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Post by brandonina on Mar 8, 2015 13:05:04 GMT
Hey guys, so I would like to know whether you guys think that Hamlet was mad or not. I think Hamlet was pretty lucid throughout the play and I was able to conclude this through the conversation between Horatio and Hamlet. Hamlet tells Horatio that he will begin to act strangely. And the fact that Hamlet is seeing a ghost doesn't really prove his insanity because other guards also saw the ghost. What do you guys think?
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Post by chrishong on Mar 8, 2015 13:29:04 GMT
I think Hamlet was pretending to be mad because he even mentioned that he will act mad in front of other people and the word, "act" is artificial behavior or attitude; it's not real (well, it seems real, but it actually isn't). Although other people in the play may consider him mad because he is seeing the ghost, which they couldn't see, I believe that the ghost really existed in the play. Therefore, Hamlet is not mad.
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Post by sergeyfen on Mar 8, 2015 13:40:20 GMT
I agree with you on Hamlet not being mad, in fact he is probably the smartest person in the play. It's not easy to spot but the way he talks is just not how an insanely mad person would talk. He is always one step ahead of anything that people try to bring on him, for ex: When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were spying on Hamlet he already knew what was going up and eventually he had them executed. An insane person can be smart there is no doubt, but he wouldn't be as rational as Hamlet was. In conclusion, Hamlet was not mad and it was part of his plan to avenge the death of his father.
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Post by estherchoi on Mar 8, 2015 13:41:27 GMT
I don't think Hamlet is completely normal with all the things he did to Polonius, Ohpelia, and more. However, I don't want to say that he is crazy because I think the ghost is real since as Brandon said the ghost appeared to other people like the guards. So, I'm still confused with Hamlet and whether he is mad or not.
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Post by lins on Mar 8, 2015 14:45:47 GMT
I also think that Hamlet was not mad. As Brandon said, he told Horatio that he will act mad in order to revenge his father's death. It is likely that everything was planned for Hamlet. Also he had straight mind in order to check if Claudius was really guilty for killing Hamlet's dad. He was aware of the existence of devil, and was lucid enough to consider all the factors. In addition, witnessing the ghost doesn't make Hamlet mad because all the other people, like Horatio and Bernardo saw the ghost with Hamlet. Hamlet was the only one who saw the ghost in the room with Gertrude but who knows? Gertrude could be lying out of guilt and fear and told Hamlet she didn't see anything.
I personally think that Hamlet was not mad when he committed all the crimes and thus is guilty. His madness couldn't be proven in other ways.
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jimim
Junior Member
Posts: 98
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Post by jimim on Mar 8, 2015 14:51:26 GMT
I think Hamlet pretended to be mad at first time but he became really mad at the end. Since he had hard time with his father's death, his mental conditions might have been really bad. But he had a lot more struggles during the story so I think at that process, he became really insane.
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daniel
Junior Member
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Post by daniel on Mar 8, 2015 15:27:33 GMT
I think Hamlet wasnt crazy or mad for real, he pretended to be mad. He was just fine when he was talking to Horatio, his vest friend. It proves that he wasnt mad.
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Post by agneslianaputri on Mar 8, 2015 16:06:27 GMT
Besides the horrible things that is going on in his life, I think he is a naturally melancholy guy, which drives his depressive behavior and constant thoughts on suicide. I mean, besides the fact that he literally admits he's going to act crazy, he does some pretty lucid things such as putting on the play within a play. But then, he also stabs Polonius through nowhere like we would expect of someone who's......mad.
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Post by saimoon1 on Mar 8, 2015 17:09:41 GMT
I agree with you Brandon. Hamlet does not seem to be mad to me, especially during his soliloquies, that is when he is talking to himself. He is thinking about deep and philosophical ideas but making his decisions based on logic which a mad person would find hard to do.
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Post by ameliachen80385 on Mar 14, 2015 11:00:45 GMT
I agree with you.In the beginning,I was wondering that is Hamlet mad or just he is pretending to act weird,but then until the conversation with Horatio.I know Hamlet just pretends to be mad and also Mr.Edward said Hamlet was acting mad,he is not really crazy so my perspective is Hamlet just acts WEIRD.
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Post by danielkim on Mar 14, 2015 11:46:03 GMT
We all know that Hamlet pretended to be mad to check whether Claudius killed King Hamlet or not. But at some point in the plot, I think Hamlet really became mad. He killed Polonius without control and claimed that he saw a ghost whereas Gertrude could not. Even though we do not know whether the ghost was real or not, we do know that Hamlet never acted like this before. And before the duel with Laertes, Hamlet has apologized Laertes that his madness was the cause of Polonius’s death, not Hamlet himself. From these lines, we have slightly convincing evidences that Hamlet really became mad.
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Post by dannyoh on Mar 14, 2015 13:41:21 GMT
I agree that Hamlet was lucid. I think he was just being really vulnerable and that led to his impulsiveness. When a person's emotions take over, they might seem crazy. Also, seeing the ghost isn't going to prove his insanity just because he wasn't the only one that saw it. However, if he was insane, we can argue that the ghost was shown in the beginning but after that Hamlet started to hallucinate.
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bachle
Junior Member
Posts: 83
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Post by bachle on Mar 14, 2015 13:47:37 GMT
i think that Hamlet is not crazy. He has pretended to be crazy to distract people attention toward him and approach Polonius to use him as a tool to prove that his madness is due love. As Claudius's reaction has told Hamlet the truth about his father's death, it told us that everything was merely Hamlet's plan.
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woori
Junior Member
Posts: 79
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Post by woori on Mar 15, 2015 5:59:56 GMT
I think yes. At the first of this play, his thought was very logical even though he was acting. But then, he gradually became mad, like the level that he cannot think logically. However, at the end of this play he reached the level that he realized this was not for revenge.
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Post by leeeeena on Mar 15, 2015 8:45:30 GMT
i dont think he was mad but just acting crazy in front of people. It was just one of the strategies to take a revenge on Claudius. He mentioned that he is going to act mad, and he was pretty normal when he was with Horatio.
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