Hamlet and his antic disposition

Essay by TaKarraLCollege, UndergraduateA-, February 2004

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Hamlet's idea of pretending to become crazy so that he can take revenge on his father's death was a bad strategy. In doing this Hamlet ran onto a lot of problems. The situations like the death of Ophelia, his fighting with his mother, trying to fool the King and Polonius, his own downfall and finally his death all illustrate why. Hamlet's antic disposition made him lose control of his own actions and resulted in Hamlet losing everything.

Hamlet's antic disposition was the main reason why Ophelia committed suicide and why Hamlet fought with his mother. Hamlet believed that if he showed no more feelings for Ophelia and showed hatred and cruelty for his mother, people and particularly the King and Polonius, would believe that he was truly mad. He shows that he has no feelings for Ophelia when he says to her "You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it.

I loved you not" . But, at the time of Ophelia's burial, Hamlet jumps in Ophelia's grave saying, "I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?". This clearly indicates that Hamlet did love Ophelia and was only pretending not to so his plan could be effective. Similarly, Hamlet's true feelings towards his mother are illustrated by the quotation, "Soft, now to my mother. O heart, lose not thy nature; let not ever the soul of Nero enter this form bosom. Let me be cruel, not unnatural; I will speak daggers to her, but use none." In both of these situations, Hamlet's act of madness gained him nothing but significant loss.

Hamlet believed that if the...