Hamlet's Delay in Relation to the Abuse He Suffered
In recent times, a psychoanalytical approach has been taken to explain a person's behavior. Freud argued quite heavily that people have a subconscious drive that determines many of their actions. Hamlet does not differ from this. A psychoanalytical approach will find a reasonable explanation of Hamlet's actions in Shakespeare's Hamlet. His actions are characteristic of one who has been abused. Hamlet's Oedipus complex is more pronounced because of it. Other factors indicate abuse. Ultimately, his delay is due to the abuse as well. It is important to understand that he was abused as a child, which is reflected, first, in his Oedipus complex. A complex which must be understood better.
An Oedipus complex is often misinterpreted as a son who is in love with the mother and truly wants to kill (or has killed) the father. The Oedipus complex is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as:
a subconscious sexual desire in a child . . . for the parent of the opposite sex,usually accompanied by hostility to the parent of the same sex. If unresolved naturally, this complex may result in neurosis and an inability to form normal sexual relationships in adulthood.
Hamlet clearly has some problems. He is having trouble forming a sexual relationship with Ophelia. His constant banter with her is almost ridiculous. Throughout the play, Hamlet toys with her, never quite able to just say anything or take any action. Hamlet says, "be thou chaste as ice, as pure a snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, farewell." (3.2.. 133) He also makes some suggestions to her prior to the play within the play.:
HAMLET: Lady, shall I lie in your lap.
OPHELIA: No my lord.
HAMLET: I mean, my head upon your lap.
OPHELIA: Ay, my lord.
HAMLET: Do you think I meant country matters.
OPHELIA: I think nothing my lord.
HAMLET: That's a fair thought to lie between a maid's legs. (3.2. 101-106)
One does not have to be a genius in order to understand that Hamlet is referring to sex. No where in the play does he taken any action to initiate a relationship of sexual orientation with Ophelia. Instead, like the previous statement, he is playing with her and the notion of sex. According to Steven Bavolek, Ph. D., abuse can cause sexual tension which "may be diverted into games involving teasing, mock spanking, and wrestling" (106).
The Oedipus complex was developed by the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. The complex describes Freud’s theory of psychosexual stages of development in children, particularly boys. It denotes a boy’s feelings of lust and desire for the mother, and jealousy and envy for the father. The boy views the father as a rival for possession of his mother’s love and affection (Cherry).
The Oedipus complex theory proposes that Hamlet desires his mother and wishes to kill his father because he is jealous of their closeness. This is not the case in Hamlet. Hamlet's actions which follow the Oedipus complex are for completely different reasons than Freud's theory states. Hamlet is not secretly in love with Gertrude, nor does he desire her physically. He also does not feel jealous of Claudius. Hamlet does not suffer from the Oedipus complex because he does not follow the pattern of this theory.
Though it is unclear whether or not Ophelia and Hamlet had sex in the play, it is decided in the movie they did. Through this, Branagh places more of an emphasis on Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship than the play does. Ophelia seems to be, in general, more of a sexual creature in the film than she does in the play. Even Ophelia’s brother and father seem to have a borderline peculiar attachment to Ophelia and her virginity. Ophelia’s madness is also emphasized as she is locked away and put in a straightjacket. Indeed, Ophelia’s character as a whole seems to be emphasized more in the film than in the play. This is a contrast to Gertrude, whose character, though small even in the play, seems to be deemphasized further. Throughout the film Gertrude is there, but is not really a presence in the room until she speaks. Perhaps this is the way Shakespeare meant her to be, though she is clearly a key character to the
Even though Hamlet is a prince, he has little control over the course of his life. In that time many things were decided for the princes and princesses such as their education and even who they married. This was more or less the normal way of life for a child of the monarch. But in the case of Hamlet, any of the control he thought he had, fell away with the murder of his father. Having his father, the king, be killed by his own brother, sent Hamlet into a state of feeling helpless and out of control. Cooped up in a palace with no real outlet, he tries to control at least one aspect of his life. Hamlet deliberately toys with Ophelia's emotions in order to feel in control of something since he cannot control the situation with Claudius.
Hamlet treats Ophelia like property and because he does not care for her. This is proven because he insults Ophelia, uses her to get his revenge on Claudius and uses her as a way to get attention. To begin with, Hamlet abuses Ophelia by accusing her of having impure motives. To him she “jig[s]… amble and …lisp” (3.1.145) to seduce other men. He also accuses her of being deceitful because she changes the “one face [that]…God hath given” to her by putting on cosmetics. Hamlet verbally abuses Ophelia because he believes that she is worthless. Hamlet is not concerned about the effect that these insult have on Ophelia’s psyche. In addition to verbally abusing Ophelia, Hamlet uses Ophelia as a pawn. Hamlet uses Ophelia as a way to get to Claudius by also physically abusing her. Ophelia description of Hamlet’s abuse exhibits Hamlet’s unruly behaviour towards her: “He took me by the wrist and held me hard; then goes he to the length of all his arm” (2.1.88-89). Hamlet physically abuses Ophelia because he knows that Ophelia will report it to her father who in turn will tell Claudius. By doing this, Claudius will think Hamlet is insane and will then lower his guard and will not suspect that Hamlet intents to kill him. Hamlet does not stop to consider what kind mental toll will take on Ophelia, all he cares about is to finishing what his father asked of him. It is apparent
Looking at just these frequently appearing words, the words ‘internet’ and ‘new’ indicate that the article discusses the modern media, namely the Internet. Furthermore ‘information’, ‘reading’, ‘work’ and ‘brain’ seem to suggest this article discusses media and its link to information, work and mental ability. What we can’t know for certain just from this word cloud, is, what this link exactly may be.
