By: G. James Farmer
3/31/2024
Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ speech from Act 3, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ is one of the most famous monologues in all of literature. From Hamlet’s emotions whether life or death is more preferable to the many times it’s been said or referenced in non-Shakespearean works. It’s been interpreted many times over the last 400+ years, and I’m on the side of Hamlet having manic-depression, as Hamlet talks about death “The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shock that Flesh is heir to? ‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep.” (Act 3, Scene 1, Lines 40-42) Which is Hamlet talking about how conflicted he is after the death of his father, also named Hamlet, and his uncle Cladius (who in fact, murdered his father) taking the throne, and marrying his mother Gertrude.
Manic depression also known as Bipolar disorder is stated by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) as “A mental illness that causes unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy, activity levels, and concentration. These shifts can make it difficult to carry out day-to-day tasks.” In other words, when a person goes through intense emotional changes that may be out of character for them. These are usually called episodes, with manic (racing thoughts, talking fast about different things) and depressive ones (trouble making decisions, thoughts about death) respectively.
As mentioned earlier, there have been many “To be or not to be” struggles referenced over the last 400+ years. For example, in a Season 13 episode of ‘King of the Hill,’ Hank Hill’s neighbor and frenemy Mr. Kahn was revealed to have manic depression, and when he stopped taking his pills for it, he went into multiple episodes. Some of those included him being full of energy doing an important project for his job in one hour, but in the next, he lays on his couch, and talks about his death. Another example as said by Rock ‘n’ Roll star Jimi Hendrix in his song of the same name goes “Manic depression is searching my soul. I know what, but I just don’t know How to, go about getting it … Well, I think I’ll go turn myself off and go on down All the way down Really ain’t no use in me hanging around.” Jimi’s lyrics here do sum up a lot of what both Hamlet and Mr. Kahn went through in their respective stories.
Back to Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark talks about his own death as stated earlier, and another NIMH symptom of a depressive episode is “Feeling hopeless or worthless, or thinking about death or suicide.” and in one section of the speech, “The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shock that Flesh is heir to? ‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep.” fits that description quite well. Also, Hamlet going back and forth also shows symptoms which are “Racing thoughts” and “Having trouble concentrating or making decisions” as he goes through what he says rather fast in about 30 lines, but he thinks hard about what he will do next even after he saw the spirit earlier.
From lines 73-76, Hamlet talks about dying, but there is uncertainty to what happens. “To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there’s the rub, For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause.” It can also be referenced to why he doesn’t kill himself in the story because he fears the unknown of what happens after death.
As Hamlet tries in vain to get his uncle to confess to the murder of his father, he nevertheless sees clues about his guilt, and presses on in his quest. His growing distrust of his mother’s devotion to his father leads Hamlet to question the morals and scruples of all women, and he pushes Ophelia away with his words. Feeling truly alone, his mental state is further tested by the accidental killing of Polonius, thinking him to be a rat instead. Is it any wonder looking back to Hamlet’s call in line 67 that he thought to “take arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them?”
When Shakespeare introduces the reader to Hamlet, the character is in grief as his father is dead, and he doesn’t like that mother and uncle marry, let alone in such a short time after his father dies. The ensuing encounter with the spirit would have been disconcerting under any circumstances, but Hamlet isn’t even sure if the spirit truly represents his lost father, or perhaps is a devil meant to use Hamlet to cause further pain and misery. His uncertainty about the spirit’s appearance and intentions perhaps begins Hamlet’s battle for sanity and closure.
As Hamlet’s plan to pretend insanity takes shape, his actions disturb his mother, who can’t tell if he says things out of spite or grief. Ophelia ultimately comes to an untimely end, believing she has nothing left to live for with her father and Hamlet gone. She did not seem to have the same internal discussion about the pain of this word compared to the unknown as Hamlet did.
In the last stages of the play, one could argue that Hamlet is able to move through his battle with manic depression to achieve enough clarity to ultimately do what the spirit had intended and avenge his father’s murder. Only through Horatio, however, would anyone learn the truth about what had transpired.
Other people over the years have also theorized whether or not Hamlet has manic-depression. Such as Lewis Pickett in a 1996 report from Western Kentucky University. Like me, Pickett says not only does he have manic depression, but the whole story is a tale about the effects certain disorders have on not only the story, but in real life. He also states that Hamlet has schizophrenia because he has visions of his dead father telling him what to do. Furthermore, throughout the story, he argues with himself as he goes back and forth in the “To be or not to be” monologue. Mr. Pickett has good evidence, and it’s very hard to go against what he says. Of course, I don’t think all of this in my interpretation, as Hamlet seeing his father could just be a random hallucination, and other cases could just be the Prince of Denmark having cases of trauma with his dead father, and his uncle marrying his mother.
Overall, it can be said that Prince Hamlet of Denmark has manic depression. From his “To be or not to be” speech in the tomb which contained his father, to his actions throughout the rest of the story involving revenge on his uncle, coping with his mother marrying the man who murdered her husband, and going back and forth on his feelings for Ophelia. Furthermore, his case here was referenced or at least similar to many other stories in the 400+ years since this play was released.
Works cited:
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder
King of the Hill: Season 13, Episode 24: Just Another Manic Kahn-Day
Manic Depression by Jimi Hendrix
“In What Particular Thought to Work”: Hamlet and Manic-Depression by Lewis Pickett, https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1800&context=theses
Sprockets and Springes 