The selected article is “Timothie Bright: Melancholie, Characterie, Shakespeare and Hamlet – Psychiatry in History” by Greg Wilkinson. The article reflects how Shakespeare was able to subtly address the issue of madness through the story of Hamlet. It is important to note that whereas various analysis of the story have focused on the love, desire, and revenge aspects, few have noted the importance of madness. It is for this specific reason that the article was selected. Not only does it offer a different perspective of the story but it also incorporates how the same theme can be applied to different aspects of the society today.
The author argues that in order to understand this element of insanity, one has to analyze the story through the foucauldian and archetypal lenses. He explains that Shakespeare deliberately added the concept of insanity in an attempt to also show the disparities that society was facing at that particular time (Wilkinson, 2019). He quotes Hamlet who said “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable/Seem to me all the uses of this world’): ‘O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason/Would have mourned longer married with my uncle,” to show that the main character was going through various emotions that affected his mental health.
It can be argued that there are numerous ways one can analyse the story of Hamlet. However, the discussions encouraged by the selected article are not only critical for the assignment but they also help critics develop a different view of the story itself. The different perceptions created also allow one to analyze how the story affects the mental health of the readers. It can be argued that Shakespeare intentions were not only to show the insanity in the characters but also in the readers.
Reference
Wilkinson, Greg. 2019. “Timothie Bright: Melancholie, Characterie, Shakespeare and Hamlet – Psychiatry in History.” The British Journal of Psychiatry 214 (1): 51-51.