my best hs English essay

Recently a friend quoted me some Shakespeare and I immediately remembered that I had used that very quote in an English essay from high school. I dove deep into the cyber-bowels of my computer and unearthed this piece, which I considered my best composition of high school. Five years later, has my writing improved at all?

Did $160,000's worth of Ivy League education and 1 semester of hell (aka Expos with Aria and Bombs) really improve my prose?

*The essay prompt: is Hamlet insane? Most people say no, he pretends to be insane to confuse the Danish court and further his own plans.

Vivien Wu
October 30, 2003
English IV H/AP
Mr. Crick
Period 3

To Take off Mine Edge: Instability and Insanity in Hamlet

The Tragedy of Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark is William Shakespeare’s compelling play of political intrigue and deception. At the heart of Hamlet, however, are core, fundamental questions of self and existence as Hamlet repeatedly questions himself and the justness of his actions in avenging his father. Upon hearing of the gruesome circumstances of his father’s death from the Ghost, Hamlet resolves to take action, but the combination of his desire to act and his vacillating, mercurial nature results in the onset of bouts of madness. Although Hamlet is certainly self-aware and perceptive, he suffers from manic fits and dramatic mood changes that hint at a complex instability beneath a seemingly rational veneer. This madness manifests itself in his erratic moods, poor judgment in interactions with others, and distorted perception of his situation.

The clearest evidence of Hamlet’s madness is in his affective disorder and inconstancy. Hamlet frequently has dark, despairing moods which quickly turn into transports of hyperactivity or joy. This cycling of emotions is so rapid and extreme that it interferes with his ability to function normally, resulting in loss of focus and indecisiveness. In his first scene of the play, Hamlet mopes before the court, and then reveals the full extent of his depression in soliloquy: “O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt/ …Or that the Everlasting had not fixed/ His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God, God,/ How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable/ Seem to me all the uses of this world!” (I.ii.133). These profoundly abject articulations confirm the depths of Hamlet’s melancholy. However, Hamlet immediately brightens when Horatio enters the scene, saying, “We’ll teach you to drink deep ere you depart” (I.ii.182). This rapid change in mood, from seeking suicide to drink and merriment, is indicative of his proclivity to sudden mood swings. In addition, there is a dramatic change in Hamlet’s disposition upon seeing the troupe of players arrive. Hamlet becomes ecstatic, his temperament marked with increased energy, interest, and rapid speech: “You are welcome, masters; welcome all.—I am glad to see thee well.—Welcome, good friends.—O my old friend! Why, thy face is valanced since I saw thee last. Com’st thou to beard me in Denmark?—What, my young lady and mistress!....Masters, you are all welcome. We’ll e’en to ‘t like French falconers, fly at anything we see” (II.ii.445). Here, his behavior is uncharacteristically animated and enthusiastic. When the other characters exit the scene, though, Hamlet becomes depressed and frustrated at himself again in a soliloquy loaded with anxiety and self-aggravation: “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!....I, a dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak/ Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause” (II.ii.577). Hamlet abruptly shifts from a euphoric mood to discontent and insecurity—seeing an actor become easily impassioned, he berates himself for being incapable of doing the same when he actually has the circumstances that should make it possible for him to be stirred to action. He is not constructive because he is so occupied with vacillating emotions. Such moments are analogous to bipolar or manic-depressive disorder, in which Hamlet cycles from one extreme of emotion to another—his madness prevents him from executing actions decisively.

Hamlet’s poor judgment in his interactions with other characters also points to madness, in that he lacks soundness of mind. His uninhibited, offensive, and crude behavior towards Ophelia shows insensitivity that ultimately drives her insane. Their exchange during the players’ rendition of The Murder of Gonzago shows that Hamlet’s loss of judgment impairs his relationship with Ophelia by tormenting her:
Ophelia: You are as good as a chorus, my lord.
Hamlet: I could interpret between you and your love,
if I could see the puppets dallying.
Ophelia: You are keen, my lord, you are keen.
Hamlet: It would cost you a groaning to take off mine edge.
Ophelia: Still better and worse.
Hamlet: So you mis-take your husbands (III.ii.269-276).
Hamlet, who is usually pensive and balanced in his thought process, is instead quite unrestrained in his vulgar insults and displays uncharacteristic abandonment. This carelessness and apparent disregard for Ophelia is so unlike Hamlet’s usual keen, meditative nature that this poor judgment indicates temporary lack of sanity and self-control. It is not part of a purposeful act to convince Ophelia of his “madness”—he is not pretending he has lost his mind, but is downright vulgar and crosses the line in being unnecessarily crass. Likewise, Hamlet’s behavior at the graveyard is rash and excessive, exacerbating his relationship with Laertes. Seeing Laertes mourning, Hamlet advances, saying “What is he whose grief/ Bears such an emphasis, whose phrase of sorrow/ Conjures the wand’ring stars and makes them stand/ Like wonder-wounded hearers? This is I,/ Hamlet the Dane” (V.i.266-271). Hamlet is surprisingly immature here as he self-righteously competes with Laertes for attention. Although it is not wrong of him to show emotion at Ophelia’s passing, the purpose of his maudlin show of mourning is to outdo Laertes and prove that he loved her more than Laertes did, which is far from the usually insightful, intelligent, and meditative Hamlet. He demonstrates very little acumen for someone of his wits, as he worsens tensions between himself and Laertes. Hamlet’s lack of discernment in these instances signifies mental imbalance through his unsound decisions and judgment.

