Hamlet The Empitome Of Melencholy Essay Research

Hamlet: The Empitome Of Melencholy Essay, Research Paper

Hamlet: The Epitome of Melancholy

In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, Hamlet, the tragic hero, is profoundly

affected in actions and thoughts by his unwavering state of melancholy. Melancholia is a medical condition

defined as .A mental disorder characterized by severe depression, apathy and withdrawal.. The term was

invented in ancient Greece and was associated with the belief that melancholia was caused by having an

imbalance of black bile in the bloodstream. Black bile was one of the four humours that the Greeks

believed were responsible for the temperaments of individuals. Hamlet succumbed to this .illness. and

displayed several of the characteristic signs of the ailment. Hamlet’s self-centeredness keeps him from

performing the duties that he has been assigned to by his father’s ghost and himself. He is also prone to

falling from the grips of an intense emotion directly into another, often, equally extreme pathos. Hamlet

develops a wariness of friends and family that keeps him from incriminating himself and destroying his plans

of revenge. Finally, Hamlet’s perseverance keeps him focused on his charge and provides him with an

admirable relentlessness with which he pursues his goal. Hamlet’s conduct causes him to become the very

definition of a melancholic, as set out by various scholars and doctors throughout the ages.

In the late sixteenth century when Shakespeare was creating and developing his play Hamlet, the work of

the scientific and medical communities relied on long-standing principles and theories which are no longer

in practice today. It was believed that there were four elements, air, wind, fire and earth, that, in different

combinations and concentrations were the basis of all matter. To aid in the classification of material, primal

qualities were associated with the elements. The qualities, as theorized by Aristotle, were warm, cold, dry

and wet, and reflected the nature and state of each of the four elements. Wet and warm were the common

characteristics of air, wet and cold signified water, dry and warm represented fire, and dry and cold

exemplified the earth. In direct relation to these elements and their primal qualities, different temperaments

and humours resulted from the common belief that the body was the product of several fluids, namely,

blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, which, in turn, led to the disposition or temperament of the

person. A person with an excess of blood was therefore considered sanguine, or, in respective cases,

either phlegmatic, choleric or melancholic. Hamlet was seen to have been composed of too much black

bile, which led to the medical condition of melancholia. Some widely regarded and well-known symptoms

of this state of being were self absorption, an excessively sentimental response to recent events, skepticism

and an obstinate outlook and attitude in life; all of which are applicable and relative to the case of Hamlet.

It is this fulfillment of the qualifications necessary for the diagnosis of an imbalanced humour that leads one

to the conclusion that Hamlet is, indeed, melancholic.

Hamlet’s constant thoughts and assessments about himself stem from his melancholy. His incessant

introspection as to how he is thinking, feeling, and behaving at any given moment prevent him from acting

on the directions given to him by his father’s ghost. Hamlet manages to deny himself the act that he craves

which consequently gives him more to dwell on when evaluating himself and the progress he has made.

Quickly his reflections on himself compound, as, being an educated man, Hamlet refuses to perform his

assigned duty without first questioning each aspect of the task at hand. In fact, he wonders about the

ramifications of the chore and then further ponders his own position on the issue. Subsequently, his

.thinking too precisely on the event. (IV, iv, 41) has been so lengthy that he has finally missed his

opportunity to fulfill his responsibility. Hamlet is led to more contemplation before he is able to move on to

the secondary plan of action resulting from the failure of the first. He is, however, able to recognize this

pattern of behavior when he says, .I do not know why yet I live to say .This thing’s to do;. sith I have

cause and will and strength and means to do it. (IV, iv 43-6). By determining the source of his inablility to

act, he is now capable of correcting it, whether he does so or not. This important step of realizing his fault

was inevitable when one considers how unconsciously he murdered Polonius, under the false assumption

that he was the king. Suddenly, one finds Hamlet submitting immediately to his passions and whims rather

than debating them, which gives rise to more positive acts than long-winded excuses for his inaction.

According to experience, Hamlet would rather follow what he knows is the more logical course, but is

forced, under the circumstances, to alter his modus oper

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