Oedipal Complex in Hamlet

Oedipal Complex in Hamlet

By: Rachel Prout

Greek Play

Oedipal Complex cont'd

Ernest Jones

Oedipus

Oedipal Complex

Sigmund Freud

The term from the Oedipal Complex comes from Theban hero, Oedipus, from a Greek legend who unknowably slew his father and married his mother.

The Oedipal Complex, also known as the Oedipus Complex, is a psychoanalytic theory which was introduced by Sigmund Freud. This complex is the desire for sexual involvement with a parent of the opposite sex, as well as having a rivalry with the parent of the same sex. The child may form an erotic attachment to the parent of the opposite sex. The son normally fixates on his mother competing with his father for maternal affection. The term comes from the Greek myth of Oedipus, who killed his father and married his mother.

Jones used Freud’s psychoanalysis, and believed that that Oedipus Complex is causing Hamlet’s behavior and is the reason why he has a hard time retaliating his father’s death. He supports this theory by using Gertrude’s traits as well as her personality. The first trait he uses of Gertrude is her unusual fondness for Hamlet, the second trait is her sensuality, and how it is the complete opposite of Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia.

Sigmund Freud introduced this concept in his book Interpretation of Dreams (1899). He believed that complex was found in children ages 3-5, particularly in boys. This age is where they have sexual attachment to one parent and hostility towards the other. He also thought that the stage was crucial in the developmental process, and that the stage usually would end when the child indentified with the parent of the same sex, repressing his sexual instinct towards them. The incest relationship is seen as taboo.

Sigmund Freud believed that if the parents were loving and the relationship between the two people (normally mother and son) was non traumatic, the stage was passed through peacefully. If there was trauma, the stage could continue into the adult life. When overcoming the complex, the moral factors that dominate the conscious mind, known as the superego, goes through a process of change. Freud considers the reaction from the complex the most important social achievements of the human mind.

The opposite of the Oedipal Complex is the Electra Complex, which is the rivalry with a daughter and mother, with the daughter feeling an attraction to her father. Carl Jung formed the Electra complex and also suggests the idea for a mother- daughter- father relationship.

There is a Greek play, by Sophocles, that tells the story of Oedipus and his fate. It begins with Laius, the king of Thebes, who is told by a prophesy that he will be killed by his son, Oedipus. To solve this he leaves his son on the mountainside to die. Oedipus was rescued by a passing shepherd who took him to the King of Corinth, who raises him like he was his own.

The concept may cause a child to exclude one parent, with the desire for the other. This can cause the mother to become an object, often an object of love. Women can be desired and feared objects, as well as can cause male criticism of women. They can also create a tension in boys between lost paradise and dangerous sirens.

Ernest analysis of the play Hamlet looks at Hamlet’s behavior and explains it using Freudian psychoanalysis.

Freud said that sexuality begins in the early stages of life, and that a young boy may experience sexual desires for his mother. This leads to the boy rival his father. He named it the Oedipal Complex after the Greek myth of Oedipus.

Jones thinks that Hamlet’s complex is the cause of his strange behaviour and is the reason why he has a hard time acting upon his father’s murder. It is Hamlets subconscious sexual desire for his mother that does not allow him to do the deed, of killing Claudius.

Oedipus was a tragic hero, and was doomed to his fate from the very beginning. Since he did not know his true identity, he was on the wrong path of life. Once he got onto the right path, his good qualities were useless and could not save him from his fate, since he had violated the laws of the gods and men.

Freud was one of the most influential people of the twentieth century. He was not only influential in the form of psychology, but also in art, literature, and in the way people brought up their children.

"The story thus interpreted would run somewhat as follows: As a child Hamlet had experienced the warmest affection for his mother, and this, as is always the case, had contained elements of a more or less dimly defined erotic quality. The presence of two traits in the Queen's character go to corroborate this assumption, namely her markedly sensual nature, and her passionate fondness for her son."(Pg.98)

He was a founding father of psychoanalysis, which is what the Oedipal Complex falls under. He also had methods of treating mental illness, which helps explain different theories of human behaviour. Psychoanalysis is known as the talking cure. Freud would often encourage his patients to talk freely so he could figure out what was going on in their mind.

The complex has an effect on the child and the parent, as it could possibly change their relationship. The Oedipal Complex has the sexual urges and identification for a son to his mother. If a mother, or in some cases a father, transfers her affection, it could cause the child to become more independent and they may feel like they are escaping their engulfing mother. In some cases over time the child will shift their attention from parent to the other.

