HAMLET ESSAY DEUX

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't." establishes the structure of Hamlet, both the protagonist and the play itself. Hamlet is the living proof of this quote which sets the dark and tortured theme of Hamlet and it's use of stream of consciousness and foreshadowing. To most in the play, Hamlet is madman who needs to be kept at a sustainable distance, however, only Hamlet truly knows that his craziness is just a show, an act. Although, at this point in the story, the character who dictated the quote, Polonius, might be getting the idea that Hamlet is up to something much more complexly devised than just his intentions being made up of pure madness. With this quote, the theme and understanding of Hamlet begins to flourish to the reader.

Polonius states his method of madness quote in Act II, Scene II when Hamlet and himself are discussing from topics ranging from Polonius' daughter and an item Hamlet read over elder men. Here on out, the reader gets a foreshadow of what is to come next in the play. We now discover a character in the play may have realized what the readers realized in the previous act, Hamlet is only 'acting crazy' to throw off others when in reality he has a brilliant plan inside his head waiting to be unraveled. With this, the tension of the plot rises with a tone of mystery that indicates that soon enough others may or may not realize Hamlet is up to something much more out of an act of insanity, rather logical thinking. Polonius could very well be the first to 'catch on' to Hamlet's plan, meaning the quote has given of a significant foreshadow to a major component of the play- Hamlet's murder plot.

The quote given by Polonius also reflects Hamlets' stream of consciousness in the text. Throughout the entire play, Hamlet practically gives out the reasons of why he's doing what he's doing through his thoughts; the biggest example of this being the infamous "To be or not to be..." soliloquy. Polonius' quote is the basis to this soliloquy which spurs out the most emotion and thought we get from Hamlet in the whole play. The soliloquy is an entire verbal stream of conscious which explains to the reader why Hamlet feels so frustrated with his life and how conflicted he is with the tragedies and new obligations he now has to endure. The method to his madness can be seen throughout that piece of text and sets a definite and authentic tone of torture in the play by its protagonist. This tells the reader that Hamlet is much more than just a crazy man if interpreted like so, it demonstrates Hamlet as a man with a method to his madness. We now realize he's a real, functioning human being, an intelligent if that.

The method of madness that Polonius stated in Act II, while temporarily straying away from his dishonesty provides a strong basis to the theme, conflict, tone, and message to the paly. Hamlet, being an angry, hopeless teenager disregards the idea that he was insane. He was insanely frustrated, insanely tortured, insanely trapped in his own mind, however not purely insane. Polonius gave the readers a foreshadow of what was to come with this idea of there being mechanisms and strategic planning within a wild plot in regards to Hamlet killing Claudius. It reflected a well used technique of stream of consciousness used by Hamlet in the play which is expressed in his most known soliloquy from the play which set the tone of torture and darkness within one's mind. Though no one around Hamlet realized it, there was method to his madness as stated by Polonius and well proved throughout the text.