Owen Daugherty

Mrs. Dietrich
Honors English 10
9/22/16
Is Hamlet Sane or Insane?
Throughout the book Hamlet, Hamlet seems to take on many identities of how he wants
people to view him. His mental state seems to come into question many times from other
people, and even himself in certain soliloquys. He seems to question where he stands in his
feelings for other people, the strength of his mental state, and whether or not he is a courageous
person. Whenever he looks at himself, it appears that his view of himself is extremely
derogatory. We even see him question suicide fairly early in the book. All of this poses the
question: is Hamlet sane or insane?
In Act I Scene II Hamlet first hears about the ghost supposedly of his father while talking
to Horatio, Barnardo, and Marcellus. Once they leave, Hamlet says, My fathers spirit in arms.
All is not well. I doubt some foul play. Would the night were come! Till then sit still, my soul.
(1.2.254-256). This implies that even though the ghost of his father has supposedly been seen,
he will try to keep himself calm no matter what happens in the future.
Another interesting quote comes in Act I Scene IV when Hamlet sees the ghost for the
first time. He is immediately in awe of what he is seeing and extremely curious as to what it is.
Hamlet then says, Thou comest in such a questionable shape that I will speak to thee. Ill call
thee Hamlet, King, Father, royal Dane. O, answer me! Let me not burst in ignorance,

but tell why thy canonized bones, hearsed in death, have burst their cerements; (1.4.48-53). In
this quote when he says, Let me not burst in ignorance, Shakespeare is implying that the fact
of having no knowledge of the ghost could drive him crazy. What could eventually making him
even crazier is knowing why the ghost has come to see Hamlet.
One thing that could be driving Hamlet crazy is the fact that he actually saw the ghost
that is supposedly his father tell him how he died. After this meaning between Hamlet and the
ghost, Hamlet tells Horatio and Marcellus what he saw. After Hamlet tells of the occurrence,
Horatio says, These are but wild but whirling words, my lord. (1.5.148). This shows that
immediately after Hamlet saw the ghost he started acting different. With this weighing on him
for some time, it could most definitely drive him truly crazy.
There is another scene in the play during Act II Scene II where Polonius engages in a
conversation with Hamlet. It seems as if Poloniuss goal is to figure out whether or not Hamlet
is insane or not. He asks Hamlet many questions, and in response gets many answers. These
answers are very deep though, and Polonius describes them as something only a mad man will
say. Once the two part ways, Hamlet calls Polonius a fool. In this particular scene, it looks like
Hamlet is trying to make people believe that he is insane when he really is not, but it is hard to
tell.
After examining the story and specific quotes taken from the book, I have come to my
personal conclusion that Hamlet it actually insane. The reason for his craziness seems to come
from his meeting with the ghost and what the ghost said. These were heavy words and they
surely have been running through Hamlets mind throughout the book so far. He may think that
he is faking his insanity, but the mind is a powerful item. What you say or think can eventually
become what you actually are. I would not be surprised if this were the case.