The madness of prince Hamlet.

                    In Hamlet, Prince of Denmark the protagonist exhibits a puzzling duplicitous nature. Hamlet contradicts himself throughout
                    out the play. He endorses both of the virtues of acting a role and being true to oneis self. He further supports both of
                    these conflicting endorsements with his actions. This ambiguity is demonstrated by his alleged madness, for he does
                    behave madly, only to become perfectly calm and rational an instant later. These inconsistencies are related with the
                    internal dilemmas he faces. He struggles with the issue of revenging his fatheris death, vowing to kill Claudius and then
                    backing out, several times. Upon this point Hamlet teeters through the play. The reason for this teetering is directly related
                    to his inability to form a solid opinion about role playing. This difficulty is not present, however, at the start of the play. 

                    In the first act Hamlet appears to be very straightforward in his actions and inner state. When questioned by Gertrude
                    about his melancholy appearance Hamlet says, Seems, madam? Nay it is. I know not seemsi (1.2.76). This is to say
                    I am what I appear to be. Later he makes a clear statement about his state when he commits himself to revenge. In this
                    statement the play makes an easy to follow shift. This shift consists of Hamlet giving up the role of a student and mourning
                    son. Hamlet says,

                     Iill wipe away all trivial fond records,
                     
                     All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
                     
                     That youth and observation copied there,
                     
                     And thy commandment all alone shall live
                     
                     Within the book and volume of my brain 
                     
                     (1.5.99-103)

                    Hamlet is declaring that he will be committed to nothing else but the revenge of his fathers death. There is no confusion
                    about Hamletis character. He has said earlier that he is what he appears to be, and there is no reason to doubt it. In the
                    next act, however, Hamletis status and intentions suddenly and with out demonstrated reason becomes mired in
                    confusion.

                    When Hamlet appears again in act two, it seems that he has lost the conviction that was present earlier. He has yet to
                    take up the part assigned to him by the ghost. He spends the act walking around, reading, talking with Polonius,
                    Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and the players. It is not until the very end of the act that he even mentions vengeance. If he
                    had any of the conviction shown earlier he would be presently working on his vengeance. So instead of playing the part of
                    vengeful son, or dropping the issue entirely, he hangs out in the middle, pretending to be mad. This is shown when he says
                    to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern I know not-lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercise (2.2.298-299). Later he
                    tells them that he is just feigning madness when he says, I am but mad north-north-west, when the wind is southerly, I
                    know a hawk from a handsaw (2.2.380-381). Admitting so blatantly that he is only feigning madness would imply that
                    he is comfortable with it. He also seems to be generally comfortable with acting This is evidenced when he says, there is
                    nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so (2.2.251-252). Hamlet is saying that behavior shapes reality. It is
                    puzzling that Hamlet is comfortable with playing at this point but not with the role that he said he would play earlier. If he
                    is to play a role why not the one that his father gave him? When the players come in a short wile later his attitude changes.

                    Hamlet is prompted to vengeance, again, by the moving speech that is given by one of the players. About this speech he
                    says,

                    Whatis Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
                     
                     That he should weep for her? What would he do 
                     
                     Had he motive and cue for passion 
                     
                     That I have?  (2.2.561-564)

                    In this praise of this players ability to act, Hamlet is saying that if he were such an actor he would have killed Claudius by
                    now. This link between vengeance and acting that is present here is what Hamlet struggles with until very near the end. He
                    is then moved to swear that he should kill Claudius when he says,

                     I should ai fatted all the region kites
                     

                     With this slaveis offal. Bloody, bawdy villain!
                     
                     O, vengeance!
                     
                     Why, what an ass am I? (2.2.581-585)

                    He makes this big buildup of what he should have done and how he will be revenged and he shoots it down in the next
                    line. This passage is the model of Hamletis cognitive dissonance. After all of this swearing and support of the value of
                    acting and words, he backs out of it again. He canit decide whether to play the role or not. Words are further condemned
                    when he says, Must, like a whore, unpack my hart with words (2.2.587). So he is now condemning role playing.
                    Being caught in the middle he decides that he needs more proof of the Kings guilt when he says, The playis the thing /
                    Wherein Iill catch the conscience of the King (2.2.606-607).

                    Before the mouse trap is to be played, Hamlet runs into Ophelia and makes some telling statements. Upon the issue of
                    Opheliais beauty Hamlet says, That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty
                    (3.1.109-110). He is saying that Ophelia can be honest and fair, but that, honesty being an inward trait, and fairness being
                    an outward trait, cannot be linked. He goes on further to say that

                     Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner 
                       transform honesty from what it is to a bawd that the 
                       force of honesty can translate beauty into his 
                       likeness. (3.1.13-15)

                    So not only can the inner and outer self not be linked, but acting, or the show or exterior, will transform oneis inner self to
                    match the exterior show. He says this just after denying that words and acting are important. By what he says here, if he
                    would only act the part he wouldnit have a problem taking action. Then he contradicts himself yet again when he says
                    God hath given you one face, and you go make yourselves another(3.1.146-147). He just said that appearance is all
                    and now chastises women for changing it. He is bouncing back and forth between supporting acting and denouncing it.
                    Whenever he is in support of acting he is also ready for vengeance. When he swings back to support acting again he says,

                     It hath made me 
                     
                     mad. I say we will have no more marriages. Those
                     
                     that are married already-all but one-shall live. 
                     
