Hamlet s sanity answered through freudian theories

Sigmund Freud was the creator of modern mindset. and during his life he created theories about the human head that were ground-breaking for his time. His thoughts about human libido, the mindful and subconscious mind, the structure of the mind, and psychotherapeutic approaches are the foundation human mindset. (Thornton) Freudian theories regarding human behaviour and the man mind are commonly used in mindset today. His theories, in one way or another, can affect every person living or dead. Although Sigmund Freud lived centuries after William Shakespeare composed his play Hamlet, Freudian theories can even be applied to the key character Hamlet and clarify his sometimes erratic actions.

Through his theories from the Oedipal Complex, transference psychology, and the defence mechanisms, Hamlet’s behaviour may be better understood, and therefore help answer the question of his sanity.

In respect to Freud, men and boys move through what he calls the Oedipal Complex, the theory saying that they unconsciously have sexual feelings for his or her mothers.

(“Oedipus Intricate (psychology))According to the theory, these kinds of feelings develop from the strong connection that children curently have with their mothers from childhood. Mothers provide protection, appreciate, and support that makes children automatically attached to them. (“Oedipus Complex) Every time a child hits the age of sex awakening, aged three to six, children will create an erotic attachment to the father or mother, generally, in the opposite sexual intercourse. (“Oedipus Complex (psychology)) Even though the feelings are certainly not fully identified by the child they may be present in all their subconscious mind. (“Oedipus Complex)

Once this kind of attachment is definitely developed, a new boy will feel like they may be competing for the love of their moms with their dads. Boys could become jealous of any love given to their fathers and could lead to them wanting to banish their fathers so that almost all attention is usually on them. As soon as they hit growing up, the boy will learn to modify the way he loves his mother to be significantly less romantic, rather than be as concerned with the competition with his father. However , through this changeover, a boy will find that any individual he feels sexually attracted to, may point out to him of his mom. (“Oedipus Complex) Also, for some boys the relationship they have with the mother is the first close female marriage they have. Anyfemale relationships kids have, sex and otherwise, will always be in comparison to the relationship that they have with their mother. (“Oedipus Sophisticated (psychology))

The Oedipus Intricate has many parallels to Hamlet because of Hamlet’s relationship together with his mother Gertrude. Hamlet’s dad dies and Gertrude seamlessly puts together his uncle Claudius. Hamlet has a unusual connection to their very own marriage and frequently talks about their particular sex life. “She married. O, most wicked speed, to post/With this kind of dexterity to incestuous sheets!  (Shakespeare I. ii. 156-7). Hamlet begins to have trouble with the thought of his mother having sex with an additional man, and goes back to his competition for passion because of his feelings. In respect to Freud’s theory, by simply losing his father, Hamlet feels this individual should will no longer have to compete for Gertrude’s affection mainly because his only other competition is now deceased. Claudius ruins this by marrying his mother and Hamlet, needs to start the whole competition once more.

This qualified prospects Hamlet back in a lovemaking awakening, this time around with a considerably more disturbing, more complicated version. The brand new sexual arising heightens Hamlet’s affection pertaining to his mother to actual romantic thoughts. This also leads Hamlet back into envy of the other parent or guardian. Hamlet turns into jealous of the fact that Claudius gets to be with Gertrude because it is a desire that he will hardly ever be able match. Hamlet tries to make Claudius look negative in front of Denmark because once addressed Hamlet only answers with “A little more kin and less than kind (I. ii. 64). Hamlet usually takes his envy and sarcastically answers demonstrating his thoughts towards both Claudius, and Claudius’ marriage to his mother. His passive hostile attitudes to Claudius display that he feels insecure and envious of him and therefore symbolizing the Oedipal Complex against his stepfather.

His romantic relationship with Ophelia also shows an Oedipal Complex for the reason that relationship this individual has with his mother alterations how this individual feels about Ophelia. As explained previously, Hamlet does not agree with his single mother’s marriage and often thinks of her marriage as being “incestuous (I. 2. 157). Through the third action, Hamlet by speaking attacks Ophelia because he views similarities between her and Gertrude. Hamlet has shed Gertrude’s main attention and affection and so feels betrayed by his mother.

This individual thinks that his mother isdeceptive which she is betraying his daddy. He recognizes these same characteristics in Ophelia and yells at her “God has given you one particular face and you make yourself another (III. my spouse and i. 148). Despite the fact that Ophelia is usually not being misleading he attaches her to Gertrude simply because she is female. This parallel the Oedipus Complex as the relationship along with his mother damaged his marriage with Ophelia. His connection with women will never be strong due to respect this individual lost intended for his mother when the girl married Claudius.

Freud’s transference psychology theory can also be applied to Hamlet that help better understand his brain. The transference psychology theory says that your subconscious mind can redirect thoughts for one person unconsciously to the next. Freud thought that this transfer of feelings was an “important part of psychotherapeutic work (Vollmer). The redirection of emotions also happens through the lack of a vital person in your life, such as a parent, cousin, or other role model. By dropping one of these, your head attaches these types of feelings onto another. Parental transference is usually when daddy or father-figure feelings happen to be transferred onto a person. Fathers are meant to be respected, wise, highly effective, and protecting. By predicting father feelings onto a person, the expectation is that they will provide this kind of comfort. (“Transference)

Hamlet’s marriage with Claudius represents this kind of theory since after the fatality of Hamlet Sr., Hamlet subconsciously spots his fatherly feelings upon Claudius. This has a negative affect because of his conscious hate for Claudius and the approach he serves towards him. “How could it be that the clouds still hang on you?  is fatherly comforting that Claudius tries because he knows that he is now a fatherly figure to him (I. 2. 65). He knows that Hamlet is inadequate this function and tries to step into the role intended for him although fails. Hamlet refuses to accept Claudius while his daddy and only acknowledges Gertrude as a parental role, “Ay, madam, it is common (I. 2. 73).