When reading the text, one can comprehend that Ophelia is caught in the middle between two opposite sides. Her family (father and brother) believe that Hamlet is a womanizer rather then the philosopher that he is. They also believe that he will use her in order to achieve his own purposes, and that he would take her precious virginity only to discard it because he would never be her husband. But, Ophelia's heart mesmerized by Hamlets cunning linguistics is set on the fact that Hamlet truly loves her or loved her, even though he swears he never did. In the eye of her father and brother, she will always be a pure, wholesome girl, an eternal virgin in a sense, (due to a parents nature to always see their offspring as a child) they want her to ascend into her stereotypical role in life as a vessel of morality whose sole purpose of existence is to be a obedient wife and a committed mother. However, to Hamlet she is simply an object used to satisfy and fulfill his sexual needs. He also seems to hold her at a distant which suggests that he may...
The reader is left guessing on Hamlet’s true feelings for Ophelia through his various insults, sexual innuendos, and admitted desire. Hamlet’s claim, “God hath given you one face, and you / Make yourselves another.” (3.1.155-156) is laced with irony and hypocrisy given Hamlet’s own deception regarding true feelings. This proclamation comes at the end of a lengthy tirade against Ophelia and womankind in general for their conniving deceit leading men astray. The fact that Hamlet cannot see this duplicity in his very own actions shows the double standard he holds for females. Ophelia’s immediate reaction is one of shock and defense due to the aggressive nature of Hamlet’s attack. She calls out “O, woe is me!” (3.1.174) in distress to the ferocity of Hamlet and is unable to form a particularly coherent response akin to the ones seen against Laertes and Polonius. She does show her intelligence and rebellion from this assumption of power by Hamlet in her songs while Hamlet is gone. While many attribute her madness to the death of her father, a large portion of her instability should be attributed to Hamlet and his earlier actions. In her first introduction as insane she sings, “And I a maid at your window, / To be your Valentine. / Then up he rose and donned his clothes / And dropped the chamber door, / Let in the maid, that out a maid / Never departed more.” (4.5.55-60). Due to her references to sexuality and deceit the
Hamlet is the typical kind of son almost every father and mother would want: intelligent, loving, caring, strong and loyal. Yet, some scholars believe that he is just another emotional character, defying our eyes to think that his acts are innocent, when his real purpose is to take his mother for himself. This gives scholars, like Ernest Jones, the impression that Hamlet’s actions were encouraged by an Oedipus complex, characterized by feelings of intense rivalry with a father figure in regards to a mother’s spousal affection. Even though there are lines that can be interpreted to show that Hamlet may have had such a desire for his mother, when these lines are examined in the full context of the play, the proposal becomes absurd.
To begin, school uniforms are economic. When schools have a uniform policy, it makes it easier on the children and parents. It is convenient because a child can just go to their closet and pick out a uniform and be ready for school. It is also very cost effective. Parents can outfit their children twice a year, warm and cold weather uniforms, rather than spending hundreds of dollars trying to keep up with expensive, name-brand clothing. In addition to being economically beneficial, school uniforms also help reduce distractions in the classroom.
Before the play commences, Hamlet grabs Ophelia so that they could sit together. He lies on top of her lap and she wraps her arms around him. He grabs her arm and puts it in his mouth. Meanwhile, they engage in banter and Ophelia seems to enjoy Hamlets sexual remarks. He speaks to her in a playful and sarcastic manner. This conveys a pleasant relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia and it shows that they still want one another.
Despite Ophelia’s weak will, the male characters respond dramatically to her actions, proving that women indeed have a large impact in Hamlet. Her obedience is actually her downfall, because it allows the male characters to control and use her in their schemes. Ophelia’s betrayal ends up putting Hamlet over the edge, motivating him in his quest for revenge. Ophelia is one of the two women in the play. As the daughter of Polonius, she only speaks in the company of several men, or directly to her brother or father. Since we never see her interactions with women, she suppresses her own thoughts in order to please her superiors. Yet however weak and dependent her character is on the surface, Ophelia is a cornerstone to the play’s progression. One way that her manipulation is key to Hamlet’s plot is when Polonius orders her “in plain terms, from this time forth/ Have you so slander any moment leisure/As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet,” (1.3.131-133). She complies with his wishes, agreeing to return any tokens of Hamlet’s love to him, verify t...
Showalter cites many actresses, critics, doctors, and such that completely support this idea, and have actually expressed this idea to others in many ways. If it is not true that Hamlet and Ophelia had sexual encounters, then this interpretation of the character and its effect on the entire play can be understood on a completely different level.
`Hamlet' is no doubt one of the greatest literary works ever written. William Shakespeare presents in it complexity of human nature and examination of human behavior. After reading this drama one of the main questions we have to ask is ` Why does Hamlet delay?'. Why does he wait so long before taking revenge on Claudius for killing his father? While answering the question about postponement we have to take under consideration few aspects.
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