The final mark of Hamlet’s mental instability is in his skewed, irrational view of his own situation. The prince is inexplicably impotent in the face of favorable circumstances. He does not capitalize on the potential of his situation, when he could accomplish so much—he is intellectually the nonpareil of the Danish court, he is the young, upcoming king of Denmark, and he has the support of the common people behind him. As even Claudius admits, “He’s loved of the distracted multitude” (IV.iii.4). Instead of taking advantage of these most auspicious conditions, Hamlet says, “Denmark’s a prison….there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. To me, it is a prison” (II.ii.262-270). Hamlet’s prison is self-imposed; his own thinking made it so, and he is trapped by distorted perception. He also has recurrent thoughts of death that are marked by a suicidal attitude—it is not simply that he fears death or has a sense of mortality, which would be normal and understandable, but that he is constantly longing for the escape that death affords. Hamlet’s preoccupation with suicide appears in his first scene of the play, and is echoed a subsequent soliloquy: “To die, to sleep—/ No more—and by a sleep to say we end/ The heartache and the thousand natural shocks/ That flesh is heir to—‘tis a consummation/ Devoutly to be wished” (III.i.67-72). He is again unduly pessimistic during a conversation with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: “What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties…in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god: the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights me not, nor women neither” (II.ii.327-333). He has an unreasonably defeatist disposition given his favorable situation, politically and intellectually. There is no rational reason for him to “devoutly wish” escape from the “prison” of Denmark through death when he could so turn the situation around so easily, if he only took command of his situation and rightfully overthrew Claudius with the support of the common Danes. Thus, Hamlet’s inability to see his circumstances judiciously and subsequent insistence on a fatalistic attitude attest to instability and disjointedness in his mental functioning.

Nevertheless, it would not be unreasonable to assert that Hamlet is not mad at all, but simply putting on a pretense that will work to his advantage. It is true that Hamlet tells Horatio that he will “think meet to put an antic disposition on” (I.v.191), and thereafter Hamlet says seemingly nonsensical lines to the other characters. However, it is not the “antic disposition” that is the true madness; it is the emotional and mental inconsistencies resulting in the aftermath of Old Hamlet’s death that comprise the actual madness of Hamlet. On the surface, Hamlet is outwitting the Danish court and outmaneuvering Claudius in his constant surveillance and political games. Closer examination of Hamlet, however, reveals that underneath the reason and cunning that is underneath his pretended madness, there is a complex swirl of uncontrolled impulses and moods. Whether this instability is manifested in manic-depressive cycles, uninhibited behavior, or constant self-imposed fatalism, Hamlet’s mental imbalance is a reality, and it impairs his functioning as he attempts to execute retribution for his father’s murder.

The tragic play of Hamlet is centered on Hamlet’s plan to avenge his father, but in doing so it reveals the true extent of Hamlet’s madness. He certainly is not a raving lunatic, but he is prone to moments of mental imbalance or impaired judgment. Throughout the play, Hamlet experiences high-spirited moments followed quickly by despair, and these bipolar mood swings are indicative of his affective instability. In his interactions with Ophelia and Laertes, Hamlet exercises poor judgment atypical of a man of his intelligence, resulting in impaired and ultimately fatal relationships. Finally, Hamlet’s skewed perception of his situation prevents him from taking action when an advantageous situation arises. In his subtle madness, Hamlet serves as a reminder to us that it is important to fully examine a situation before assuming that we understand it. It is not enough to uncover one layer when there may be several levels of thought or action at work. Madness as a facet of human nature holds relevance beyond the scope of the literary world, as we scrutinize and judge human behavior every day. It is futile to second-guess another individual’s actions because humans are volatile and unpredictable, even when they seem rational and have regular, patterned mannerisms. A comprehensive perspective of human nature can only come with an open mind and a discerning eye.