Theme Analysis - Insanity
Throughout this play, one theme is presented almost the entire time. Insanity was shown in many characters throughout the play and was definitely a huge factor in the plot of the play. At the beginning of the play, Hamlets father, the king of Denmark, was supposedly murdered. This drove Hamlet mad with grief and depression. His family, mainly his concerned mother, Queen Gertrude, was most worried about him and she believed that he will never be truly happy again. Then, Hamlet met Ophelia, love sparked in his eyes and that is when hope presented itself and Hamlet might be able to recover from his depression with the help and love of Ophelia. During the entire play, Hamlet and Ophelia were in a very complicated relationship. Always one wanted the other and the other seemed to not care about love at all. During Act II, Polonius, Ophelia's father, thought hamlet was insane/ mad with love for Ophelia when others thought he was still suffering from his loss of his father.
Polonius was told by Ophelia that Hamlet came into her room and acted very strange and never spoke to her but only stared at her and held her firmly. This scared Ophelia and alerted Polonius. Polonius believed that Hamlet was insane because he loved Ophelia so much. So, he rushed to the King and Queen and told them Ophelia's story. The Queen is still worried that Hamlet is just missing his father, but everyone else in the play thinks he is in love with Ophelia. Their plan is to spy on Hamlet to make sure that it is just him being in love with Ophelia rather than going crazy over his father's death. This plan later leads to mistrust and later, death. Insanity was created in all characters as the play progressed and the insanity led to bloodshed and feuds between characters.
Polonius was told by Ophelia that Hamlet came into her room and acted very strange and never spoke to her but only stared at her and held her firmly. This scared Ophelia and alerted Polonius. Polonius believed that Hamlet was insane because he loved Ophelia so much. So, he rushed to the King and Queen and told them Ophelia's story. The Queen is still worried that Hamlet is just missing his father, but everyone else in the play thinks he is in love with Ophelia. Their plan is to spy on Hamlet to make sure that it is just him being in love with Ophelia rather than going crazy over his father's death. This plan later leads to mistrust and later, death. Insanity was created in all characters as the play progressed and the insanity led to bloodshed and feuds between characters.