Did prince Hamlet display symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 1

Hamlet does show many signs of schizophrenia, but why stop there, depending on your own reading of the novel he could have a full blown dual personality disorder, (DPD). Horatio can be seen as Hamlet's secondary persona as he has a few lines and the scenes which he is in with Hamlet can be seen as an accepted truth from the court. For example he may stand differently and talk differently as Hamlet and Horatio and the reason he did not receive the throne was not that his uncle married but because he was insane, for in Shakespearian times the royalty would not go to the Queen who married into the Royal family but to the son. The fact Horatio is supportive, as connotated by the answers he gives through act 1 scene 2 which affirm everything that Hamlet asks, stereotypes the DPD relationship most common in people suffering it, the Dominant persona and supportive persona, the Dominant being Hamlet.

Further in Act 3 scene 1, the most famous, in which the "To be, or not to be" speech occurs he often uses secondary personal pronouns such as 'we' and 'us' rather than referring to himself, while some may believe this connotates an irrational generalisation of his personal ideas onto mankind, this could also connotate that he suffers DPD and the whole argument he has with himself could be seen as a dualogue between his two personalities, Horatio fighting for the "to be" and Hamlet fighting for the "not to be." This is further expressed in the scene when Ophelia enters, his fight with Ophelia confuses her as he keeps contradicting himself with oxymorons such as "I loved you once ... I loved you not." The cry for the "sweet heavens" to help him links in with the common cure for schizophrenia in Shakespearian times; as they did not understand insanity only through religious powers could a "noble mind" be restored.