Shakespeare in Love

             Hamlet and Ophelia are linked by many common characteristics, not
             the least of which is their madness. While Hamlet's madness seems to
             be feigned, Ophelia is truly crazy. The odd thing about their
             predicament is that they each drive each other more fully into the
             One of Hamlet's most famous lines is when he tells the Queen: "Seems,
             madam? Nay, it is. I know not 'seems.'" Hamlet is saying that he does
             not know what it is to pretend, he only knows what it is to be. This is the
             main question surrounding Hamlet in the play, is he feigning his
             madness, or is it real? After confronting the Ghost, Hamlet tells his friends
             that he is going to act mad in public, and that they should not worry for
             he is not really crazy at all. There is a common belief in these days that
             when someone tells a lie and firmly believes it they start to live that lie.
             Maybe this is true with Hamlet- he acts truly mad in public (even his
             mother believes it) that possibly he acts mad in private too.
             After Polonius tells Ophelia to repel Hamlet's letters, Hamlet enters
             Ophelia's room and looks at her with such a piteous and saddened
             face that even Ophelia begins to think there is something wrong with
             him. Shortly after that Hamlet encounters Polonius in a corridor and
             harasses him and says crazy things. In an aside Polonius says, "Though
             this be madness, yet there is method in't." In another famous line,
             Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ask Hamlet about his madness, and he
             replies, "I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly I know
             In the beginning Hamlet says he does not know how to pretend, so one
             could argue that either he was lying and is a very good play-actor with
             his madness; or he really does not know how to act and is truly mad.
             ...

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Shakespeare in Love. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 18:03, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/77875.html