Mental Illnesses in Some of Shakespeare’s Works

I have said that I will be posting some of the papers I wrote as a requirement for school so here is another one from my Eng100 (Rereading Canons) subject. We studied some Shakespeare canons and as a culmination of the topic, we were asked to write a paper and write a topic out of the canons. Quite confusing but to make it more simple, what stood out from the story when you were reading it? And as someone with a mental health concern, the “madness of the lead characters” stood out for me. I hope you enjoy my piece. 🙂

Mental Illnesses in Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear

Shakespeare’s three tragedies – Hamlet, Othello, and Lear – are three different stories with their own characteristic and individuality. The details were masterfully written to create their own world of drama and web of events. One would think that Hamlet, a dutiful son who seeks to avenge his dead father, has no similarities with Othello, a black soldier who has been psychologically manipulated by Iago, or even with King Lear, a father to three daughters from whom he seeks love. Apart from being tragedies, there is one common element of the story that is present in all three plays. So obvious that it seems like it’s floating above the surface for everyone to see if you imagine it that way. And that is what this paper is going to discuss, the mental illnesses of the lead characters of the three Shakespearean tragedies mentioned, and how Shakespeare used them in the story.

According to Mayo Clinic in 2015, “Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors.” In his time, Shakespeare called this condition “madness” and unlike today, it wasn’t recognized as a valid illness which can be treated thoroughly by medicines. It was even taboo at some point to talk about someone that has gone mad. Shakespeare used the element of “madness” in his play for it creates branches of sub-stories, it serves as the driving force of the stories, it makes the audience and readers think of what’s going to happen next. To understand the characters more, it would be better to actually know their clinical diagnosis based on the behavior and characteristics they portrayed in the plays.

In Hamlet, the spotlight was on Hamlet, of course, and there were a lot of circumstances wherein he has shown symptoms of being “mad”. He acknowledges his melancholy (I.ii.85-86), his anhedonia (WebMD) or inability to feel pleasure (II.ii295-309, I.ii.133-134), he expresses his negative beliefs in several occasions like when he gave sharp comments to Ophelia (III.i.111–51), his famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy (III.i.56-82) and several other circumstances. Even after all these pieces of evidence, some still doubt that Hamlet was really mad but no one can deny that Hamlet was overcome with grief because of his father’s death. This reason is enough for him to go full head-on in avenging his father’s death. His mother’s remarriage and the succession of the throne by Claudius even added to his rage and grief. All these pushed him to do what he did. All the symptoms we have seen from the play constitute a depressive illness. According to the American Psychiatric Association, “Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person’s ability to function at work and at home.”

On the other hand, Ophelia’s clinical diagnosis would have been PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Goodson). Ophelia is perceived as a weak character in the play. She has no sense of individuality and relies mostly on her father for decisions. After all the male domains in her life have gone and rejected her, Ophelia struggled with her existence and sense of self-identity that pushed her to a suicidal state (Wilber).

In Othello the play, Othello was not considered mad at first. He was manipulated by another character, Iago. To describe Iago, evil would suffice, but if we look beyond his evilness there lies a complex psychological disturbance. “

 He looks more cunning than Satan in the Garden of Eden! As Satan convinces Eve to commit sin by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree, similarly, Iago persuades Othello and make him commit sin as the Moor doubts and murders the virtuous Desdemona.” (Dr. Himadri Sekhar Roy) To diagnose Iago with just one illness would be inadequate because he has shown a lot of symptoms of at least 3 mental illnesses, namely, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Paranoid Personality Disorder, and Antisocial Personality Disorder (angelfire.com). This paper will only discuss the symptoms of the first as it has already been agreed upon that Iago is definitely a sick mad man. The Narcissistic Personality Disorder have the following symptoms with shreds of evidence from the script of the play; have an exaggerated sense of self-importance (I.i.11), have a sense of entitlement and require constant, excessive admiration (I.i.28-33, 35-38), be preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate (I.ii.319-326), believe they are superior and can only associate with equally special people (I.i.8-11, I.iii.383-386), take advantage of others to get what they want (I.iii.339-346, 383-386), have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others (I.iii.390-402), behave in an arrogant or haughty manner, coming across as conceited, boastful and pretentious (I.i.17-33) ( (Mayo Clinic Staff).

