Hamlet's Oedipal Inhibitions

Hamlet's Oedipal Inhibitions

Inner conflicts are the bane of everyone’s existence. They are relentlessly bothersome and prevent sanity. The ultimate conflict is attempting to analyze one’s issues in a way that makes sense. People are always trying to find the root of their problem, but they always dig and find nothing but dirt. However, an Austrian physician named Sigmund Freud proposed that there is a strong connection between psychological issues and sexual desires. Although strange, his theories are the underlying explanation for many thoughts and actions. They justify and provide a foundation for one’s behaviors in a way that no other theory can. In Shakespeare’s renowned Hamlet, Freud’s Oedipal complex efficiently explains the outcome of the play. After a tumultuous inner battle, Hamlet is finally able to fashion himself into overcoming his Oedipal desire, which was something only possible after Gertrude, his authority, was killed. Her slaying removed this unconscious conflict that had incessantly haunted Hamlet, which therefore allowed him to let go of his inhibitions and finally murder Claudius, his other.

According to Freud, a boy has strong sexual desires towards his mother and he wishes to be the main male figure in her life. As a result of these yearnings, he is in submission to her and regards her with idolization. Throughout Hamlet’s frenetic life, his mother Gertrude had a firm influence over his actions. From his crazy antics to his brash public presentations, his mother was the one common denominator. She was the absolute authority that held the reigns over Hamlet and his inner emotions. All the power that Gertrude wielded over him pushed Hamlet to act out because her love was unattainable. In order to relieve his anguish over his inaccessible mother, he projected his feelings for his mother onto Ophelia. This defense mechanism, which is another Freudian concept, allowed him to substitute Ophelia into his fantasy of having a sexual relationship with Gertrude. However, in this replacement affair, Hamlet’s inner rage propels him to take on the role of the authority and make Ophelia his submissive. He is now the one who acts coy and pulls on her heartstrings, much like how Gertrude’s unattainability tormented the love-struck Hamlet. As a result, he fashions himself into an unattainable man by denying the existence of his love for Ophelia. He tells her that “ [their love] was sometimes a paradox, but now / the time gives it proof…… I loved you not” (III,I,124). He crushes her heart just like how his mother’s relationship status destroyed all of his Oedipal hopes. However, one cannot be in a fake relationship forever, so Hamlet’s inner desires that have been bottled up for so long finally explode when he confronts his mother over her marriage to Claudius. He yells, “Peace, sit / you down, / And let me wring your heart; for so I shall / If it be made of penetrable stuff” (III, IV, 41). The roles are being reversed and Hamlet is accosting his authority because her actions have irritated him for years. His Oedipal desires have turned into aggression and he now questions whether it has been worth it to pine after his mother for this long. Hamlet realizes that in order to break free of the constraints imposed by his mother, he must overcome his Oedipal complex and live without bounds. However, in doing so, is it right to disobey his authority?

The other part of a male’s Oedipal Complex is eliminating the competitor, or his father, who stands in the way of seducing his mother. Freud believes that males do whatever is necessary to kill their father in order to give themselves an open passage into their mothers’ hearts. However, in the play, Hamlet does not get the opportunity to kill his father because Claudius beats him to it. Not only that, but Claudius also gets the reward of sleeping with Gertrude. Hamlet's view of Claudius drips with deep disdain because