The portrayal of melancholy in Hamlet

Abstract

This project is going to focus on one of the greatest and most complex plays of the English literature, Hamlet. The purpose of this research is to study the role of melancholy in this play, in particular, how melancholy affects the main character, Hamlet. For this reason, the chief focus of this paper will be to select and examine the most relevant scenes in consideration of the pathology of melancholy. Moreover, the main causes and consequences of the melancholic condition of Hamlet will be presented and explained, in order to demonstrate its influence within the play. Finally, the obsessive remembrance of the dead by Hamlet will be also considered.