Othello, on the other hand, is not a person with a jealous nature. Iago made him believe that Othello’s wife, Desdemona was having an affair with Cassio, a subordinate officer of Othello. Iago manipulated Othello into believing all his lies and conspiracies that made Othello go mad and murder his wife. What Othello has in clinical perspective is delusional jealousy. This type of jealousy is also called the “Othello Syndrome” which was coined by English psychiatrist John Todd which means “The delusion of the infidelity of a spouse or partner. The Othello syndrome affects males and, less often, females. It is characterized by recurrent accusations of infidelity, searches for evidence, repeated interrogation of the partner, tests of their partner’s fidelity, and sometimes stalking. The syndrome may appear by itself or in the course of paranoid schizophrenia, alcoholism, or cocaine addiction. As in Othello, the play by Shakespeare, the syndrome can be highly dangerous and result in disruption of marriage, homicide, and suicide” (William C. Shiel Jr.).

Lastly, King Lear also has shown not just one but three mental disorders. King Lear knew his psychological state and even in time to decide to whom should he pass his kingdom, he did it by making his daughters express their love for him in words. “Through the entirety of the play, Lear himself battles Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Brief Psychotic Disorder with a Marked Stressor, and Intermittent Explosive Disorder” (Baumgartner).  The first one was the same disorder as Iago. The second one, Brief Psychotic Disorder with a Marked Stressor could have been the scene when King Lear was talking to the storm (III.ii.14-24) after all the stresses he was put into by his own daughters. According to WebMD.com, Brief Psychotic Disorder with Stressor “happens shortly after a trauma or major stress, such as the death of a loved one, an accident, assault, or a natural disaster. It’s usually a reaction to a very disturbing event.” The third disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, was first glimpsed when King Lear banishes Cordelia for declaring her love for his father, a kind of love that he was not expecting that would be less than great (I.i.124). There are other instances when King Lear has shown symptoms of Intermittent Explosive Disorder. Whenever something was brought up to him that would offend him, he would instantaneously retaliate with violence or with verbal attacks. “Intermittent explosive disorder (IED) is an impulse-control disorder characterized by sudden episodes of unwarranted anger. The disorder is typified by hostility, impulsivity, and recurrent aggressive outbursts” ( (valleybehavioral.com).

With all these pieces of evidence, symptoms and “diagnosis”, we can safely say that Shakespeare has an expert grasp of mental health. He has clearly portrayed his characters in manners he intended them to be even without the sophisticated and elaborate knowledge of Psychology we have today. He has clearly established mental illnesses in his play as a consistent element that gives color and dynamics to his stories. He has played with words and emotions using metal illnesses of his characters that also created twists and turns in his narratives. Although his tragedies wouldn’t have happy endings, they definitely opened a lot of minds about something that was considered something to be hidden or not to be spoken of.

References

angelfire.com. n.d. angelfire.com. 16 April 2019. <http://www.angelfire.com/ab8/burkepage/iagopsycho.html&gt;.

Baumgartner, Sarah. “Psychology In Literature.” Essay. Ohio State University at Lima, 2016.

Dr. Himadri Sekhar Roy, Md., Ziaul Haque. “The Mad Othello: A Psychological Perspective.” IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) (2018): 26. <www.iosrjournals.org>.

Goodson, Ellen T. “Inquiries Journal.” Vers. VOL. 2 NO. 07 | PG. 1/1. 2010. inquiriesjournal.com. <http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/274/and-i-of-ladies-most-deject-and-wretched-diagnosing-shakespeares-ophelia-with-post-traumatic-stress-disorder&gt;.

Mayo Clinic Staff. “Mayo Clinic.” 18 November 2017. mayoclinic.org. <https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662&gt;.

—. “Mayo Clinic.” 15 October 2015. mayoclinic.org. <https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/symptoms-causes/syc-20374968&gt;.

Ranna Parekh, M.D., M.P.H. “American Psychiatric Association.” January 2017. psychiatry.org. <https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression&gt;.

valleybehavioral.com. “Valley.” n.d. valleybehavioral.com. 16 April 2019. <https://www.valleybehavioral.com/disorders/ied/signs-symptoms-causes&gt;.

WebMD. “WebMD.” Vers. WebMD Medical Reference. 25 October 2018. webmd.com. <https://www.webmd.com/depression/what-is-anhedonia#1&gt;.

Wilber, Jennifer. “owlcation.” 12 July 2018. owlcation.com. <https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Madness-of-Hamlet-and-Ophelia-Mental-Illness-in-Shakespeare&gt;.

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR. “MedicineNet.” 25 January 2017. medicinenet.com. <https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=25111#schizophrenia_facts&gt;.