But That Was the Old Me

“Hamlet: Give me your pardon, sir. I’ve done you wrong.

But pardon ’t, as you are a gentleman.

This presence knows,

And you must needs have heard, how I am punished

With sore distraction. What I have done,

That might your nature, honor, and exception

Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.

Was ’t Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet.

If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away,

And when he’s not himself does wrong Laertes,

Then Hamlet does it not. Hamlet denies it.

Who does it, then? His madness. If’t be so,

Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged.

His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy.

Sir, in this audience,

Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil

Free me so far in your most generous thoughts

That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house

And hurt my brother.”

Page 273

Hamlet has not been showing any regret or second thoughts on how his actions are affecting others. His only focus, as he promised to the ghost of his father, is to seek revenge. In doing so, he has not paid attention to any of the repercussions of his acting mad. He murdered Polonius, and consequently influenced Ophelia’s suicide. When confronted with how his actions have caused harm, he blames his madness, something he created. Hamlet’s instinct to blame something other than himself and use of madness as a scapegoat for his behavior reveal Hamlet’s immaturity and apathy toward anything that doesn’t immediately impact him.

For the first time since murdering Polonius and having just heard of Ophelia’s death, Hamlet is now addressing Laertes. Rather than be apologetic, Hamlet acts as if he has done nothing wrong. Instead, he personifies his madness and blames it. He continues that act of madness by repeating himself as if lamenting his actions, but instead it seems as if he is making light of his actions. He even goes so far as to say that his actions hurt him as much as if he had “shot mine arrow o'er the house And hurt my brother.” which is ironic as he had been with Ophelia, who was Laertes’s sister.

Hamlet never gave reasoning before acting mad. He was confronted by his father’s ghost, and then Ophelia reported that he was acting strangely. His act had allowed him to get away with things before, such as his outburst at Ophelia. Up until now, he had never stated that his madness had caused him to act a certain way. It could be that his madness was at first fear of seeing his father’s ghost, but after realising that it allowed him to get away with otherwise inexcusable actions, he continued the disguise. Now he seems to give up the act and say that his actions were not actions performed by Hamlet but performed by his madness. This response is well crafted, as Hamlet has noticed others creating similar conclusions to describe Hamlet’s behavior.

When put in a situation where Hamlet should be humble and apologetic for causing the death of half of Laertes’s family, Hamlet instead shoves the blame on a mental illness created by himself and shows no regret, instead trying to make himself out as the victim. He noticed how others reacted to his madness, and used this to fabricate reasoning for his outbursts. Hamlet demonstrates an inability to act responsibly or display empathy to those he has wronged.