Hamlet's Coming Madness example essay topic

Haste me to know't, that I with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love May sweep to to my revenge. This is Hamlet's immediate statement of revenge upon learning from the Ghost that his father's death was the result of murder. Hamlet's immediate reaction to the demands of revenge is that he will act upon it with the proverbial speed of thought. The irony is that Hamlet does not revenge with any speed. But it is worth noting that Hamlet uses the term meditation which to me seems antithetical to speed. Thoughts of love through the play are also scant.

Hamlet rejects love. So, the initial impression is one of celerity, its Hamlet's use of words that hint otherwise. Your second quote, here is the whole speech by Hamlet. And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

(175) But come, Here, as before, never, so help you mercy, How strange or odd some " er I bear myself- As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on- (180) That you, at such time seeing me, never shall, With arms encumber'd thus, or this head shake, Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase, As 'Well, we know', or 'We could, and if we would', Or 'If we list to speak', or 'There be and if they might', (185) Or such ambiguous giving out, to note That you know aught of me - this do swear, So grace and mercy at your most need help you. To get a handle on this speech you really need to start back at the beginning of the sequence when Marcellus and Horatio rejoin Hamlet. Horatio notes Hamlet's "wild and whirling words". This can really make Hamlet hard to understand but that is the point.

His exited state is portrayed through the fragmented nature of his dialogue. In literary terms this is known as anacoluthon. This is a grammatical interruption or lack of implied sequence within a sentence. Hamlet is trying to extract an oath from his two companions. Horatio says Propose the oath, ... (160) Hamlet responds, Never to speak of this that you have seen.

(161) He then moves to another spot and continues, Never to speak of this that you have heard. (168) Then within the above quote, Here, as before, ... (177) That you, ... never shall (181)... note (186) That you know aught of me-this do swear. (187) In between Hamlet is interjecting explanatory specifics of how he may look or how he may sound. This is also where Hamlet offers his "antic disposition" often taken as an acknowledgement that Hamlet's coming madness is an act. Dover Wilson in his book, What Happens In Hamlet, argues that Hamlet does have moments of "madness" and that his statement is made to give the others the impression that it is feigned when it is in fact real.

Of course this is Wilson's interpretation. Will aim Shakespeare's Hamlet.