Hamlet Essay

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in't” I chose this quote because I think it wraps the whole play and defines all of Hamlet’s actions throughout the poem in one efficient sentence. By dissecting this we see that Polonius is starting to realize that Hamlet’s more of a tactical genius than a madmen but Polonius still considers him to be mad because he still doesn’t understand the scope of what Hamlet has set into action. Polonius said this line to himself but this does affect how he interacts with Hamlet in future scenes and the actions he takes to try and learn more information about what Hamlet is really planning, and then enrolling the help of others with his vague assumptions. This is what I think is one of Hamlet’s tactics in play, he knows how intelligent Polonius is and clouds his words in enough metaphor that he would understand to a degree and then want more information, Hamlet was always counting on Polonius to go tattle to someone that had authority over Hamlet as a way to set Claudius off of his balance and give himself the upper hand. This line was spoken at a time in the play when others were still suspicious of Hamlet and what his true motives were so this parcel of suspicion seems larger than it really is because everyone is watching him so closely and that’s exactly what he wanted.

Polonius is used more as a messenger than anything else through the play, his personality help this progress the play by always confiding in authority figures and wanting some form of recognition for his actions leading him to keep delivering them regardless of any actual reward. Almost as if he’s the castle intern and all of Hamlets vague words are the coffees the higher ups are always demanding.

The quote defines Hamlet because despite how much calculation and thought he puts into all of his actions and his words and who he says them to and how, he is considered mad by the other characters. This shows two things, first is that Hamlet is extremely intelligent and the other characters don’t begin to recognize his level of intelligence until most of his plans have been in play for some time and the momentum of them is too great to be stopped, and second is this demonstrates how much control has over himself and his own emotions he has. Hamlets is able to contain the raw emotion he harbors towards the murderer of his father and instead of attack him and get the deed over with he chooses to do it in a way that will make Claudius expose himself. He takes all that emotional energy festering inside of him and mines it directing it to help him reach his goal. He uses his control over his emotion and self to manipulate others into thinking what he needs them to think in order for the next part of his plan to unfold. Hamlet’s actions are totally based off of madness, pure unbridled madness, he’s going mad his father was murdered and his mother is sleeping with the murderer, his friends are turning on him and he’s alone. But what makes this play different from some messed up revenge scheme is Hamlet cages all that madness just beneath all his actions and words, only letting it peak when its beneficial to his ultimate goal and this is the method the method of controlling yourself and your own emotions so that you may change the reality around yourself.