Part one of term paper
Method in the Madness: Hamlet’s Sanity Supported Through HisRelation to Ophelia and Edgar’s Relation to Lear In both Hamlet and King Lear, Shakespeare incorporates a theme ofmadness with two characters: one truly mad, and one only actingmad to serve a motive. The madness of Hamlet is frequentlydisputed. This paper argues that the ...

Part two of term paper
... breakdown and Hamlet’s “north-north-west” brand of insanity. Both plays offer a characteron each side of sanity, but in Hamlet the distinction is not asclear as it is in King Lear. Using the more explicit relationshipin King Lear, one finds a better understanding of the relationshipin Hamlet.While Shakespeare does not directly pit Ophelia’s insanity (orbreakdown) against Hamlet’s madness, there is instead a cleardefinitiveness in Ophelia’s condition and ...