The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-06-24
Hamlet Was Mad
Contention of Mrs.
Singer of Wichita.

The revival of the ancient discussion as
to the sanity OF Hamlet, which has struck
Wichita. keeps on apace In a paper reao
before the class in Shakespeare IN the
School Of Oratory, Mrs Nj. A Singer con
telds that Hamlet was mad she sald
in support Of this view:
"Our first actual knowledge OF Hamlet
begins with his return 10 Elslner from
the University at Wittenberg- Up TO this
period there seems to have been nothing
pe:C!iar in his manner or conversation.
OF his sanity a. that time there cannot
be tne fa:ntesr shadow Of doubt.
That mere VS. a noticeable change in
his demeanor we learn from his mother,
when she says: Good Hamlet, cast thy
nighted color of and let thy eye look
like a friend on Denmark"
THE king, noting the same, and seeing
with apprehension his unwonted appear
ance. exclaims: We pray you, throw to
earth this unprevailing woe, and think
Of US as of q father
His friends and former school fellows
all notice the change but as infallible evil
dence, supporting the truthfulness OF my
theory, / am more than willing TO ac-
cept proof positive from sweet Ophelia,
whose loving heart not only divines but
proclaims change in the object of her
fervent alteration in these potent words:
oh heavenly powers restore him;
Oh, what a noble mind is here Ger
thrown
This transformation In the life and
character of Hamlet is not an isolated
case. II had its counterparts then. 1t
has them now. We read daily where sud
den shocks. pecuniary troubles. death Of
friends, al health and various causes re-
suit In what is termed insanity con-
dition of minQ in which, Nng Hamlet's
own woras. a dream Itself is but
shadow
Ny friends, is the most noble Hamlet
-jcautiful. manly and learned though he
be-a faithful friend-a dutiful SON an
ardent lover. an exception? l answer no.
And in addition I propose to prove con-
conclusively that he who was the glass
Of fashion and the mold of form"the cob
served Of all observers" became victim
Of that dread disease emotional INSANITY.
Mote If you please, the definition and
observe how accurately the various con-
ditions conform to his case.
Emotional insanity is morbid state
of the emotions whether Of melancholy
or e1alted character. in which there IS
neither de.usion nor mental weakness.
we all know that the first step OF
q ply sician after diagnosing case Is
- ascertain the cause Of the malady, ana
II does not require a great amount OF aIu-
men II discover that men Of just as great
strength Of character and will power as
Hamlet nave succumbed to the influence
Of some sudden disaster and become, Tor
the tine being, inssne-or, as Polonus
says, Mad call l it, for TO define true
madness what is it but to be nothing else
but mad
reasoning, then, from experience and
analogy. We must discover the source of
.Ifamlet's Iunacy, and from the evidence
adduced assert there are ample grounds
in tho sudden death Of his father, coupled
with the rnarriage of his mother in less
than two months after, with (using his
own Words a slave, that is not twentieth
part the 1.-THE o: your precedent lord TO
unbsIarce the strongest mind. Added to
this and contributing TO its intensity is the
awful truth attested by three witnesses,
one being his own familiar friend Hora-
ti1--that the unshrived soul of his father
ASSUMING shane and wonted appearance,
had appeared to them. Had Hamlet been
the only Cne-yea, even the first, to whom
his fathers wrath made visitation, one
might have considered it Nchimera, de-
fusion.
."The poet, however. seems to have
guarded this point well, and two officers
of the watch, Marcellus and Bernardo
testify to seeing it first. Horatio, upon
hearing their testimony, emphatically de-
MES its credbbilfty and plainly tells Mar
cellus: ''Tis but your phantas-- later
however, on seeing the dread gppartlon
he exclaims: 1t harrows me with fear
and wonder and he, who boasts that he
is like a Roman, declares: Before my God
I might not this believe, without the SEN
sible and true avouch of mine own eyes
These three witnesses being troubled
in mind and fearing some Ill to Hamlet's
interests, Horatio says: BY my advice
let US impart what we have seen tonight
unto young Hamlet 'Tis done. and the
following night after a day Of agonizing
suspense. he shares the watch of his
friends. sees the vision, recognizes the
form and features Of his father. and we
can almost hear his heartthrobs as he
cries: IN call the IIamlet-King-Fat
Royal Dane, ON answer mel The ghost,
however, by pantomime, demands a pri-
vate audience. Hamlet is equal to the
emergency. and when Gin direct opposi-
ton TO the wishes Of his friends) the
two are apart from the others, he hears
words which curdle his very life blood.
i am thy fathers spirit
Deemed fer a certain time TO walk the
night
comes from the frozen lips of one he dare
not doubt:
If thou didst ever thy dear father love
Revenge his foul and most unnatural
nurther
Following this comes the recital OF the
act which made young Hamlet fatherless
"A decd OF violence than which even his
tory records none darker
During the narrative. however, rem
nant Of the love he once bore the disloydl
Gertrude, and presenJiment twas IT'D
Of trouble for his boy possessed him. FOR
he adds: But howsoever thou pursuest
the act faint not thy mind. nor let thy
soul contrive against thy mother aught.
what man, ! ask, Of ordinary inteli-
gence could undergo such an ordeal and
come out unscatched? No wonder Ham
lets conversation became a sea OF wild
and whiTling words'-no wonder his
thoughts went leaping and seething
through his brain. making him put an
antic disposition on no wonder the query
To DC or not 10 be became a question
o. moment. Hundreds and thousands o.
people today under similar circumstances |
would not wait TO ask the question. but
eagerly seeking that contamination de-
Nouuy 70 be wished would hasten 10