Essays on Insanity Page 2

After discovering the truth about his father, Hamlet undergoes a deeply distressing period, which is seen as madness by both readers and characters. This is caused by the death of his father and his mother’s rushed, incestuous remarriage to his uncle. As a result, Hamlet is overwhelmed with thoughts of suicide, viewing the world as…

The tragedies of Hamlet and King Lear display characters that are afflicted with madness. While for some of them, this madness is self-imposed, for others the mental challenges are real. During the Elizabethan era—the time in which William Shakespeare wrote these plays—more than one idea circulated about the significance of madness. On the one hand,…

In  The Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator describes the brutal murder of his roommate, while constantly pleading his case of sanity. Through this, we come to realize that the narrator is nothing other than insane. Although the narrator is insane, he committed a grotesque murder and should pay for what he did. In a case like…

Defining how one should be counted as sane is a troubling matter. In situations involving mental health diagnoses, concern over the reliability in distinguishing sane from insane arises. With such a troubling situation, instances of its misuse are deemed unreliable and inconsistent. Author David L. Rosenhan addresses this dilemma in his classical piece “ On…

Initially dismissed as mere background decor, the wallpaper takes on a sinister aura as the story progresses. Its yellow hue becomes an oppressive force, mirroring the protagonist’s deteriorating mental state. The wallpaper’s repetitive and labyrinthine pattern becomes a reflection of the confining societal norms that stifle the protagonist’s individuality and creativity. As the protagonist becomes…