Was Shakespeare mad?

It is not unusual for concerned parents to enlist the support of their offspring’s friends when they suspect a problem that threatens the wellbeing of their child. Hamlet’s aversion towards both Gertrude and Claudius however makes the leap, by association, to his fellow students with tragic consequences. That they may be unwitting dupes of the crafty Claudius seems never to occur to him.

The inability to make decisions is another symptom of depression that most often results in the sufferer’s inability to carry out simply daily tasks and make choices concerning their own wellbeing. Hamlet admits this to Rosencrantz after he and Guildenstern have openly admitted that they have promised Gertrude they will try to discover what ails Hamlet.

They point out, however, that if Hamlet doesn’t wish them to discuss him with Gertrude they will not. They ask him to indicate what he would like them to do and Hamlet replies “Sir, I cannot” and gives as explanation the frank admission that “my wit’s diseased” (3.2). While some may interpret this as part of Hamlet’s plan to feign madness, this inability to make decisions is a genuine behavioural trait which marks the whole play.

On what basis, then, would one reject an interpretation of quite natural depression and or mourning for one of bipolarism?

Bipolarism, as explained above, is a condition brought about by the alternation between two differing - and opposite - modes of being. While it is obvious that Hamlet suffers depression it also becomes obvious that this mood does not prevail. This is part of the inconsistency that bedevils the play.

The manic phase of bipolarism is less easily identifiable than the depressive phase. It often passes unnoticed by many who consider the behaviour of people during this stage as expressing nothing more than an excess of high spirits. Such people are invariably those who are taken unawares by a sufferer’s suicide and seek for other causes in consideration of the fact the afflicted person seemed so happy. It is the desperate edge to this supposed merriment that Shakespeare portrays so skilfully in the character of Hamlet. Thus one may plausibly conjecture that at some stage in his life Shakespeare had direct experience with such a personality.

It is unlikely that a body of material supporting the premise that Shakespeare himself suffered from a mental illness will ever emerge. However, in consideration of his undoubted genius such a conjecture would be at least credible. It would be consistent with findings that bipolarism is represented more among those associated in the arts than any other sector. Goethe, Van Gogh, Virginia Woolf, Robin Williams, and Peter Sellers - the list of well known figures suffering from this illness is very long.

Instances of this manic phase occur throughout the play, but it is their juxtaposition with the quoted incidents above which provides the key to Hamlet’s personality. Manic behaviour is characterised by severe alterations in mood consisting of euphoria, expansiveness, irritability and, sometimes, severe depression.

Thus in Act I Hamlet, on being re-united with his friend Horatio, exclaims jovially, “We’ll teach you to drink deep ere you depart” (1.2). Yet two acts later he seems opposed to customs involved with drinking which:

Makes us traduced and taxed of other nations
They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrases
Soil our addition
and indeed it takes
from our achievement, though performed at height
The pith and marrow of our attribute (1.4).

His irritability towards the verbose Polonius appears unreasonable in a text which portrays “that good old man” as a faithful retainer. In fact Hamlet’s first words in the presence of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are, “These tedious old fools!” (2.2), spoken while Polonius is still in the room. This behaviour culminates in a complete lack of remorse at having killed his girlfriend’s father.

“Mania can occasionally become so severe that it is accompanied by psychotic symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations and very disorganized thinking, similar to schizophrenia. In addition, people in manic episodes can be very impulsive and occasionally violent. Often, unfortunately, they have little insight into their behaviour during the throes of an actual manic episode”.