Mental Downfalls in Hamlet

around, evil breeding evil and eventually leading to psychological, emotional

and moral ruins. This ruin ultimately leads to the devastating physical ruin at the end of

King Hamlet’s words to Hamlet lead him down a path of insanity. Shakespeare

foreshadows this at the beginning of the play when Horatio warns Hamlet about seeing

What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord,

Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff

That beetles o’er his base into the sea,

And there assume some other horrible form

Which might deprive your sovereignty, or reason

And draw you into madness? (I, iiii, 69-74)

These words of wisdom from Horatio become reality and the ghost of Hamlet’s father does

tempt Hamlet and eventually leads him over a cliff of self destruction and complete

madness. Hamlets psycological state quickly changes from a down to earth scholar as he is

perceived at the beginning of the play to a disturbed confused man as the play goes on.

This is mainly shown in his actions towards his lover Ophellia. As Ophe

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer

Some topics in this essay:
Ophellia Ophellia, Gertrude Hamlet, King Hamlet’s, Rosencrantz Guidenstren, Ophelia Hamlet’s, Rosencrantz Guildenstern, Hamlet England, Mental Downfalls, King Hamlet, Claudius Gertrude, father’s death, marriage claudius, beginning play, ruin play, self destruction, rosencrantz guildenstern, mother’s marriage, ghost hamlet’s father, incestuous marriage, hamlet’s father, act insanity, emotional moral ruins, ophellia’s death act, psychological emotional moral, death act insanity,