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To Be Insane, Or Not To Be

In reading William Shakespeare's "Hamlet," many ponder the question of the title character's sanity. The Britannica dictionary has defined "insane" as "Mentally deranged or unsound…one afflicted by temporary or permanent irrational or violent deviations from normal thinking, feeling, and behavior… unable to distinguish between right and wrong, to control the will, foresee the consequences of an act…" So was Hamlet acting out of pure passion and insanity in his quest for revenge, or was he following a clearly reasoned path towards a reasonable goal? On the surface the reader would certainly find Hamlet's antics crazy, but with further attention the true extent of Hamlet's mental facilities becomes clear.
There is evidence from nearly every character in the play that Hamlet is less than sane. In fact, much of the action of the play is devoted to the question of Hamlet's insanity, with several characters being given the sole task of determining......

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Approximate Word Count: 2055
Approximate Pages: 9 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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