Psychoanalytic / Freudian Perspective of Hamlet

Psychoanalysis,

as founded by Sigmund Freud, is a notable and valid point of view in order to interpret and understand Hamlet.

If a girl experiences these same feelings for their parent of the opposite sex, it is called the Electra Complex

Freud linked the Oedipus complex with thoughts of the superego and the id. The id is not in touch with the external world, remaining infantile throughout an individual's life, and operates along the pleasure principle. The superego is a part of the unconscious mind that uses guilt as prevention of lewd actions.

Hamlet's Repression

Although Hamlet knowingly acts crazy in order to distract from suspicion of his plan to achieve revenge against Claudius, some aspects of his lunatic behavior are genuinely present in himself. Instead of outwardly expressing anger towards others, Hamlet sends most of his anger towards himself. Psychoanalysts believe this is because Hamlet was suffering from melancholia, a disorder that results from repressed rage. As a symptom of melancholia, individuals direct their anger for something else upon themselves instead of directing their anger "outward" like most people would, (Jorgensen 249). This inside anger results in self-loathing that would not exist if they had directed their anger towards the cause of it (Jorgensen 249). Although Hamlet is angered by his mother's remarriage, he instead becomes angry with himself and contemplates committing suicide even though nothing he did resulted in the remarriage. Hamlet blames himself and becomes angry with himself over outcomes that he had no control over.

Repression is a defense mechanism known as reaction formation and sublimation. Reaction formation is the conversion of unwanted thoughts into their opposite. Sublimation is the transfer of unaccepted impulses into socially accepted behavior.

Repressed Emotions

Hamlet's true emotions are grief; grief over his father's death and grief over his mother's remarriage. However, Hamlet converts his grief into a more socially acceptable emotion, anger. Due to the fact that everyone else in Denmark seems to have moved on from his father's death, Hamlet feels alone in his grief. Gertrude and Claudius continually make claims that Hamlet's grief is unjust, telling Hamlet that his mourning is "unmanly" (Shakespeare 13). Since Hamlet cannot grief without being scrutinized, he uses the defense mechanism of sublimation to convert his grief into anger. Through his use of sublimation, Hamlet has now repressed his emotions of grief.

In psychoanalysis, repression is the process of pushing thoughts into the subconscious mind in order to prevent any painful thoughts from becoming conscious.

It is often times easier for people to feel anger than it is to feel pain. People do not like to address their issues head on, therefore they find other ways to express their emotions and seek temporary happiness. As a generalization, "men may come to grief through their infantile sexual infatuations with their mother" and other symptoms of grief may be a result of "repression of sexual ideation" (Cioffi 161). The repression of emotions is what psychoanalysts believe is the cause of madness. Hamlet's brought his own melancholia among himself due to "repressed rage" and grief (Jorgensen 249). Although Hamlet purposefully acts mad, psychoanalysts believe that much of his act in genuine due to his repression.

According to Freud, anxiety and fear are the main catalysts to repression. Freud’s concept of repression applies to thought, deeds, memories, desires, and actions.

Shakespeare's Repression

In literature, many psychoanalysts believe that characters in writing are a direct representation of their author. Right before Hamlet was written, Shakespeare lost his father. Shakespeare also had a son named Hamnet who died at age 11. Although it cannot be proven, psychoanalysts believe that these events led Shakespeare's subconscious mind to create Hamlet, the character and the storyline. Hamlet is more than a character, but a representation of Shakespeare himself.

Freud believed that repression was the main cause of neurosis. Repressed emotions and memories could be triggered by stimuli or

resurface later in life, causing mental disorders among adults.

Psychoanalysts also believe that by creating Hamlet, Shakespeare kept himself from going insane and ending up acting like Hamlet did (Stearns 270). Shakespeare's writing of Hamlet was a creative outlet that allowed himself to cope and mourn the loss of his father and son. By doing so, Shakespeare was able to move on and healthily recover from his losses. While this could never be proven,

psychoanalysts argue that Shakespeare's life at

the time of writing Hamlet is so comparable

to Hamlet's life that it is a valid argument to

say he used his writing as a defense

mechanism.

Claudius

Another interpretation states that Claudius is the embodiment of Hamlet's Oedipal feelings. As a child who is sexually attracted to their mother, they wish to exterminate their father in order to gain the affection of their mother. Claudius did exactly what Hamlet wishes he could have done as a child, killing Hamlet's father and gaining the love of his mother. Hamlet's greatest problem is just that, "his uncle acted upon precisely those desires that for Hamlet must remain repressed" (Donaldson 24). This could further explain why Hamlet hesitates to kill Claudius, as he is a representation of Hamlet's childhood wishes.

