Renaissance society had a benevolent and somewhat inclusive attitude toward madmen.
In the Victorian Age, and arguably until very recently, the best way of dealing with the mad was believed to be imprisonment. In Shakespearean time, however, the mad were not locked up; in stead they were secluded and still viewed as part of society. This is partly demonstrated by the fact that even the mad were offered communion as a token of God’s appreciation of all mankind; after all, their Tate of mind was seen not as a fault of their own but as a result of divine will. This connection to divinity also gave them a somewhat longer leash, even protection, when they transgressed the boundaries of accepted behavior. This is not to say that seclusion was a nice gesture, just to point out that the protection offered to the mad by the idea of their proximity to the divine was a better alternative than being regarded a threat to society most fit for imprisonment. HAMLET AND MADNESS The theme of madness in the tragedy is rather prominent: Hamlet pretends to be mad and Aphelia is driven to actual madness and even suicide. On a more 1 Glossary on homepage of The National Institute of Mental Health Glossary on homepage of The National Institute Of Mental Health 3 See Michel Factual: Madness and Civilization p. -33 4 abstract level madness lurks in the overall ambiguous attitude of the play towards the true substance of the events seen and referenced on stage. The tragedy skillfully plays with the fact that doubt in everything that surrounds you borders on madness. It is rather telling that the first line of the play is the sentinel Barnyard staring into the blackness of night asking: ‘Who’s there? (l,I) Nothing is what it seems, and uncertainty and deceitfulness is the default mode of life at court and of the play in general.
With Barnyard’s opening line Shakespeare invites his audience to closely observe the difference between what seems and what really is, or in other words: the opposition between truth and deceit. The deceitfulness emerges most visibly in the scheming of Claudia and Polonium and in the entire imagery of the text, where the lies and corruption of the Danish court are connected to illness and decay. This connection is introduced by Marcella’ famous line: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. L, iv) As madness in some sense is an illness and decay of the mind, the imagery also serves to connect the theme of madness with the theme of deceit in the play. First, the character of Hamlet deserves a closer look: He is troubled by suspicions of deceit in large parts of the play, most notably in regards to the true nature of the ghost. Even though Hamlet sees and speaks with the ghost, he is still in doubt whether the apparition really is his fathers ghost trying to convey the true events that led to his death, or if it is a devil lying to him (II, ii, 33).
His doubt is demonstrated by the fact that he does not set out to kill Claudia immediately, but rather puts on a play to obtain certainty of his uncle’s guilt. Hamlet thinks fast when he hears of the murder, because immediately after meeting the ghost, he tells Horopito and Marcella of his plan to put on an ‘antic disposition’ (l, iv, 168-180). With the Renaissance view on madness in mind, the plan makes perfect sense: If Claudia has, in fact, unmercifully usurped the throne of Denmark, then the most immediate threat to his power is Hamlet, and therefore it is extremely rational and sane for
Hamlet to seek the protection of having been touched by the divine will. Still, it is obligatory for an essay on madness in Hamlet to address the ongoing discussion on the actual state of mind of its famous protagonist, because in some scenes Hamlet does show signs that can be interpreted as real madness. This is most noticeable in his hateful encounter with his once beloved Aphelia (Ill, I) and in the confrontation with his mother where he in a fit of rage kills Polonium, Aphelion’s father. When Hamlet meets Aphelia after his famous soliloquy to be or not to be’, he s presumably confused since he both tells her that he once loved her and that he didn’t love her at all (Ill, I, 115 and 119) . All of a sudden Hamlet explodes in a fit of rage and tells Aphelia, Get thee to a nunnery why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? (Ill, I, 121) and he even questions her chastity and comes very close to calling her a prostitute. The background of the scene, however, is that Aphelia has been instructed to spy on him by Polonium and the King, who are hiding nearby.
It is implied that Hamlet discovers this when he out of context suddenly asks: ‘Where’s your father? 130). Thus his verbal attack on Aphelia is quite understandable as a reaction to his feelings of betrayal. In the essay Antic Disposition J. Dover Wilson even proposes that Hamlet overhears Polonium’ plan to spy on him earlier in the play 4 (II, ii, 162). Wilson argues that Polonium’ description of Hamlet’s behavior, which precedes the plan, is, in fact, an implied stage direction for Polonium to point at the inner stage when he says: You know, sometimes he walks four hours together Here in the lobby. II, ii, 162) Thus the latter part supposedly directs the attention of the audience to Hamlet who is entering the stage unseen by Polonium and his listeners. The consequence of this idea is that immediately when he sees Aphelia, he must infer that she has agreed to spy on him. His sense Of betrayal only grows stronger throughout the scene since Aphelia does not reveal her real agenda, even though Hamlet repeatedly asks her: ‘are you honest? And ‘Are you fair? ‘ (Ill, I, 103, 105).
