Psychoanalytic Lens In Shakespeare's Hamlet

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychology and psychoanalysis, spent a great deal of his time and effort examining the conscious and unconscious mind, which is pertinent to Hamlet. When reading Hamlet, most people jump to basic conclusions about Hamlets madness without delving into what the actual cause is, but using the psychoanalytic lens can give readers a better understanding of Hamlet’s insanity. For example, the main question of the play is why Hamlet didn't kill Claudius earlier in the play. Many people argue that he’s religious and is a man of inaction, but while looking through the psychoanalytic lens it is evident that Hamlet can’t kill Claudius until Gertrude is dead. Kendra Cherry is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist who holds

It had been at least two months since Hamlet’s father had died and his loving mother Gertrude had married his uncle without haste. It is obvious that Hamlet is seemingly angrier at Claudius because he is somewhat certain of the fact that he killed his father according to the ghost of his father. While looking through the psychoanalytic lens, one can see that there is more to Hamlet than meets the eye. Since Claudius has taken over his father’s position, Hamlet now sees Claudius as an enemy and a foe for Gertrude’s affections. Lysander Kemp was a writer and professor at the University of Texas who wrote many novels and essays including Understanding “Hamlet.” Kemp proved this by stating that “Hamlet is in what is known as the phallic stage of development where children become intensely curious about the genitals of their parents and of other children…” (Kemp 10). This then proves that Hamlet does indeed have intimate and sexual feelings toward

Hamlet’s ego is a big problem because his id is weak but his superego is weaker. The ego is evident in both the unconscious and conscious. Stearns quotes about Hamlet’s ego in a basic summary- “Hamlet is able to do anything – except take vengeance on the man who did away with his father and took that father’s place with his mother, the man who shows him the repressed wishes of his own childhood realized. Thus the loathing, which should drive him on to revenge, is replaced in him by self-reproaches, by scruples of conscience, which remind him that he himself is literally no better than the sinner whom he is to punish” (Stearns 267). According to Freud, Hamlet is unaware of why he can’t kill Claudius which is why it is important to delve into Hamlet’s mind (Stearns 267). This is evidence that Hamlet’s unconscious forces (id, ego, and superego) are controlling Hamlet’s actions in the