Hamlet is only capable of killing Claudius after Gertrude is dead. Once Gertrude has died, Hamlet repressed feelings for his mother within the Oedipus Complex are no longer present. Without the unconscious guilt of his love for his mother holding him back, Hamlet is able to kill Claudius immediately.

Oedipus Complex in Hamlet

Many people question why Hamlet would hesitate to avenge his father death. In an attempt to answer this question, psychoanalysts argue that Hamlet was “more upset by his mother’s misconduct than by his father’s murder” (Stearns 268). Hamlet's focus is more on his mother than his need to seek revenge against his uncle, therefore distracting him from his vengeance. Hamlet is especially upset by the fact that Gertrude could have given Hamlet her affection after his father's passing, but instead chose to give it to another man. Claudius took the place of his father, depriving Hamlet "of no greater share of the Queen's affection than he had been by his own father" (Jones 93). This explains why Hamlet dwells so much on the remarriage of Claudius and Gertrude during the play, instead of the actual murder. Throughout the reenactment of late Hamlet's murder during the play, Hamlet continuously makes comment towards Gertrude saying "she'll keep her word", alluding to the actress playing Gertrude's line of "I kill my husband dead when second husband kisses me in bed" (Shakespeare 75). Throughout the play, Hamlet also makes sexually charged comments to Ophelia. His angry statements are not because he is upset that he and Ophelia are no longer together, but because he has shifted the anger he has for his mother onto Ophelia. Ophelia gave Hamlet, on speculation, the closest thing to his mother's affection, so now that he does not have Ophelia's love to compensate for his lack of love received from his mother, he has a hatred for women. His mother betrayed him so he transfers his anger towards the closest thing he can compare to his mother.

Hamlet uses a dagger to kill Claudius. Some believe that Hamlet's dagger "underscores [Hamlet's and Gertrude's] potential phallic significance" (Donaldson 25). Although Hamlet consciously thinks that he is killing Claudius to gain vengeance from his father's murder, he is subconsciously doing so in order to gain revenge after Claudius' remarriage to his mother.

Hamlet's Subconscious Mind

Hamlet's subconscious mind is the ultimate reason behind all of his actions and thoughts. His actions through the Oedipus Complex and repressed emotions are all a symptom of his subconscious mind. Hamlet's unconscious prevented "him from doing what his conscious self designed" (Williamson 99). Instead of killing Claudius when he had the chance, his unconscious mind caused him to hesitate and wait until a later time. When Hamlet chooses to be polite to Gertrude instead of taking out his anger on her, "it is his unconscious love for her asserting itself" (Stearns 269). Although Hamlet is unaware of the fact, his subconscious mind is in full control of his actions.

The id underlies all of Hamlet's actions. Although his superego and ego also play a part in his behavior, the majority of his actions are run by his id persuading the other personalities to follow his hidden desires.

Hamlet well encompasses the Oedipus Complex, "as Norman Holland writes, "it is not so much that Freud brought the Oedipus Complex to Hamlet as that Hamlet brought the Oedipus Complex to Freud" (Acheson 118).

Subconscious

Oedipus Complex

According to Freud, the human psyche is divided

into two parts- the conscious and the unconscious mind. The unconscious, or subconscious, mind are made up of three personalities; the id, the ego, and the superego.

• The id is the impulsive, pleasure seeking part of the unconscious. It consists of all instinctual aspects, including sexual and aggressive tendencies.
• The superego is the complete opposite of the id, seeking to do what is socially acceptable instead of what is desired.
• The ego is the mediator that compromises between the id and superego.

According to Freud, the Oedipus Complex is a young boy's subconscious fixation on his mother and feeling of competition against his father for his mother's affection. When a child realizes they are not a threat in the competition for their mother's affection, they begin to mimic their father's attitudes and actions in hopes to find a love similar to the love between his father and mother.

Freud believed that individual's are only conscious of a small portion of their thoughts; the rest, unconscious memories and thoughts, are stored. These subconscious ideas lead people to make decisions without the knowledge of even doing so. Often times, unconscious thoughts are the "desires that lay at the root of" conscious issues (Toews 514).

The Subconscious

Freud found an "inner connection between his discovery of the psychic unconscious and the oedipal theory" (Toews 527).

Mind

Freud believed a child goes through the stages of the Oedipus Complex between ages 3 and 5. According

to Freud, if a child failed to get past the point of

separation from their love of their mother, they

are subject to neurosis later in life.