Consequently, Hamlet obviously shows quite a temper in this scene, but it is a far stretch to call him insane. Hamlet’s rage turns to violence in the scene where he confronts Gertrude and kills Polonium (Ill, iv). The lines spoken indicate that he thinks Polonium is the King. However, this is clearly not the case, since he just left Claudia on his knees a moment ago. Therefore his actions do point to very irrational behavior. This behavior is probably provoked by the emotional intensity that surfaces when he at last confronts Gertrude with Claudia’ murder of old Hamlet.
He accuses her of living … In the rank sweat of an misnamed bed, J. Dover Wilson: ‘Antic Disposition’ in Twentieth Century Interpretations of Hamlet edited by David Pennington (Prentice-Hall 1968) p. 106 6 Stew’s in corruption, honeying and making love Over the nasty sty (Ill, iv, 92-94) The scene shows Hamlet having a eve unhealthy interest in his mother’s sexuality, which he refers to no less than five times and, if not mad, one might characterizes him as hysterical in this scene.
However, it is not only Hamlet’s behavior in specific scenes that invites the spectator to regard Hamlet as mad; it is also the grand conflict he is placed in as a human being: Hamlet is a student from Wattenberg, a humanist, yet he is expected to revenge his father. This traps Hamlet in a dilemma. The ghosts demand for retribution is based upon pagan ethics, in which revenge is accepted, even necessary to restore harmony.
But Shakespeare places the story of Hamlet in an unmistakably Christian setting and according to Eleanor Presser’s Hamlet and Revenge the concept of revenge was not seen as naturally virtuous, nor as an accepted convention of the stage in the Elizabethan age. 5 Therefore one might say that Hamlet is caught between two codes of ethics, two moralities, which are mutually exclusive. The tension of this insoluble paradox is what makes it natural to assume that Hamlet in his philosophical fragility is at risk of being overwhelmed by madness
One the other hand, the question of whether Hamlet only plays mad or actually has gone mad is not as obvious as one might think. The question arises because scholars and actors, especially in the romantic period, 6 had a preference for the emotionally fragile Hamlet driven to madness. But a close reading of the text gives only little merit to the claim that Hamlet embraces actual madness. Most obvious his mental state is much closer to a neurosis than to a psychosis. Hamlet is distressed, even hysterical at times and he is melancholic in one moment and hyperactive the next, but still he retains the ability to plan ND to ponder.
True madness would mean a psychosis in which he loses touch with reality and the ability to think rationally. Yet Hamlet has not lost his reason. He has, however, lost his father and his trust in his mother and Aphelia so there is quite a lot of reason for distress and bursts of bad temper and tears. Arguably, Hamlet is the victim of a neurosis, but not of a psychosis, as Harry Levin argues in his essay The Antic Disposition 7 See Prosper: Hamlet and revenge page 32 Harry Levin, for instance, mentions the romantic actor Edwin Booth, who played Hamlet as he was in fact a victim of the madness he was simulating.
See Levin: The Antic Disposition, page 122 7 Harry Levin: The Antic Disposition page 124 Levin also explains that Hamlet’s strategy of simulated insanity was a well known plot element of the Elizabethan theatre, and it is also an important part of the different versions of Hamlets story that preceded Shakespearean take on the young prince. The oldest source, the Danish Sax Grammatical’ tale of Amulet actually portrays Hamlet as a trickster in the same tradition as the Norse half god and shape shifter Loki, as pointed out by Hilled Ellis Davidson in Loki and Sax’s Hamlet 8 .
Shakespeare even uses what, according to Levin, 9 is a well established convention to point out Hamlet’s control of his pretended madness: a shift between blank verse and prose. When we meet Hamlet in the first act he speaks in blank verse, but when he starts simulating madness, he begins to speak in prose. Whenever he is alone or with someone he trusts, however, he switches back to blank verse. This is an unmistakable indicator that Hamlets madness is, in fact, a mask this clever shape shifter puts on to fit the situation.
For these reasons it is more than likely that Hamlet only pretends madness and is never actually consumed by it. This view of Hamlet makes him less fragile and it has consequences for the discussion on humanism later in this essay. Nevertheless, the fact that the play still invites a lot of doubt as to the true state of Hamlet’s mind stresses the aspects of uncertainty inherent in the tragedy. Aphelia and Madness Where Hamlet arguably keeps his feet grounded in sanity throughout the play, Aphelia undoubtedly slips and falls into pure madness.
But maybe she is not so much slipping as she IS pushed by the hands of Polonium, Alerter, and even Hamlet himself. Aphelion’s state of mind is easier to determine than Hamlets: She is clearly river into insanity during the play and her madness contrasts Hamlet’s make-believe and also sheds light on the overarching theme Of deceitfulness. Aphelion’s first appears on stage in act l, scene iii, where she takes leave of her brother Alerter, who is leaving for Paris. Alerter is concerned with the warm feelings obviously arising between Aphelia and Hamlet, and he advises her to fear Hamlets courting (I, iii, 33).
This is arguably well meant advice from a loving brother, but nevertheless his choice of words reveals that he does not hold his sister in high esteem: 8 9 Hilled Ellis Davidson: ‘Loki and Sax’s Hamlet in The Fool and the Trickster page 6-7 Harry Levin: The Antic Disposition, page 127 The canker galls the infants of the spring Too oft before their buttons be disclosed, (l, iii, 39-40) With these lines he actually compares her to a flower damaged by disease even before its buds open.
