Hamlet :: essays research papers

Great literary works retain their popularity as a result of many different factors. One such factor which can lead to popularity of a work, current or consistent discussion of a work's merits, can come into play when an author or playwright leaves questions unanswered in his work. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare creates such a situation. As a result of the ambiguity of clues given throughout this play, critics may argue for or against the idea that Prince Hamlet's "antic disposition" put on as a facade to mislead the royal family pales in comparison to the disposition of Hamlet's lunatic mind, or in other words, that Hamlet in fact truly succumbs to insanity. Evidence for this opinion can be derived from Hamlet's erratic mood changes, careless slaughter of those not directly involved in the murder of his father, and interactions with the ghost of King Hamlet. For a man thought to be feigning insanity, Prince Hamlet seems to have very little control of his emotions. In fact, Hamlet admits this to Horatio, his confidant, when he says, "Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting / That would not let me sleep" (5.2. lines 4-5). This lack of restraint leads to Hamlet's unpredictable mood swings throughout the play. Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia easily spawns such dramatic alterations in the prince's attitude. For example, when Hamlet first suspects Ophelia acts only as the pawn for Polonius's ploys, he reacts rashly, bitterly denying that he ever loved 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" (3.1.117-19). This massive reversal in disposition is later contrasted by another reversal when Hamlet leaps into Ophelia's open grave at her funeral to dispute Laertes and claim, "I loved Ophelia, forty thousand brothers / Could no t with all their quantity of love / Make up my sum" (5.1.252-54). These abrupt mood changes also appear in Hamlet's relationship with his mother. He seemed to believe in his mother's purity and goodness, but eventually Hamlet seems to hold a great mount of contempt for Gertrude, especially when he mocks her words, and then snidely proclaims: "You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife, / And would it were not so, you are my mother" (3.4.15-16). Such mood swings as these definitely prove, if anything, that Hamlet could not keep adequate control of his emotions.