Madness in Hamlet

Test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

Hamlet's Madness in Hamlet

Madness is a key convention of revenge tragedies. The revenge hero feigning madness to conceal his plans had been an important plot ingredient ever since its use in Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy.

Hamlet's "antic disposition"

At the end of Act One, Hamlet warns his companions that he may put on “an antic disposition” (a show of madness) and commands them to say nothing of the Ghost’s visit.
In the next scene, Ophelia describes Hamlet’s strange behaviour during a visit to her which Polonius quickly decides must be a result of his “lunacy”.

Ambiguity about Hamlet's madness

However, the fact that this visit happens off-stage helps Shakespeare to create ambiguity about Hamlet’s behaviour. The audience only has Ophelia’s account of the visit to base its judgement on and will still have Hamlet’s warning about putting on an “antic disposition” fresh in its ears.
As a result, it is impossible to be certain about Hamlet’s behaviour at this point in the play.

Madness in the chamber scene

This ambiguity lasts throughout Acts 2 and 3.
Some commentators think that the chamber scene (Act 3, Scene 4) - in which Hamlet confronts Gertrude - is an example of Hamlet’s genuine madness.
Gertrude, appalled by Hamlet’s wild behaviour, confronts her son with the accusation that the Ghost Hamlet claims to see is but “the very coinage of your brain” caused by Hamlet’s “ecstasy” (fevered emotional state).

Hamlet's response to Gertrude

Hamlet directly contradicts her using a blunt declarative, “It is not madness”, and insists that Gertrude tell Claudius that her son is only “mad in craft” i.e. feigning madness to achieve an ulterior goal.

Hamlet's emotional state

However, Hamlet has clearly been in a highly emotional state throughout this scene. Not only does he act recklessly in fatally stabbing Polonius, but his tirade (list of accusations) against his mother becomes more and more vehement the more he dwells on what he considers to be her incestuous marriage.
Many productions emphasise Hamlet’s loss of control through his wild physical gestures (e.g. grabbing his mother when she threatens to leave).

Whereas there is some ambiguity over Hamlet’s madness, there is no doubt that Ophelia suffers a traumatic mental breakdown after the violent death of her father at the hands of her former sweetheart, Hamlet.

Gentleman's report: "distract"

Ophelia's madness is first signalled by the Gentleman’s report to Gertrude of her “distract” (mad) and confused behaviour, beating her chest (alongside other physical tics such as winking and nodding) and speaking “but half sense”.

Revelation of Ophelia's madness

On stage, the revelation of the change in Ophelia’s appearance and behaviour can be shocking.
A surviving stage direction which describes her as “playing on a lute” and “with her hair down, singing” may have been a clear signal to Elizabethan audiences of a specifically ‘female’ form of madness caused by her repressed sexual desires (her father and brother forbidding a romantic relationship with Hamlet) and her cruel rejection by Hamlet.

Ophelia's lack of voice

Some critics see Ophelia’s madness as the consequence of her being denied an authentic voice in the play - someone who is never allowed to express her own emotions and desires.
As a result, she retreats into a state of madness where feelings of grief, guilt and abandonment are communicated through broken fragments of song which brood on the themes of loss, death, love and betrayal.

Feminist reading of Ophelia

Some feminist readings of the play argue that Ophelia’s retreat into madness can be read as a rebellion against the patriarchal control wielded by Polonius, Laertes and Hamlet, in which Ophelia at last finds an individual voice.