Apart from the rather offensive comparison, the imagery in this quote also exemplifies how all his advice is directed at Aphelion’s sexual conduct. In a sense, Aphelia as a person is of less interest to him than the chastity of her body. This tendency becomes even more apparent when Polonium enters. He gives some last pieces of advice to his son before the journey and then he turns his attention to Aphelia. Polonium is not as much giving her advice as he is interrogating her on her relationship with Hamlet.
Aphelia describes Hamlet’s love for her as both enduring and honorable (l, iii, 1 10-111), but Polonium is more concerned for her chastity than her feelings. Even though this misogyny might not have been unusual in Shakespearean time, the play is clearly stressing Laureate and Polonium’ hypocrisy when Polonium in his orders to Reynolds suspects Alerter of visiting whorehouses in Paris, a practice which seems only a minor offence to Polonium (II, ii, 59-60).
Furthermore, Polonium’ metaphors draw upon the domain of trade: Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence; Set your entrapments at a higher rate Than a command to parley… (l, iii, 123-125) This suggests that he IS mainly interest in Aphelia as a means to an end and line 109 makes it abundantly clear that the end in question is his own self- interest: Running it thus-?you’ll tender me a fool. (l, iii, 1 08) So the audience is presented with a young girl whose brother and father how her no affection and uses her as an instrument Of their own ambition.
The play mentions no mother, so it is natural to assume that the only one she can turn to is Hamlet. He does not offer any help, though. In stead he uses her as an instrument as well to start the rumor of his madness, because she is the first one he chooses to witness his ‘antic disposition’. Even though the audience does not witness the visit on stage it still contains some important details: Hamlet keeps silent, and he actually shows some affection in gesture and touch. In other words, he uses her but avoids lying to her.
It almost mess as if Hamlet takes leave of her love because he knows it will not survive his simulated madness. Nevertheless, Hamlets explodes in hostility towards her at their next encounter, where he denies his love of her and tells her to get to a nunnery. As covered earlier, Hamlet probably knows Aphelia is spying on him and this triggers the avalanche of hate and distress in Hamlet. Whatever his justification, though, he represents the last safe harbor for Aphelia, and now she has nowhere to turn for comfort.
Shortly thereafter Hamlet kills Polonium and the next time Aphelia is on stage, she has clearly lost her grip on reality, a indention that corresponds to the modern tem ‘psychosis’. Nevertheless, the well established symbolism of the flowers she gives to the King, Queen and Alerter suggests that she in her madness has a clear understanding of the grim truths under the polished surface at court. 1 0 The text does not specify which flowers are given to whom, but considering their symbolic meaning, it is quite reasonable to assume that the different flowers were meant for specific characters.
Columbine, for instance, signifying infidelity, would have been given to Gertrude. Also significant is that Aphelia wants to hand out mom violets, the flower Of fidelity, but they have all withered away. Her madness is closely linked to the overarching theme of deceitfulness, for her insanity is a direct result of her family rather heartless manipulations and of the deceit Hamlet makes use of to survive as the most immediate threat to Claudia’ power. Indirectly the play is very sympathetic towards Aphelia as it describes her as the sanest person on stage in her scene of madness.
Aphelion’s insanity ends in suicide, but the details of her death implies that she did not kill herself as an act of random madness. First, Hamlet’s and Aphelion’s confrontation in act Ill, scene l, does imply that their love of each other was once physical and secondly the rue, which Aphelia distributes and gives to herself in her scene of madness, was considered a powerful abreaction 1 1 This actually implies that she was carrying Hamlet’s illegitimate child, and a suicide, though still horrifying, would make more sense under these circumstances.
Three points emerge from this exploration of Aphelia: She is an innocent victim of the manipulations and deceitfulness of others, even in her madness she is closer to truth than any of the others, ND Hamlets dismissal of her is implied to be particularly cold-hearted if, in fact, she was pregnant. The rise of humanism in the renaissance had at its core a renewed interest in classic Latin and Greek scholars.
Their ideas spurred a focus on the individual See Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor notes to the scene in the referenced edition of Hamlet 11 See Maurice Hunts Impregnating Aphelia page 12 human being and a new approach to philosophical and moral truth with the ambitious goal of finding a unity of truth. While humanism was still very much a Christian endeavourer, other sources than the bible and Christian scholars ere now examined, and the worth of life in this world was emphasized. The medieval notion of this world was more of mandatory assignment to prepare for eternal life.
In other words, man and his ability to reason replaced God at centre stage of attention. The new ideas of humanism are clearly visible in Pico Della Monorail’s Oration on the Dignity of Man from 1486 where God says to Adam: We have made thee so that with freedom of choice and with honor, as though the maker and molder Of thyself, thou masses fashion thyself in whatever shape thou shall prefer. 12 Seen through this quote the faiths of both Hamlet and Aphelia are comments n the humanistic ideal in a cynical reality.