Works Cited

Revenge

The Ghost’s main request centers around revenge. He asks Hamlet to avenge his murderous death, and as a result Hamlet kills many people as unnecessary repercussions to complete his final task. For all Hamlet knows, the ghost could be “an evil spirit” who, with bad intentions, spoke the truth in order to bring more chaos and destruction upon Denmark (Haverkamp 177). The Ghost appears with no recognizable features except for the fact that he wears the armor of the old King. He speaks of revenge, proving “how far he is from making atonement for his earthly crimes” (Haverkamp 177). Sigmund Freud identified that the Ghost is a representation of humanity and the theatre. Revenge in the form of justice has been “haunting” humanity and “history ever since the murder of Cain at the dawn of time” (Haverkamp 178). The Ghost uses humanities weaknesses as “bait”, making his “demands so irresistible” (Haverkamp 183). By asking for something that all of humanity contemplates and vindicates in situations, the ghost gains the audience’s sympathy and trust, just as Hamlet fell victim to. Just as the theatre is capable of drawing people in so that they are engulfed in a play, the ghost is deceitfully capable of attracting the compassion and acceptance of the audience, or Hamlet specifically, in order to defend his actions of vengeance. At the end of the play, the ghost’s revenge never “found its fulfillment”, but instead resulted in death and defeat. All originating from a ghost whose identity will never be full-proof, Hamlet and the audience justify revenge regardless of the repercussions and aftermath- reflecting the constant struggle of humanity and the ability a theatre possesses as well.

Acheson, Katherine O. “Hamlet, Synecdoche and History:

Teaching the Tropes of ‘New

Remembrance.’” College Literature, vol. 31, no. 4, 2004, pp. 111–134.

www.jstor.org/stable/25115231.

Cioffi, Frank. “The Rationale for Psychoanalytic

Interpretation.” Psychological Inquiry, vol. 12,

no. 3, 2001, pp. 161–166. www.jstor.org/stable/1449398.

Donaldson, Peter. “Olivier, Hamlet, and Freud.” Cinema

Journal, vol. 26, no. 4, 1987, pp. 22–48.

www.jstor.org/stable/1225188.

"Freud Psychoanalysis." Emaze presentations. N.p., n.d.

Web. 02 Mar. 2017.

<https://www.emaze.com/@AOZLIFRI/Freud:-Psychoanalysis>.

Works Cited Continued

Haverkamp, Anselm. “The Ghost of History: Hamlet and the Politics of

Paternity.” Law and Literature, vol. 18, no. 2, 2006, pp. 171–198. www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/lal.2006.18.2.171.

Jones, Ernest. “The Œdipus-Complex as an Explanation of Hamlet's

Mystery: A Study in Motive.” The American Journal of Psychology, vol. 21, no. 1, 1910, pp. 72–113.

www.jstor.org/stable/1412950.

Jorgensen, Paul A. “Hamlet's Therapy.” Huntington Library Quarterly,

vol. 27, no. 3, 1964, pp.

239–258. www.jstor.org/stable/3816795.

“Marketing and Advertising to the Id, Ego, and Superego.” Marketing

and Advertising to the Id, Ego, and Superego, 16 Oct. 2014, thebehaviorists.blogspot.com/2014/10/how-id-ego-and-superego-are-used-in.html.

Prototypes, LLC Clever. “Freud-Oedipus Complex Storyboard by

kisb16.” Storyboard That, 17 Nov. 2014, www.storyboardthat.com/storyboards/kisb16/freud-oedipus-complex.

Revenge is a concept derived from the pleasure seeking personality, the id, attempting to cause harm to the person or thing that originally caused harm. In order to satisfy the id's desire and aggressive tendencies, people seek revenge against others.

Conclusion

Works Cited Continued

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Signet

Classics, 1998. Print.

Stearns, Marshall W. “Hamlet and Freud.” College

English, vol. 10, no. 5, 1949, pp. 265–272.

www.jstor.org/stable/371685.

Toews, John E. “Historicizing Psychoanalysis: Freud in

His Time and for Our Time.” The Journal of Modern History, vol. 63, no. 3, 1991, pp. 504–545.

www.jstor.org/stable/2938629.

Williamson, Claude C. H.. “Hamlet.” International

Journal of Ethics, vol. 33, no. 1, 1922, pp.

85–100. www.jstor.org/stable/2377179.

Withington, Robert. “Why Put Freud into Hamlet?”

College English, vol. 10, no. 8, 1949, pp.

475–476. www.jstor.org/stable/372556.

Hamlet's Revenge

Although no part of the psychoanalytic theory can ever be proven to be true, it's interpretation of Hamlet offers explanations to the meaning behind actions within the play and suggestions to the thoughts behind it's creation. The Oedipus Complex explains why Hamlet hesitates to kill Claudius even though that is his main goal throughout the play. It also explains why Hamlet speaks so harshly towards Ophelia, Gertrude, and all women; as Hamlet is still fixated on his mother as an adult and angry that she did not chose to give her affection to Hamlet. Therefore, Hamlet generalizes his anger towards his mother to anger towards all women. Hamlet's repression of grief and sublimation to anger explains why Hamlet so angry towards everyone. Even though he says he is acting, most of his act is genuine and filled with the melancholia that formed through his repression. Even thought Hamlet is aware that murder is not moral, he rationalizes his action of doing so in order to satisfy his unconscious desires. All of these issues are a result of his subconscious mind, particularly the id, secretly controlling his actions and thoughts. By using these theories and ideas, we can understand Hamlet in ways that no other interpretation recognizes.