                     (3.1.149-151)

                    The one Hamlet is referring to must be the King. So it returns to vengeance and acting going together. In the next
                    scene the conflicting action is similar, but less obvious.

                    When Hamlet is advising the player on how his lines should be read he says, Suit the action to the word, the word to the
                    action (3.2.17-18). If Hamlet would follow his own advice he would not have a conflict. This shows that he is not
                    consistent within himself. Hamlet is saying one should not distinguish between word and actions, but he does maintain this
                    separation. Yet when Hamlet speaks with Horatio he praises him for being objective, levelheaded, and for having a
                    consistent character. He is praising Horatio for being true to himself, not being an actor. Hamlet says,

                     Give me that man 
                     
                     That is not passionis slave, and I will wear him
                     
                     In my heartis core, ay, in my heart of heart,
                     
                     As I do thee. (3.2.69-72)

                    Hamlet is saying this because he wants Horatio to watch the King at the play. He is unsure of his uncleis guilt, and he
                    wants proof. He wants it from someone who he thinks is honest throughout. It comes back to acting and vengeance or in
                    this case he has failed in his vengeance and needs Horatio to agree with him. Hamlet says to Horatio,

                     Observe mine uncle. If his occulted guilt 
                     
                     Do not itself unkernnel in one speech, 
                     
                     It is a dammed ghost we have seen, (3.2.77-80)

                    Proof, however, does not have any thing to do with the role Hamlet is supposed to play, but there is more to it than that.
                    The interesting thing is that his uncle will be judged by how he acts during the play. If the King is a good actor, and does
                    not show his guilt, he will most likely not be killed. However, the King is not a good actor and when he rises Hamlet
                    responds with, What, frighted with false fire?(3.2.254). Itis as if Hamlet is saying itis only a play, itis not real. He does
                    say something to this effect a few lines before. Your majesty, and we that have free souls, it touches us
                    not(3.2.229-230). This new proof drives Hamlet to use more words. He is again to talk of killing, and he says, Now I
                    could drink hot blood (3.2.379). He again associates this with a role, that of Nero. The soul of Nero enter this firm
                    bosom (3.2.383). Later Hamlet again talks himself out of character and does not kill the King. He puts it off until later
                    and says,

                     When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage,
                     
                     At gaming, swearing, or about some act
                     
                     That has no relish of salvation init,
                     
                     Then trip him that his heels may kick at heaven,
                     
                     And that his soul may be dammed and black
                     
                     (3.3.89-94)

                    He is waiting until Claudius fits the part of a villain. His action is paralyzed whenever something does not fit the part. He
                    needs his revenge to be dramatic so that he may get into it and finally play it out, and it takes him the next scene and an
                    act to finally do this. 

                    After Hamlet backs out of killing Claudius, Hamlet says to his mother, O shame, where is thy blush?(3.4.72). He is
                    voicing his distaste for Gertrude not only for marrying his uncle but for not being true to herself, she should show some
                    shame for her sins but does not. Hamlet is contradicting himself in this. He has been duplicitous and untrue for two thirds
                    of the play. At this point he is still not sure as how he is to proceed. Hamlet is caught in the middle of acting and
                    objectivity. Hamlet finally gets his act together, and decides to act the part his father had given him, after he sees the
                    soldiers going off to war to die.

                     The imminent death of twenty thousand men
                     
                     That, for fantasy and a trick of fame,
                     
                     Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot 
                     
                     Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
                     
                     Which is not tomb enough and continent
                     
                     To hide the slain. O, from this time forth
                     
                     My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!  
                     (4.4.51-57)

                    Those soldiers fight and die for an insignificant plot of land, and they do it because they are soldiers, no other reason.
                    Hamlet realizes that he should do what his role dictates strictly because it is his role. He does not falter in his conviction
                    after he returns and fully embraces the act. Upon confronting Laertes he says This is I, Hamlet the Dane (5.1.53-54).
                    The Dane, meaning the King. He is claiming his right to the throne. This is the appropriate action for someone as
                    wronged as he, albeit late. In reaction to Opheliais death he is again behaving as he should have. She was his love interest
                    and as such he should have loved her more than her brother. This is shown when Hamlet says I loved Ophelia. Forty
                    thousand brothers /Could not, with their quantity of love,/ Make up my sum (5.1.256-258). Hamlet should have loved
                    her, but he did not. Had he loved her he would not have not treated her so poorly earlier. He is now committed to acting,
                    and loving Ophelia fits the role. 

                    In the rest of the play Hamlet does not mess around. He barely has time to tell his story of escape to Horatio before he is
                    challenged. He does not refuse the challenge because as nobility, which he is finally claiming to be, he cannot refuse and
                    keep his honor. Hamlet goes to the match and because he has now accepted the role he does not hesitate to kill the King
                    when prompted to.

                    It would seem that being a good actor is paramount to survival in this play. Polonius could not stick to the role of adviser
                    and was trying to convince the King that Hamlet was in love with his daughter. This leads him to spy on Hamlet, and because he could not
                    do that right either, is killed. Ophelia could not handle the role of mourning for her father, goes mad and dies as a result. The King could
                    not cover up his guilt, so Hamlet has the proof he needs to spur him on. Finally Hamlet, who if he would have acted as the ghost instructed
                    him to in the first place, instead of flip flopping, would have killed Claudius outright. Had Hamlet been truly comfortable with acting,
                    Claudius would have been the only causality.
