Archetype of the Trickster

Hamlet, Hamlet, Hamlet......this play continues to get weirder and weirder as each act passes by. One minute Hamlet is acting mature and isolating himself due to his awareness of being highly more intelligent than everyone else around him, and the next minute we find Hamlet running around like a spoiled teen, disrespecting his elders and throwing out secret jabs towards everyone around him. All of his randomness makes one wonder is Hamlet is actually "mad"; is Hamlet actually as crazy as he seems? or does he simply enjoy playing the fool all in the hopes of somehow secretly getting a rise out of everyone? After the class discussion we had today about the "Archetype of Trickster- Clown and the Fool" I couldn't help but envision various scenarios where numerous characters from within this play seemed to fit the archetype perfectly. For starters, the archetype of the fool doesn’t seem as if it would be the way it is described it the handout we received. When I personally think of a fool I think of someone who's naive, in a sense, or simply wreaking havoc just for the sake of wreaking havoc; however, the handout describes a fool as someone who "has the ability to either laugh at the ridiculousness of life, or to cut through the social shams and reveal hypocrisy in an acceptable way. This makes the fool or clown wise, because they can see through who we are and what people do". All of this being said, the fool archetype really relates back to Hamlet is various ways. I mainly see Hamlet fitting into this specific archetype whenever he is attempting to "play god" and act like the moral judge about every little thing around him. Think back to the scene in act III with the play; Hamlet begins to run around on stage making loud, obnoxious gestures and jokes towards everyone around him and though it makes him seem "mad" and foolish, in reality he reveals a lot of truth through the commentary he provides while the play is going on. For example, while the play is going on, and the murder scene is slowly revealed, Claudius asks Hamlet "what do you call the play?"(act III, scene II, line 252) to which Hamlet responds "The Mousetrap. Marry how? Tropically. This play in the image of a murder in done in Vienna. Gonzago is the duke's name, his wife Baptista. You shall see anon. Tis knavish piece of work, but what of that? Your majesty and we that have free souls, it touches us not" (act III, scene II, lines 253-258). Basically, Hamlet is revealing the truth between Claudius and his mother through the foolish ways of his play and his wit; Hamlet is stating that the situation between his mother and Claudius is very trap like, seeing how Claudius murdered hsi father to get where he is. The mentioning of "your majesty and we that have free souls, it touches us not" it used to reveal the actual truth of the play having an effect on Claudius's unclean soul since he has actually recently performed the act that was said to have occurred in Vienna. Hamlet also represents the fool in the actual dialogue of the play he has written; in the play, the player queen states that "a second time I kill my husband dead when second husband kisses me in bed" (act III, scene II, lines 199-200) as a way of Hamlet revealing to the crowd, and his mother, that she is basically shaming the position that was once his father's by allowing Claudius to sleep by her side every night. What does all this mean? Is Hamlet using his "foolish" ways for good or for bad? Though Hamlet is revealing the truth, just as the fool should, his attempt is done in a very sadistic way that doesn't make him the typical fool, but instead more sinister as if he lets his shadow take control. Ya feel me?