Myth

Throughout the play, Hamlet worships Gertrude, and puts her on a pedestal. Yet he sometimes judges his mother for her actions.

Later in life, Oedipus is told by Delphic oracle about his fate, that he will kill his father and marry his mother. After learning of this information, he leaves Corinth and travels back home. During his journey he meets his father, Laius, and they fight and Oedipus kills him, not knowing he is his father. To complete the rest of his fate, he continues on and travels to Thebes, where he correctly answers a question from the sphinx. This allows him to enter the town and win the hand of Jocasta, who is his mother. He later has two sons and two daughters with Jocasta. Once the truth comes out, she hangs herself and he blinds himself with her golden brooch.

In the Greek play, Oedipus the King, Oedipus kills a man not knowing that it is his biological father, Laius. He then marries his biological mother, Jocasta, without knowing that she is his mother. Sigmund Freud, in explaining how a young boy goes through a stage where he rivals his father and wants to sexually possess his mother, creates what is known as the Oedipal Complex.

The Oedipal Complex in Hamlet is him wanting to become king of Denmark, and also wanting to marry his mother. This causes him to feel disgust towards Claudius as he did everything Hamlet wanted, but didn’t have the guts to do. Claudius killed Hamlet’s father, and took the place as King, as well as marrying Gertrude. This is the complex because Hamlets father was his rival, and he wishes to be with the Queen.

Freud believes that Hamlet does not kill Claudius until Gertrude is dead because Hamlet connects himself with Claudius. Hamlet has repressed childhood fantasies, which is the life that Claudius lives. If he were to kill Claudius, it would be like he was killing apart of himself. Hamlet only kills Claudius once his mother has been killed because of his repressed feelings for his mother are gone, which causes him to kill Claudius almost immediately.

The play comes from the Greek Myth of Oedipus. The myth tells the same story of Oedipus who was left to die and was taken in by the king of Corinth. Once finding out his fate, he travels back to his home and on his journey, he kills his father Laius. Once he found his hometown of Thebes, he discovered that it was plagued by the Sphinx. He had to answer a riddle in order to enter the town as well as survive. Once he solved the riddle correctly, he received the throne of Thebes as well as the hand of the widowed queen, who was his mother. They went on to have 4 kids together, and when finding out who Oedipus was, Jocasta committed suicide. Oedipus later died near Colonus near Athens, where he was swallowed into the earth and became a guardian hero of the land.

"Oh, throw away the worser part it,

And live the purer with the other half.

Good night: but go not to mine uncle's bed;

Assume a virtue, if you have it not.

That monster, the custom, who all sense doth eat.

Of habits devil, is yet angel in this,

That to the use of actions fair and good

He likewise gives flock or livery,

That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,

And that shall lend a kind of easiness

To the next abstinence: and the next more easy;

For use almost can change the stamp of nature,

And either master the devil, or throw him out

With wondrous potency. Once more, good night:

And when you are desirous to be blessed,

I'll blessing beg of you."

(3.4.159-174)

Hamlet does not act like a son when it comes to the Queen’s relationship with Claudius, but more like a jealous lover. He will judge her for being with him, and does not approve of her being with him. Gertrude’s marriage to Claudius’ fills Hamlet with anger, and refers to it as an ‘o’er hasty marriage’.

At the start of the play, the ghost talks to Hamlet, and revels that Claudius is the one who killed his father. Hamlet tries to seek revenge at Claudius, but is unable to because Claudius is who Hamlet wants to be. Claudius has killed his father, and married his mother, which essentially Hamlet wanted to do. Once this has happened he realizes that he has no chance to be with his mother now. He only kills Claudius once Gertrude has been killed, since her death caused him a mortal wound.

He thinks about his mother constantly, and is almost always occupied by the thought of her. Hamlet will even go as far as thinking about his mother’s sexuality, and how it is with Claudius. He will mention different sexual actions that Claudius has done towards Gertrude.

“Hyperion to a satyr: so to my loving mother,

That he might not beteem the winds of heaven

Visit her too roughly. Heaven and Earth!

Must I remember? why she would hang on him,

As if increase of appetite had grown

By what it fed on: and yet, within a month-

Let me not think on't;-frailty thy name is woman!”

(1.2.140-146)

Some key general examples of Hamlet as an Oedipal Complex is:

 His inability to take revenge on his father’s death

 Hamlet’s close relationship with his mother.

 The way Hamlet acted towards Ophelia

Works Cited

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Shakespeare, William, and Roma Gill. Hamlet. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1992. Print.

"Sigmund Freud's Theories | Simply Psychology." Sigmund Freud's Theories | Simply Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. <http://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html>.

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