Hamlet's physiological breakdown In Shakespeare's masterpiece Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet is overcome by a physiological breakdown. Hamlet was a sensitive man destroyed by a corrupt environment. The death of Hamlet's father, the deeds of his uncle and mother, and the frequency of deaths have caused Hamlet's destruction. First of all, the loss of any close family member is very traumatic. Hamlet is not immune to such effects. In the first of Hamlet's soliloquies, Hamlet cries, "How tired, stale, flat, and useless all the uses of this world seem to me! Shame! ah shame! It is a weedless garden, growing to the seed; things are rancid and of a gross nature To simply possess it" (III. ii. 134-137). It is obvious that this is a window into Hamlet's tortured soul. This is just the beginning of the end for Hamlet. In Act I. Scene iv. Hamlet faces the spirit of his dead father. This also disturbs Hamlet. John S. Wilks writes in J. Leeds Barroll's Shakespeare Studies how the encounter with the ghost of his father "...throws his conscience into doubt and error, must naturally begin with the malign source of that confusion, the Ghost" (119). Hamlet also becomes angry when he discovers the reason for his father's torture. Old Hamlet was murdered by his brother while he slept. This leaves Old Hamlet walking in limbo for his afterlife. Upon learning this, Hamlet decrees "O all ye guests of heaven! O Earth! What else? And must I mate hell?" (I. v. 92-93). Knowing that his father was unhappy in the afterlife also weighed heavily on Hamlet's mind (Knight 20). Clearly, his father's death and speaking to his father's ghost began Hamlet's corruption. The deeds of his uncle and his mother...... middle of paper ......Hamlet's ruption can be attributed to the ghost of Hamlet's father, the actions of his mother and uncle, and the numerous deaths that occur in this play. Hamlet is a sensitive man who cannot bear the trauma of all the events that have happened in his life. His corruption was the only way to escape the tribulations he faced. Works Cited Knight, G. Wilson. The Wheel of Fire. London: Oxford University Press, 1930. Mack, Maynard, et al, eds. The Norton anthology of world masterpieces. Sixth ed. Vol 2. New York: Norton, 1992. Skura, Meredith Anne. "Hamlet and psychoanalysis" Shakespeare: the tragedies. Ed. Robert B. Heilman. Englewood Cliffs: MLA, 1984. 84-93.Wliks, John S. "The Discourse of Reason: Justice and Wrong Conscience in Hamlet. Studies in Shakespeare. Vol XVIII. Ed. J. Leeds Barroll. New York: MLA, 1986. 117-144.