Is Hamlet Mad?

Perhaps the world's most famous mental patient, Hamlet's sanity has been argued over by countless learned scholars for hundreds of years. As a mere student of advanced-level English Literature, I doubt I can add anything new to the debate in 2000 words, but I can look at the evidence supporting or dispelling each argument and come to my own conclusion. Hamlet is obviously experiencing grief and despair right from the beginning of the novel, with the …

…all the carnage at the end, because of his fascination with the afterlife and belief that Claudius would go straight to heaven. But although Hamlet was full of grief for his father and anger towards his uncle and mother, it was not enough to drive him to madness. Hamlet's is a thoughtful, calculating personality, not prone to rash acts, and I think that this was the case here - he could not have been mad.