Hamlet's feels he has a "natural instinct for revenge inhibited by an unconscious misgiving" of his unconscious mind that controlling his body in order to fulfill it's own desires (Jones 90). Hamlet's "quest for revenge" became a "synecdoche" for Hamlet's subconscious mind and it's ability to control his actions (Acheson 122).

Everything in Hamlet is centered around revenge. Any action that Hamlet does is linked to his quest to revenge as requested by the Ghost. While we do know that the Ghost tells Hamlet the truth of his father's murder, we never know the true identity of the Ghost. The Ghost tells Hamlet of his father's murderous death and then immediately asks Hamlet to avenge his death by killing Claudius. Although Hamlet does take precaution to his word, Hamlet completely changes his attitude and actions by the word of a ghost that could really be "an evil spirit" who spoke the truth in hopes to bring destruction to Denmark (Haverkamp 177). Sigmund Freud believed that the Ghost was a representation of humanity, as revenge has been "haunting"

humanity and "history" since the "dawn of time (Haverkamp 178).

Counterargument

The Ghost uses humanity's greatest weakness in order to make his demands seem moral and "irresistible", establishing a feeling of sympathy and trust around him (Haverkamp 183). The Ghost's deceitfulness resulted in Hamlet killing multiple people in order to accomplish the revenge he was seeking. Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Gertrude, and Laertes all fell victim to the repercussions of Hamlet's vengeance against Claudius. Arising from a ghost whose identity can never be fully known, As a part of his subconscious mind, Hamlet ironically justifies the act he is upset about, murder, and seeks to gain retribution with the same act, murder, without any concern of the repercussions and aftermath of his actions. This represents the constant fight of humanity, making Hamlet such a identifiable character, as he struggles with the same issues that all of humanity does.

Many critics of psychoanalysis state that psychoanalytic interpretations of Hamlet are not necessary. Robert Withington made claims that Shakespeare would “have told us” if there was a deeper meaning below the surface level that we should know about the play (Withington 2). He believed that Freud’s psychoanalysis on the play was completely incorrect. Most people who disagree with the psychoanalytic theory think that everything an audience needs to know about a piece of literature is directly written. Withington says Shakespeare "would have made it clear” if any other interpretation were needed to fully understand Hamlet. With this belief, Withington decided that any other interpretation of Hamlet that strayed from Shakespeare's direct words are incorrect and invalid (Withington 2).

Freud founded

ideas about:

The Psychoanalytic / Freudian Perspective

Oedipus Complex

repression of emotions

the subconscious mind (id, ego, superego)

dream analysis

The psychoanalytic perspective is a psychological theory founded by Sigmund Freud that revolves

that is now studied and used in

psychoanalysis

around the ideas of repressions and unconscious forces.

Freud attempted to find the manifestation behind

psychological issues. He founded ideas such as the Oedipus

While Withington could be correct in some aspects of his claims, psychoanalysts believe that Hamlet is written to be interpreted in different ways. While Shakespeare did make some features of his play very clear, he left the majority of it up to interpretation of the audience's personal beliefs. According to psychoanalysts, one must know the life of the author and his/her emotional stance in order to fully understand the work. Psychoanalysts argue that in every work of literature there is some part of the author featured in the work, whether it be a character, symbol, or motif. Therefore, it is unfair to say that “we must not accept” interpretations of the play that do not directly follow Shakespeare's words (Withington 2). We don’t truly know how Shakespeare felt as he was writing the play, so it is impossible to claim that Shakespeare "would have made it clear" if there was other interpretations of the play, nor can we make claims that Shakespeare did leave his work open to interpretation (Withington 2). No interpretation can be proven, but no interpretation can be debunked, therefore it is up to the reader to find their beliefs about the meaning behind Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Complex, theories involving repressed emotions, and the

different forms of the unconscious mind. The psychoanalytic, or Freudian Theory, criticizes Hamlet by studying interactions between characters, the true meaning of symbols, and the reasons behind conflict.

By using the psychoanalytic theory, people are able to understand characters in Hamlet by first understanding that the character's behavior contrasts their inner feelings, subconscious or not. People have also made claims that Shakespeare and Hamlet are connected.

Due to Shakespeare's personal life and emotional

state at the time of the story, Hamlet was created

as a representation of himself.

Psychoanalytic/ Freudian Criticism of Hamlet

Julia Gates and Hunter Farrmond