This individual can’t acknowledge Claudius since his father and therefore only chooses to work with his maternal role style instead. This may lead to negative transference because he begins to lose the paternal position that is important in his lifestyle. Hamlet also offers a negative transference because dads are always intended to make you feel safe. Hamlet is unable to think safe because his daddy, Hamlet Sr., was a very much betterprotector in Hamlet’s eyes. He examines Claudius to his dad and can not understand how Gertrude can be crazy about them both:

Exactly where every goodness did apparently set his seal

To give the globe assurance of a man:

This was your husband. Look you today, what follows:

Here is your husband, like a mildewed hearing

Blasting his wholesome buddy. Have you sight? (III. iv. 69-73) The truth the Gertrude could be in love with a man since great as Hamlet Sr. and then find out more about a failure like Claudius can be described as complete unknown to Hamlet. The transference of feeling will never be capable of being positive pertaining to Hamlet because he has no beliefs, trust, or perhaps respect to get Claudius. Though transference is known as a part of the depths of the mind mind, Hamlet’s conscious brain will not let these subconscious feelings to visit the surface.

Freud developed theories with his child Anna too, and together they created the defense mechanisms human beings go through to safeguard themselves from anxiety and stress. (McLeod) Your mind go into these types of defenses to protect itself by too much sadness, or anxiousness and through the different periods of security your body will certainly behave in several ways. Your brain will do this to ward off any emotions that are distressing to deal with. They can be called body because they are strategies that the mind goes through to shield itself from anything distressing. One of the initial stages of defense can be displacement, which means placing feelings on someone who the issue is not related to. An example can be, having a poor day at operate and getting anger on family and friends at home.

Often this kind of results in anger against the innocent person and may go farther than expected. One more form of protection is clampdown, dominance which happens when bad memories are blocked in the mind to forget about poor memories. Kids often do that if that they grow in abusive homes and may cause them keeping in mind nothing off their childhood. One of the final periods of security is regression, which often will help a person get over the grief that they will be facing. Regression is when a person dates back to child-like behavior to mask all their true emotions and what exactly they are thinking. This could lead to middle-aged men behaving like little ones just to hide their thoughts and safeguard themselves against more agonizing orstressful thoughts. (McLeod)

Over the play Hamlet goes through these stages to shield himself against dealing with the recent death of his father. Hamlet is told that his grief more than his father’s death continues to be “unmanly grief meaning that he needs to be a guy and eliminate the feelings he can having (I. ii. 94). Hamlet cannot simply eliminate the feelings of grief in the loss of his father and so he undergoes the body to cover up his emotions. The first that happens is displacement, when he gets angry at Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet is so angry with Claudius this individual insults his childhood good friends and gets angry with them. “I am happy of it: a knavish presentation sleeps in a foolish ear is the intelligent sarcastic remark used on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in which Hamlet calls these people unintelligent (IV. ii. 21-22).

Although the california king fools them into spying on Hamlet, they do not know what they are doing and do that anyway. When Hamlet discovers that Claudius is to it, however gets angry by his close friends instead. Freud would look at this and understand that Hamlet is taking his anger on them because he does not have the option or the time to get irritated with Claudius. He displaces his anger on the wrong people, who are still left confused and hurt. This individual also experiences repression as a result of his large expectations and ideas of his father. Hamlet Sr. never shows up in the play and therefore only Hamlet’s look at of him is known. Hamlet Sr. could have been an awful daddy and may have paid less awareness of Hamlet than Claudius.

Since this would be a horrible and unpleasant way to consider him, Hamlet chooses to think of him on the same level since “Hyperion or perhaps as “Mars both are strong, powerful guys who are looked up to in their world. It is much simpler and less painful for Hamlet to consider his dad this way (III. iv. 64) (III. iv. 65). The stage Hamlet is in for Ophelia’s memorial is regression because of his behavior and fight with Laertes. Laertes just lost his father and sister within a short period of your time and is defeat with sadness. Hamlet finds out the news of Ophelia’s loss of life and instead of respecting Laertes in a difficult time for him, Hamlet serves like a child and tries to make all of the attention upon him. He makes a foolish argument that “he loved Ophelia: 40 thousand brothers/Could not (V. i. 261). He resorts to a childish argument to cover his grief that he has now lost the love of his existence Ophelia.

Through Freud’s theories of the Oedipal Complex, transference psychology, and the defence components, Hamlet’s actions can be better understood, and thus help solution the question of his state of mind. Hamlet has not lost his sanity in the way he is identified because Hamlet is simply performing in the basic human mental ways that Freud claimed to become normal. Hamlet’s relationship together with his mother is merely an extreme variation of the Oedipal Complex; his hostility to Claudius was because he fails to fill the paternal function he needs, and the method he acts towards others were simply his head protecting him from panic and sadness he sensed after the loss of his daddy. Through the sight of Freud, Hamlet’s conduct would be just normal man behaviour.

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