Writing From Fiction
The mental illness portrayed in William Shakespear’s Hamlet shows how mental disabilities can consume a person’s livelihood, especially if not dealt with correctly. Hamlet was written in 1599, yet the stigmatization of mental illness and disability continues to the present day. I believe Hamlet’s clear display of mental illness throughout the play is due to his grief. A person who has experienced something traumatic needs support and understanding. Hamlet is stereotyped and villainized for his symptoms of depression from his grief that will ultimately lead to tragedy.
The acceptance and acknowledgement of a person’s grief can help subside their symptoms of depression. An article from the National Library of Medicine explains a direct relationship between prolonged grief symptoms and social acknowledgment. The death of a parent is considered one of the most traumatic experiences someone can go through. The article says “the extent to which traumatic experiences are acknowledged by the social environment is strongly linked with survivors’ psychological adaptation.” People who experienced the death of a loved one need the correct support and care to recover so they can adapt to everyday life again. Hamlet, who is experiencing the aftermath of his father’s death, is being treated like he is losing his mind. He is essentially being socially rejected, which is the exact opposite of what he needs to recover.
Hamlet first shows signs of madness after he sees the ghost of his father. The ghost of his father tells him Claudius murdered him and Hamlet should avenge him. Hamlet agrees. Hamlet goes to tell Horatio what has happened, and he seriously doubts Hamlet. He believes he is crazy and tells Hamlet “These are but wild and whirling words, my lord” (Act One Scene Five). Using the word crazy and mad to describe Hamlet may seem harmless, but in reality these are harmful stereotypes. Hamlet is severely grieving the loss of his father, and is showing this through his erratic behavior. While Horatio may think Hamlet is having delusions, he should handle this in a sensitive and validating way.
The stigmatization of mental illness is extremely harmful. Most commonly today we see this as people getting defined by their mental illness. When Hamlet allows his emotions to let him lose control of his actions, this is when they truly start to only see him for his madness.
Claudius says Hamlet is “like the owner of a foul disease” (4.1.24). Comparing mental illness to a “foul disease” is a detrimental stereotype. This can make a person attach their mental illness to their identity, and it becomes harder to improve their mental health.
Hamlet also becomes extremely reflective after seeing his father’s ghost. He begins to question the meaning of life. “To be or not to be” (3.1.56) is a significant reference to Hamlet’s reflection on life and death. Hamlet is expressing that death would be more peaceful than living, and compares it to sleeping. This is a suicidal way of thinking. Grieving can push people to this unnatural way of thinking and is a clear indicator of depression. Hamlet goes back and forth with these thoughts, but eventually concludes that the fear of not knowing what happens after death is also agonizing. He continues to ponder about the root of human struggle. On one hand Hamlet wants to kill the person who murdered his father, but he also worries the ghost is actually the devil trying to betray his soul. He feels a responsibility to his father, but is clearly conflicted on the morality of the murder. This deep thinking drives Hamlet further into madness because he is so confused on what to do in this situation.
Mental illness can be considered a psychiatric disability for many reasons. A disability is defined as “a condition of the body or mind that affects a person’s everyday life and the way they interact with the world around them (“Disability and Health Overview | CDC”)” There are several different types of disabilities, and mental illness is one of them. Keywords that are important are impairment, activity limitation, and participation restrictions. Depression causes impairment because it affects the functioning of the brain. Hamlet shows impairment when he expresses suicidal thinking. A normal brain is not suicidal, and his grief is causing these thoughts. He continually shows he is incapable of thinking clearly when he lets his moral compass drive him to “madness.” During Act 1 Scene 2 , Hamlet says “A damn’d defeat was made. Am I a coward?.” His soliloquies portray his low self esteem and hopelessness, and he begins to think of himself as a coward if he is unable to avenge his father.
Many deep thinkers have mental illness or a mental disability. A philosopher that comes to mind is William James. Like Hamlet, James suffered from extreme periods of depression that would last for months. William James became suicidal during these episodes of depression, and almost took his own life. While he is best known for his ideas about religion, he mainly focused on the virtue of truth. Hamlet is also a believer of god, and even talks about being scared about going to hell. He worries that the ghost was not actually his father and was instead the devil. Hamlet doesn’t know whether or not this ghost is truthful and it sends him into a spiral. William James thought about what one should do when they do not have knowledge of the truth. He believed the truth secured morals. I think this is definitely accurate since knowing the truth would solve Hamlet’s indecisiveness about murdering Claudius. If Hamlet could confirm the ghost of his father was actually his father, he would be able to morally justify the murder. Hamlet’s madness would subside because knowing the truth would allow him to determine the righteous thing to do. In William James’s The Meaning of Truth, he explains that the truth has “validity in its process of validation.” He means that what you believe to be true will show up in your actions. The truth happens to an idea. If Hamlet believes that his action of killing is morally justified, then the truth that his father needs to be avenged falls into place.
Works Cited
“Depression in Hamlet by William Shakespeare | Quotes & Examples – Lesson.” Study.com, https://study.com/academy/lesson/depression-in-hamlet.html. Accessed 21 February 2024.
“Disability and Health Overview | CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/disability.html. Accessed 21 February 2024.
“Mental Health Conditions in the Workplace and the ADA.” ADA National Network, https://adata.org/factsheet/health. Accessed 21 February 2024.
Pott, Heleen. “Why Bad Moods Matter. William James on Melancholy, Mystic Emotion, and the Meaning of Life.” NCBI, 9 May 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6086273/. Accessed 27 February 2024.
“The relationship between social acknowledgment and prolonged grief symptoms: a multiple mediation effect of beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions.” NCBI, 28 June 2023, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10308866/. Accessed 21 February 2024.
Wilber, Jennifer. “The Madness of Hamlet and Ophelia: Mental Illness in Shakespeare.” Owlcation, 17 August 2023, https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Madness-of-Hamlet-and-Ophelia-Mental-Illness-in-Shakespeare. Accessed 21 February 2024.
“William James: The Meaning of Truth: Preface.” Brock University, https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/James/James_1911/James_1911_pref.html. Accessed 21 February 2024.
Sprockets and Springes 