Crawling in the Mind of Hamlet Much of the dramatic action of Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet is in the head of the main character, Hamlet. His wordplay represents the surprising, contradictory, unstable and mocking nature of his mind, torn by disappointment and positive love, while Hamlet seeks both acceptance and punishment, action and stillness, and longs for consummation and annihilation. He may suddenly become silent or cruel; he is capable of wild laughter and tears, and even polite nastiness. One of the first things a reader learns about Hamlet is that he uses words with surprising agility. Plays on words that sound similar, or almost: King. But now, my cousin Hamlet and my son... Ham. A little more than kin and less than kind. King. How is it that the clouds are still weighing on you? Ham. Not so, my lord; I stay in the sun too much. (I.ii.64-67)The king withdraws from this exchange and his mother starts out on a more loving, different path. But again Hamlet takes words that others have used and returns them changed or challenged: “Yes, madam, it is common./. . . Looks like it, ma'am? No, it is. I don't know 'it seems'” (I.ii.74-76). Although the prince speaks in public, he uses verbal rhetorical devices that most critics in Shakespeare's day would consider unseemly. Hamlet's first words are rhetorically complicated, but also challenging and disconcerting. Does he pretend to be disrespectful or crude to keep his thoughts to himself or to contain his pain? Or does he express rational criticism with wildly sarcastic comments aimed only at himself? Or is the energy of his mind such that he thinks and speaks with instinctive ambiguity? are restless in his mind, change meaning, sh...... middle of paper ......espeare, William. 1985. Hamlet. The New Cambridge Shakespeare edition, edited by Philip Edwards. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Vickers, Brian. 1993. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Disputes. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.Watson, Robert N. 1990. “Giving Up the Ghost in a Decaying World: Hamlet, Revenge, and Denial.” Renaissance Drama 21:199-223. Wright, George T. 1981. “Hendiadys and Hamlet.” PMLA 96:168-193.Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992Weiten, Wayne. Psychology: Themes and Variations, Fourth Edition. Boston: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co., 1998Watson, Robert N. 1990. “Giving Up the Ghost in a Decaying World: Hamlet, Revenge, and Denial.” Renaissance Drama 21:199-223. Wright, George T. 1981. “Hendiadys and Hamlet.” PMLA 96:168-193.