Lauren Becker
AP English 4
4/1/14
Critical Theory Essay
Hamlet and Oedipus: Part Two
Hamlet is a literary work that has been referred to a countless number of times
throughout history. This is because there are so many things one can say about Hamlet. I have
my own opinions about Hamlet, the character, from the psychoanalytical perspective. I believe
that OVERGENERAL—STAY SPECIFIC ESPECIALLY IN YOUR FIRST SENTENCES
AND DRAW THE READER IN. Hamlet had a repressed desire to kill his father and be with his
mother. This desire, also known as the Oedipus complex from Freud, was repressed because
Hamlet knew that he shouldn’t have those feelings toward his mother because it was very
inappropriate. However, those repressed thoughts and urges were brought forth when Hamlet
saw Claudius fulfill the wants of his repressed desires. This caused Hamlet to have hesitation in
killing Claudius because, then, he identified with Claudius. These aspects are shown in several
parts of the play.
I believe Hamlet had a large Oedipus complex, a repressed desire to kill his father and
take his place at his mother’s side ("Dr. Freud's Hamlet.") (Brill). This is shown when Hamlet
yells at Gertrude, “You are the Queen, your husband’s brother’s wife, and-would it were not soyou are my mother” (Shakespeare 72). The fact that Hamlet brings the situation up shows that
Hamlet is upset with his mother for marrying his uncle. However, it’s weird to randomly bring
the situation up in that manner,SUPPORT OR OMIT the way he inverts the phrase bringing
up the fact that’s she’s been married twice and then bringing up that she’s his mother, C bringing
the twice married situation up shows that Hamlet has an odd fascination with Gertrude’s sex life,
which is not normal and is part of his Oedipus complex. WHERE ELSE IN THE TEXT DO
YOU SEE EVIDENCE OF THIS? BRING ALL THE WORDS/SCENES THAT SHOW THIS.
The reason Hamlet was so upset with his mother was because he wanted to have her, not
Claudius ("Dr. Freud's Hamlet.") (Brill) (Jones 50) (Jones 93) (“Hamlet’s Oedipus Complex . . .
.”). That fact explains what happens in the rest of the play. STAY SPECIFIC WITH
LANGUAGE. SEE IF YOU CAN REVISE TO ELIMINATE PHRASES LIKE “THE
REASON” AND “THE FACT” AND “THIS SHOWS”
I also adhere to the belief that the reason for Hamlet’s thoughts to be repressed was that
he knew that it was inappropriate to want to take his father’s place by killing him, and have his
mother all to himself. Nevertheless, Hamlet still had these urges. This causes a lot of frustration
in Hamlet and comes out in anger with Gertrude. For example, when they were in Gertrude’s
closet after Hamlet killed Polonius, “A bloody deed. Almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king
and marry with his brother” (Shakespeare 73). C In this scene Hamlet used killing as an
example to show anger at his mother for her actions, telling his mother that the fact she killed her
husband in order to marry his brother is as bad as Hamlet killing someone in cold blood, without
even knowing who it is he’s killing. The anger, towards his mother, in Hamlet is present because
he has desires for Gertrude and he knows he shouldn’t want that. Therefore he takes his
frustration, his inner feelings and the code of social conduct conflicting, out on her and keeps his
actual feelings for his mother repressed (Jones 89) (“Hamlet’s Oedipus Complex . . . .”).
In the end, I believe that Claudius did what Hamlet repressed desires wanted, thus
is bringing the desires to the front of Hamlet’s mind. This made Hamlet identify with Claudius
because Claudius did exactly what Hamlet wanted to do. This caused Hamlet to have hesitation
when killing Claudius because Hamlet was going to kill Claudius for doing exactly what he
wanted to do. GETTING A BIT REPETITIVE HERE. SAY IT ONCE AND GET OUT. This
comes out when the ghost enters and only Hamlet sees him,
“Queen: ‘To whom do you speak this?’
Hamlet: ‘Do you see nothing there?’
Queen: ‘Nothing at all, yet all that is I see’
Hamlet: ‘Nor did you noting hear?’
Queen: ‘No, nothing but ourselves’” (Shakespeare 76).<-IF
QUOTATION ON LY SHOWS HAMLET ONLY SEES THE GHOST,
YOU’VE ALREADY SAID THIS
Only Hamlet saw the ghost because the ghost is Hamlet’s manifestation of his repressed desires
to be with his mother. The ghost told Hamlet to kill Claudius because Claudius was restricting
Hamlet from doing that (" Seitenlicht"). Claudius has lived out Hamlet’s repressed desires to kill
his father and marry his mother (Jones 99) (“Hamlet’s Oedipus Complex . . . .”). Thus, Hamlet
identified with Claudius because of what Claudius did, and he hesitated to kill him, even though
the ghost, which was his repressed feelings, ordered him to do so ("Dr. Freud's Hamlet.") (Brill)
(Jones 101) (“Hamlet’s Oedipus Complex . . . .”) .
Therefore, I believe that Hamlet had an Oedipus complex that controlled a lot of his
actions. However, his Oedipus complex, or his desire, was repressed because Hamlet knew that it
was irresponsible and irrational to do those things or want those things. These repressed thoughts
were center stage when Hamlet watched Claudius do what his repressed desires wanted to do.
This caused Hamlet to identify with Claudius, which was why he hesitated to kill Claudius, and
the talk of killing Claudius spanned almost the entire play.
LAUREN; YOU SUM UP VERY WELL IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH YOUR CENTRAL
CLAIM, THE CAUSE AND EFFECT OF HAMLET’S OEDIPUS COMPLEX. FOR
REVISION, MAKE SURE YOUR BODY PARAGRAPHS FOCUS MORE ON EVIDENCE.
BEING EVERY, AND I MEAN EVERY, EXAMPLE FROM THE TEXT THAT REVEALS,
COMPLICATES OR CHALLENGES THIS CLAIM. IN PLACES YOU ARE SIMPLY
RESTATING YOUR CLAIM, BUT YOU TAKE CARE OF THIS NEED IN THAT 1ST
PARAGRAPH. LOOSEN UP AND SPEAK MORE TO THE EVIDENCE AND THE
SIGNIFICANCE OF YOUR CLAIM. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THIS
CONFLICT IN HAMLET?
Works Cited
Brill, A.A. “The Interpretation of Dreams.” On Repression in Hamlet. N/a. Web. 8 April 2014.
"Dr. Freud's Hamlet." Dr. Freud's Hamlet. N/a., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2014.
"Hamlet's Oedipus Complex According to Ernest Jones." Hamlet's Oedipus Complex According to Ernest
Jones. Shakespeare Navigators, n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2014.
Jones, Ernest. Hamlet and Oedipus. New York City: W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 1976. Print.
" Seitenlicht." Critical View on Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Reading of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. N/a.,
n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.