William Shakespeare’s Hamlet displays the power of suppressing thoughts and the toll it takes on the abilities of an individual. Society has the capability to define what is the right and wrong way for a person to think and act. Hamlet’s Oedipus Complex is socially unacceptable and therefore must be repressed, tampering with Hamlet’s abilities to function like a normal man. Hamlet’s sadness, inability to act, and poor decisions are a reflection of his Oedipal entanglement with Gertrude and his ironic desire to be Claudius , making it impossible for him live without destroying himself.
Being that completely containing his Oedipus Complex is difficult, Hamlet, throughout the play, makes it obvious that he has a romantic desire for his mother. …show more content…
Hamlet cannot enact on this request because he ironically melds his image of Claudius with his ideal self. Freud’s Footsteps in the Films of Hamlet states, “Freud’s key assertion is that Hamlet delays the killing of the King because the King is Hamlet’s unconscious self.”(Weller). Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, argued that Hamlet seeing Claudius carry out his Oedipal desire is the reason he cannot act. Irony is found in the fact that Hamlet should easily be able to kill Claudius, yet he cannot due to his repressed connection to him. Hamlet has a guilty conscience knowing that he must kill his uncle for doing exactly what he wants to do: kill his father and marry his mother. Hamlet could easily murder Claudius as he is sitting and praying, yet he does not. Hamlet raises his sword in hesitation saying “Now I might do it, now he is praying/ and now I’ll do't.”(III.III.77-78). He then reflects on every little detail to the murder, disguising his inability to kill his desired self as over thinking of how to execute the perfect revenge. He continues as he sheathes his sword, “..And am I then revenged/ To take him in the purging of his soul/ When he is fit and seasoned for his passage? No.”(III.III.89-92). Knowing that he just wants to perform the same incestuous, evil task, he cannot bring himself to exact revenge on Claudius. The constant battle between wanting to do what is asked of him and …show more content…
As stated in Oedipal Visuality: Freud, Romanticism, Hamlet, “In Hamlet it [his Oedipus Complex] remains repressed and- just as in the case of a neurosis- we only learn of its existence from its consequences.”(Robson). A consequence of Hamlet’s Oedipus Complex is Polonius’s death. Hamlet struggles the whole play with enacting upon his task of killing Claudius, yet he can so easily murder Polonius and feel no sympathy. This lack of concern for a murder is the result of his Oedipus Complex undermining his ability to function normally. With a quick thrust of a sword, Hamlet knowingly stabs Polonius exclaiming, “Hey, now a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead.”(III.IV.28). Overwhelmed with frustration from his heated discussion with Gertrude about her relations with Claudius, Hamlet, with no hesitation, kills a man. The severity of his Oedipus Complex has the ability to trigger him to act very poorly in the heat of the moment. Hamlet’s Oedipal entanglement has the power to dictate how he acts in all types of situations and because of it he destroys lives including his own.
Hamlet’s sadness, inability to act, and poor decisions are a reflection of his Oedipal entanglement with Gertrude and his ironic desire to be Claudius , making it impossible for him to live without destroying himself. Hamlet lives a life in which he is set up to fail. His Oedipus Complex is incurable and overwhelmingly a part
Being that completely containing his Oedipus Complex is difficult, Hamlet, throughout the play, makes it obvious that he has a romantic desire for his mother. …show more content…
Hamlet cannot enact on this request because he ironically melds his image of Claudius with his ideal self. Freud’s Footsteps in the Films of Hamlet states, “Freud’s key assertion is that Hamlet delays the killing of the King because the King is Hamlet’s unconscious self.”(Weller). Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, argued that Hamlet seeing Claudius carry out his Oedipal desire is the reason he cannot act. Irony is found in the fact that Hamlet should easily be able to kill Claudius, yet he cannot due to his repressed connection to him. Hamlet has a guilty conscience knowing that he must kill his uncle for doing exactly what he wants to do: kill his father and marry his mother. Hamlet could easily murder Claudius as he is sitting and praying, yet he does not. Hamlet raises his sword in hesitation saying “Now I might do it, now he is praying/ and now I’ll do't.”(III.III.77-78). He then reflects on every little detail to the murder, disguising his inability to kill his desired self as over thinking of how to execute the perfect revenge. He continues as he sheathes his sword, “..And am I then revenged/ To take him in the purging of his soul/ When he is fit and seasoned for his passage? No.”(III.III.89-92). Knowing that he just wants to perform the same incestuous, evil task, he cannot bring himself to exact revenge on Claudius. The constant battle between wanting to do what is asked of him and …show more content…
As stated in Oedipal Visuality: Freud, Romanticism, Hamlet, “In Hamlet it [his Oedipus Complex] remains repressed and- just as in the case of a neurosis- we only learn of its existence from its consequences.”(Robson). A consequence of Hamlet’s Oedipus Complex is Polonius’s death. Hamlet struggles the whole play with enacting upon his task of killing Claudius, yet he can so easily murder Polonius and feel no sympathy. This lack of concern for a murder is the result of his Oedipus Complex undermining his ability to function normally. With a quick thrust of a sword, Hamlet knowingly stabs Polonius exclaiming, “Hey, now a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead.”(III.IV.28). Overwhelmed with frustration from his heated discussion with Gertrude about her relations with Claudius, Hamlet, with no hesitation, kills a man. The severity of his Oedipus Complex has the ability to trigger him to act very poorly in the heat of the moment. Hamlet’s Oedipal entanglement has the power to dictate how he acts in all types of situations and because of it he destroys lives including his own.
Hamlet’s sadness, inability to act, and poor decisions are a reflection of his Oedipal entanglement with Gertrude and his ironic desire to be Claudius , making it impossible for him to live without destroying himself. Hamlet lives a life in which he is set up to fail. His Oedipus Complex is incurable and overwhelmingly a part