Essay on "Hamlet" with regards to Hamlet and Ophelia's insanity

Shakespeare's play "The Tragedy of Hamlet", Prince of Denmark is considered by T.S. Eliot to be the "Mona Lisa" of literature.1 However, the play is doomed from the madness that presides in the two main characters, Hamlet and Ophelia. There is evidence that when writing Hamlet, Shakespeare was specifically concerned with melancholia; a diagnosis that contained numerous more symptoms that today's times. Furthermore, it is thought that Shakespeare used the play as a device …

…eds. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. By William Shakespeare. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Bentley, Greg. "Melancholy, Madness and Syphilis in Hamlet". Hamlet Studies: "The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke". 5.6(1984): 75-80. Showalter, Elaine. "Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism." William Shakespeare: "Hamlet." Ed. Susanne C. Woffard. Boston: St. Martin, 1994. 220-238. Philip, Ranjini. "The Shattered Glass: The Story of Ophelia." "Hamlet" Studies: "The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke." 5.13(1991): 73-81.