ve pauses followed by bursts of action – this is consistent with manic depressive behavior. Hamlet"s depressed phase is marked by brooding inaction and his manic phase is characterized by abrupt lunges toward action. During the entire play, Hamlet is in a state of paralyzing perplexity; from scene to scene he contemplates deeply over which course of action he should adopt. Hamlet is overwhelmed, he makes this abundantly clear in act two:" O God , I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself a king of infinite space if it were not that I have bad dreams." (2.ii.254-256) Here Hamlet expresses a desire to crawl away and hide - he wants to escape this chaos that has become his life. When it seems that stress begins to overtake him, Hamlet begins to lash out at the other characters. Sometimes Hamlet throws his tantrums in the solitude of a room and at other times he lashes out at people directly. One instance of this is occurred when Hamlet is being spied on by Claudius and Polonius while speaking to his love, Ophelia. In his great unrest Hamlet mocks Ophelia"s sexual discretions by exclaiming "Get thee to a nunnery!" (3.iii.121) In Elizabethan times a nunnery was a whorehouse. In this scene Hamlet treats Ophelia very aggressively here he slams her around. Also during the same dialogue Hamlet expresses his lack of feeling for Ophelia. Hamlet says that he does not now and never has loved Ophelia. This is a major component in refuting the argument that his instability is due to love sickness over Ophelia .In the later part of the play when Hamlet is not manic he expresses a mammoth deal of love for Ophelia . It is only during periods of serenity that Hamlet"s true feelings are revealed. His manic episodes serve to balance out his usual inactivity and apathy. Hamlet never seemed to express much feeling to Ophelia and when he finally did say something he insults her and showers her with the rage he feels toward the state of his...
