ABSTRACT
In truth, Shakspeare himself is as great a mystery as any case of insanity,—as singular an instance of variation from the ordinary standard of mental manifestation. Shakspeare knew and has accurately described several varieties of insanity. In some of the cases the insanity is very slight, in others the most violent. The insanity of Hamlet is finely portrayed, though by many it is thought that Shakspeare meant to represent his insanity as altogether feigned. Shakspeare believed insanity could be cured by medical treatment. Shakspeare knew that the causes of insanity were various, and has particularly mentioned some of the most common. Shakspeare’s test of insanity is often mentioned, and sometimes referred to in Courts of Justice. Shakspeare must have seen Lear, and Hamlet, and Ophelia; no reading would have enabled him to have given such complete and minute histories of them, as cases of insanity.
