Sara Koziol
Ms. Samsa
AP Literature and Composition
9 May 2016

Bipolar Disorder in Hamlet There are several reasons why one would suspect Prince Hamlet to have bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder has five classifications, including: bipolar I, bipolar II, rapid cycling, mixed bipolar, and cyclothymia. It causes mood swings, severe depression, extreme feelings, and/or confusion. Hamlet, said to be about twenty years old, has been through so much more than the typical twenty year old has. In the play, Hamlet’s father had been recently murdered by his uncle, whom his mother has also recently married. These are the main reasons why Hamlet has also shown serious signs of major depressive disorder as well, which can often go hand-in-hand with bipolar disorder. Since there are several types of bipolar disorder, depending on the type of symptoms the patient is experiencing, the symptoms may vary. However, some symptoms of bipolar disorder are shared throughout all types. Hamlet’s symptoms of bipolar disorder could be recited like a laundry list. In addition to his symptoms of depression, his bipolar symptoms include: suicidal thoughts, setting unreachable/impractical goals and alternating between episodes of mania and bouts of depression. After the late king’s death and the remarriage of his mother to his uncle, Hamlet suffered severe depression. “…’Tis not alone, my inky cloak, good mother, nor customary suits of solemn black, nor windy suspiration of forced breath, no nor the fruitful river in the eye, nor the dejected ‘havior of the disage, together with all forms of grief that can denote me truly…” (Shakespeare 25). During this time, Hamlet is also displaying signs of being suicidal, especially when he says, “…oh that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the everlasting had not fixed his cannon ‘gainst. O God,