Hamlet's Descent Into Madness: A Character Study

Introduction: Hamlet's Impossible Dilemma

Shakespeare's Hamlet is essentially a character study of one man's slow descent into insanity. The play opens with the Danish prince presented rather innocently: his father has recently died, and it is understandable that he might be caught up in grief. However, the appearance of his father's ghost shakes Hamlet to the core. He is suddenly faced with the arduous task of avenging his father's murder.

Hamlet believes himself to be a weak man, as he states that his uncle Claudius is "no more like my father / Than I to Hercules" (Act I, scene ii). Yet Hamlet feels a keen sense of ironic moral duty to kill Claudius. If he listens to his conscience and refrains from committing murder, he risks being damned by not fulfilling his father's wishes from beyond the grave. On the other hand, if Hamlet fulfills his father's desire for revenge, he will become a murderer as immoral as his treacherous uncle. Caught between two difficult and undesirable positions throughout the play, Hamlet faces an insurmountable existential dilemma that defines his tragic arc.

Hamlet's Innocence in the Opening Acts

Hamlet is innocent at the beginning of the play, as evidenced by the way he reluctantly comes to believe that his uncle murdered his father. At first, he seems fired with anger and swears to kill his uncle: "So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word / It is 'Adieu, adieu! Remember me.' / I have sworn 't" (Act I, scene iv). His confidence is false, however. Hamlet falters and flounders for much of the play, revealing the deep rift in his mind.

He does not want to believe that his uncle could be capable of a deed as evil as killing his own brother, stealing his wife, and then ascending to the throne — especially because the truth would also implicate his mother, and Hamlet does not wish to believe that she is a bad person. At the close of Act II, Hamlet devises a means by which he can "catch the conscience of the king" (Act II, scene ii). By this, he means that he requires further proof before he executes his plan for revenge. Hamlet sees himself as an "ass" and berates his hesitancy, but for the audience, Hamlet is only acting as a good human being would: not by hastily killing someone, but by ensuring that the person is guilty first (Act II, scene ii).

Because the systems of justice were different in Hamlet's time, and because there was no standing police force, it would have been common and acceptable to take justice into one's own hands — especially as a prince. Therefore, Hamlet is an innocent and fundamentally good person during the first half of the play, before he receives definitive proof of his uncle's guilt.