MADNESS
● Madness is used to allow for free speech
Madness was ‘dramatically useful’ as it allowed the ‘combination in a single figure of tragic
hero and buffoon, to whom could be accorded the licence of the allowed fool in speech and
action.’ (Mack)
- Ophelia (IV.V, pg.110): After Polonius’ death she appears mad, and passes invisible
flowers to people- rosemary (traditionally carried by mourners at funerals), pansies
(name is derived from the French word pensie, meaning “thought” or
“remembrance”), fennel (a quick-dying flower symbolising sorrow), columbines (a
flower symbolising affection, often given to lovers), and daisies (symbols of
innocence and purity, and the flower of the Norse fertility goddess Freya). She has no
violets left (‘they withered all when my father died’). Being symbols of modesty, often
tied to the Virgin Mary, this suggests that Ophelia no longer cares about upholding
the social norms of chastity that were imposed upon her by Polonius especially.
CONTEXT: During the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1533-1603), known as the Virgin Queen, a
woman's purity was highly prized when male suitors picked or romanced a single woman.
- Ophelia (IV.V, pg. 105): “Larded with sweet flowers / Which bewept to the grave did
not go / With true-love showers”. This alludes to Gertrude never properly mourning
her husband but marrying his brother instead. As Ophelia sings about the unvisited
grave, the ‘true love showers’ juxtapose the clear signs of Getrude’s lack of love by
her dismissal of mourning.
CONTEXT: In general, it was not uncommon for widows to remarry within the first year of
their husband’s death. Gertrude’s period of being a widow would have been considered quite
short, though.
- Hamlet (II.II, pg.50): Polonius asks ‘do you know me, me lord?’ to which Hamlet
responds with the ironic remark, ‘You are a fishmonger.’ ‘Fishmonger’ is polysemic
here. Being a low class occupation, it insults Polonius’ status. Being the Elizabethan
slang for pimp, Hamlet euphemistically suggests that Polonius has been willing to
commodify his own daughter’s happiness in exchange for earning Claudius’ favour.
Through pretending not to recognize Polonius by feigning madness, this allows him
to mock and insult the counsellor to the king.
● Shakespeare explores the causes and treatment of madness
‘Shakespeare took seriously the view that excessive or unrequited love could lead to
mental distraction.’ (Tosh)
-Polonius discussing Hamlet (II.II, pg. 49): Although Polonius is wrong, this suggests
that excessive or unrequited love could lead to madness as Tosh argues. Hamlet’s
love letter to Ophelia convinces Polonius that it is Hamlet’s love for Ophelia which
has driven him mad: he ‘Fell into a sadness, then into a fast,/ Thence to a watch,
then into a weakness,/ Thence to a lightness, and, by this declension/ Into the
madness wherein now he raves.’
CONTEXT: Melancholy and madness were seen as linked in Elizabethan England- Robert
Burton published the ‘Anatomy of Melancholy’ in 1621 which explored the ailments of
melancholy and symbols of melancholic types, including a ‘madman’. In Kyd’s ‘Spanish
Tragedy’ (1615), both the hero and his wife are sent mad in horror of their son’s murder.
● Madness is used to allow for free speech
Madness was ‘dramatically useful’ as it allowed the ‘combination in a single figure of tragic
hero and buffoon, to whom could be accorded the licence of the allowed fool in speech and
action.’ (Mack)
- Ophelia (IV.V, pg.110): After Polonius’ death she appears mad, and passes invisible
flowers to people- rosemary (traditionally carried by mourners at funerals), pansies
(name is derived from the French word pensie, meaning “thought” or
“remembrance”), fennel (a quick-dying flower symbolising sorrow), columbines (a
flower symbolising affection, often given to lovers), and daisies (symbols of
innocence and purity, and the flower of the Norse fertility goddess Freya). She has no
violets left (‘they withered all when my father died’). Being symbols of modesty, often
tied to the Virgin Mary, this suggests that Ophelia no longer cares about upholding
the social norms of chastity that were imposed upon her by Polonius especially.
CONTEXT: During the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1533-1603), known as the Virgin Queen, a
woman's purity was highly prized when male suitors picked or romanced a single woman.
- Ophelia (IV.V, pg. 105): “Larded with sweet flowers / Which bewept to the grave did
not go / With true-love showers”. This alludes to Gertrude never properly mourning
her husband but marrying his brother instead. As Ophelia sings about the unvisited
grave, the ‘true love showers’ juxtapose the clear signs of Getrude’s lack of love by
her dismissal of mourning.
CONTEXT: In general, it was not uncommon for widows to remarry within the first year of
their husband’s death. Gertrude’s period of being a widow would have been considered quite
short, though.
- Hamlet (II.II, pg.50): Polonius asks ‘do you know me, me lord?’ to which Hamlet
responds with the ironic remark, ‘You are a fishmonger.’ ‘Fishmonger’ is polysemic
here. Being a low class occupation, it insults Polonius’ status. Being the Elizabethan
slang for pimp, Hamlet euphemistically suggests that Polonius has been willing to
commodify his own daughter’s happiness in exchange for earning Claudius’ favour.
Through pretending not to recognize Polonius by feigning madness, this allows him
to mock and insult the counsellor to the king.
● Shakespeare explores the causes and treatment of madness
‘Shakespeare took seriously the view that excessive or unrequited love could lead to
mental distraction.’ (Tosh)
-Polonius discussing Hamlet (II.II, pg. 49): Although Polonius is wrong, this suggests
that excessive or unrequited love could lead to madness as Tosh argues. Hamlet’s
love letter to Ophelia convinces Polonius that it is Hamlet’s love for Ophelia which
has driven him mad: he ‘Fell into a sadness, then into a fast,/ Thence to a watch,
then into a weakness,/ Thence to a lightness, and, by this declension/ Into the
madness wherein now he raves.’
CONTEXT: Melancholy and madness were seen as linked in Elizabethan England- Robert
Burton published the ‘Anatomy of Melancholy’ in 1621 which explored the ailments of
melancholy and symbols of melancholic types, including a ‘madman’. In Kyd’s ‘Spanish
Tragedy’ (1615), both the hero and his wife are sent mad in horror of their son’s murder.
