Hamlet and Macbeth are two of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. However, each shares not only fame, but also format: both feature main characters with tragic flaws that lead to their demise. In the cases of Hamlet and Macbeth, this defect amounts to madness. Whether their madness is feigned or not, it plays a key role in their downfall. These characters have the capacity to be something great, but they let their madness corrupt them and lead them into chaos that has only one fatal end. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essay In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet seemed to be in a state of madness since the disappearance of his father, King Hamlet. Although at first no one knows the cause of King Hamlet's death, Prince Hamlet soon discovers it through a conversation with the ghost of his deceased father. In it, the ghost reveals to him that he was poisoned by Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. As Claudius pursued Queen Gertrude and married her shortly after King Hamlet's death, the chain of events is all Hamlet needs to be convinced. He promises to take revenge on his father-in-law, swearing “to give him an unsympathetic character” (2.1. 173) so that his revenge can be accomplished. His “wild and swirling words” (1.5.137) elicit empathy from readers because we can understand his anger toward Claudius. He was “born to put things right” (2.1. 191), and he will do so, whatever the consequences. Hamlet's plan regarding his "antique temperament" is to deceive all the courtiers, especially Claudius. If his plan succeeds, Claudius will not think that Hamlet is capable of killing him and usurping the throne. Claudius has no idea that Hamlet is capable of such a plot, nor that his murderous secret has been revealed. Yet the outside world's perception of Hamlet as mad is of his own design; Hamlet decides what he wants others to think of him. Polonius, a close confidant of the king, is primarily responsible for the public's knowledge of Hamlet's madness. He lets Queen Gertrude know “that he is mad, it’s true; it’s true, it’s a shame,/and it’s a shame, it’s true – a foolish figure” (2.2. 98-9). Armed with this knowledge, the Queen goes to speak with Hamlet and decides that “Alas, he is mad” (3.4.96). Even though his performance is thorough, his plan begins to fall apart. Polonius notes that “although this is madness, yet there is a method” (2.2. 203-04). He sees a reason behind this madness, giving credibility to Hamlet's act, but King Claudius sees only suspicion in his apparent psychosis. After witnessing the meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia, Hamlet's love, he makes the decision to keep an eye on Hamlet. He knows that “the madness of the great must not go unchecked” (3.2.188) and that Hamlet's madness could be dangerous to himself or to his precious kingdom. Everyone believes in Hamlet's apparent madness, and even he begins to believe it. His plans unravel and his madness controls his every move. At the end of the play, Hamlet's plan to destroy Claudius comes full circle. His many opportunities to kill Claudius culminate in the moment he learns how Claudius attempted to poison him during a scheduled fight between Hamlet and Laertes. With a quick stroke of the sword, Claudius is killed and dies, along with Hamlet and Gertrude. From the beginning of the play, the reader is torn between Hamlet's true madness and the idea that he is feigning madness. As Hamlet “plays,” he also allows a prince of anger and ardor to develop. Whether the psychosis is true or false, Hamlet embodies the role of a madman. Madnessof Macbeth is different from that of Hamlet, because his actions arise from an expression of guilt. The beginnings of this madness occur after the three witches predict that “what is right is wrong and what is wrong is right” (1.1.10). Macbeth doesn't know what their words mean for his future, but he loves the idea of ​​becoming king. He begins as a good-natured man, like Hamlet, but allows Lady Macbeth to control his actions. As the play continues, his evil cannot subside; he finds himself caught in a web of wickedness. The Macbeths' plans of greed begin small, but end in bloody catastrophe. Lady Macbeth hatches a plan to kill Duncan, the king, in his sleep so that her husband, Macbeth, can gain the title of king. Their plan comes true and Macbeth becomes the new king, but he cannot shake off his guilt in the murder. This creates chaos in his mind – and in Scotland. He tries to put on a straight face to show that his “false face must hide what the false heart knows” (2.1.82), but his guilt begins to catch up with him. This struggle between the good king he could be and the evil he has become illustrates his weakness. This madness that Macbeth depicts makes him dangerous. He cannot sleep, his mind becomes brutal, and his rule over Scotland becomes more treacherous. He admits that he has become increasingly mad, but believes that “things started badly are strengthened by evil” (3.3.36). From then on, his consciousness no longer has boundaries and he murders Banquo, a Thane. He fears that Banquo's heirs, instead of Macbeth's own offspring, will become kings because of the witches' prophecy. Regardless of his selfish actions, he cannot escape Banquo and is haunted by his ghost. Like Hamlet, only he can see the ghost, which adds to his madness. He sees an imaginary dagger floating in front of him that is a figment of his imagination and knows that “O, my mind is full of scorpions” (3.2.38). He understands that there is nothing he can do to change his condition. He realizes that the witches' prophecies are coming true and decides to accept his fate and "fight until [his] bones [his] flesh are cut" (5.3.33). Thus, the play begins and ends with Macbeth's bravery, but it is in the middle that the reader comes face to face with his moral weakness. When he promises to fight, he does not redeem himself, but contrasts his previous madness with this physical and moral courage. Throughout the play, Macbeth allows his innocence and loyalty to be completely corrupted by greed and madness. He loses all his friends to murder or betrayal and he descends further into his madness and moral decadence. Both Hamlet and Macbeth therefore focus on the defect of madness. Although the characters reach their respective demises through different actions, they both allow their madness to influence their rash decisions. Even though Hamlet's madness is feigned and Macbeth's is true, they both have equally fatal ends. Hamlet admits that there were many times when "[his] brain had started the play" (5.2. 32-3), but he always tried to find refuge in his madness. Comparably, both men overcome their madness and attempt to repair the harm they have caused. In Macbeth's case, he fights to show that he has recognized his wrongs and tries to right them by dying nobly. For Hamlet, he recognizes the rashness of his decision to kill Polonius and reveals it to his son, Laertes. Through it all, he finally avenges his father's death and allows Claudius' plan to be revealed. Although neither can fully bring holiness back into their lives, they make an effort in their final decisions. While Hamlet..