An Antic Disposition : Clowns, Criminals, Slanderers and the disguise of guilt - 0 views
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"Antic Disposition" Many criminal suspects today divert guilt from themselves by attributing their actions to some sort of insanity. Prince Hamlet, of Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, puts on a similar fake lunacy that eventually takes over Hamlet, controls him, and leads to his downfall.
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Ophelia explains he possessed at one time a "noble mind" and was a "soldier," and a "scholar" – all the terms by which any young man at that time would like to be known (3.1.64). Now, though, Hamlet lashes out at others, speaks harshly with those to whom he is supposedly close, and even thoughtlessly kills a man.
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Though Hamlet fails to disclose his reasoning behind displaying the "antic disposition," his words and actions point to a few possible motives
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