Madness

Question 1

NO he is putting his madness on

• “No hat ________, his stockings ______, _______ and down, ____________‘to his ankle”
• “With his hand __________”
• “His head thus __________”
• Under the mask of madness, he can _________
• Says he is going to put on an “___________”
• Polonius says “This be madness, yet _______” he also suspects that he “_____________”
• He is trying to ______ Gertrude
• Trying to delay _______
• He pretending to be mad, he saves _________”
• Maybe not madness, just ________

Answer 1

NO he is putting his madness on

• “No hat upon his head, his stockings fouled, ungartered and down, gyved to his ankle”
• “With his hand thus o’er his brow”
• “His head thus waving up and down”
• Under the mask of madness, he can be honest”
• Says he is going to put on an “antic disposition”
• Polonius says “This be madness, yet there is method in it” - he also suspects that he “puts on his confusion”
• He is trying to punish Gertrude
• Trying to delay killing Claudius
• He pretending to be mad, he saves himself from actually going mad
• Maybe not madness, just depression or a breakdown

Question 2

YES he is actually mad

• He chooses Ophelia first…..
• In his first soliloquy he….
• “His madness is poor Hamlets _______”
• “What have I done wrong, I here ___________”
• Talks about himself in 3rd person…..
• Elizabethans would believe that speaking with a ghost……
• Elizabethan audience would not have understood _______
• According to the Freudian concept….

Answer 2

YES he is actually mad

• He chooses Ophelia first - the most delicate, weakest character who he is supposedly in love with
• In his first soliloquy he contemplates suicide
• “His madness is poor Hamlets enemy”
• “What have I done wrong, I here proclaim was madness”
• Talks about himself in 3rd person, distancing himself from his madness
• Elizabethans would believe that speaking with a ghost would lead you into madness
• Elizabethan audience would not have understood mental illness
• According to the Freudian concept, he has gone mad because of the Oedipus complex

Question 3

HORATIO 1.5

• “Which might deprive your __________ and ________”
• “These are but __________”

Add some context

Answer 3

HORATIO

• “Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason and draw you into madness” - talking to a ghost drives you mad
• “These are but wild and whirling words my lord” - just after Hamlet had spoken to the ghost

Question 4

HAMLETS APPEARENCE BEFORE OPHELIA 2.1

• “No hat ______, his stockings ________, _______”
• “With his hand ________”
• “His head thus ________”

Add some context

Answer 4

HAMLETS APPEARENCE BEFORE OPHELIA 2.1

• “No hat upon his head, his stockings ungartered and down, gyved around his ankles”
• “With his hand thus o’er his brow”
• “His head thus waving up and down”

Suggests contrived madness
He chooses Ophelia first, the weakest and most delicate character, who he is supposedly in love with - this cruelty reflects true madness

Question 5

POLONIUS, GERTRUDE AND CLAUDIUS 2.2

• “My ________ son”
• “Hamlets ______”
• “Your sons ______”

Add context

Answer 5

POLONIUS, GERTRUDE AND CLAUDIUS 2.2

• “My too much changed son”
• “Hamlets lunacy”
• “Your sons distemper”

Gertrude refers to his Madness gently, often euphemistically, whilst Polonius and Claudius are much less sympathetic

Question 6

FIRST INTERACTION WITH POLONIUS

• “Excellent well. You are a ______”
• “_____, _____, _____”
• “This be madness, yet ________”

Add context

Answer 6

FIRST INTERACTION WITH POLONIUS

• “Excellent well. You are a fishmonger” - calling him low down (in Branaghs version he is seen with a prostitute) - under the mask of madness he can mock those around him - a paradox in that when he is pretending he is at his most honest
• “Words, words, words”
• “This be madness, yet there is method in it” - suspects that Hamlet is pretending

Add context

Question 7

What does T.S Eliot believe about Hamlets ‘antic disposition’?

Answer 7

Saw it as emotional relief

Question 8

A.J.A Waldock

- “From the shelter of ______ and with the security of _____, he _______”

Answer 8

A.J.A Waldock

- “From the shelter of his madness and with the security of a jester, he launches his barbs”

Question 9

What does Freudian Criticism say about his madness?

Answer 9

At the root of his insanity lies the Oedipus complex - he is in love with his mother and these feelings have no outlet, so drive him mad
- With this comes a hatred for his father