Love Thy Mother Most Peculiar Essay

Differently to what is thought nowadays, the Oedipus complex described by Freud goes beyond just the son 's desire to have sex with his mother. The Oedipus complex includes the teenager 's psychosexual idea of feeling jealousy, anger, and above all, competing with his father. Besides, Freud’s theory emphasizes that boys select their mother as their principal object of desire, and subconsciously wish to usurp or even murder their fathers in order to gain exclusive possession of her and become their mothers ' lover.

According to Ernest Jones, Hamlet has the “Oedipus-Complex” while others might just call him a momma’s boy. The “Oedipus-Complex” from Freud is expressed through Diderot statement of, “If we were left to ourselves and if our bodily strength only came up to that of our phantasy we would wring our fathers’ neck and sleep with our mothers.” In

Oedipus Rex, an ancient Greek tragedy authored by the playwright Sophocles, includes many types of psychological phenomena. Most prominently, the myth is the source of the well-known term Oedipal complex, coined by psychologist Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s. In psychology, “complex” refers to a developmental stage. In this case the stage involves the desire of males, usually ages three to five, to sexually or romantically posses their mother, and the consequential resentment of their fathers. In the play, a prince named Oedipus tries to escape a prophecy that says he will kill his father and marry his mother, and coincidentally saves the Thebes from a monster known as the Sphinx. Having unknowingly killed his true father Laius during his

As Hamlet says, ?Frailty thy name is woman?, her actions cause Hamlet to curse women all together. In the first Act, Claudius and Gertrude question Hamlet?s depression. They push Hamlet to accept his father?s death and move on with his life. Hamlet hides his feelings about his mother and the king. He should have admitted his hatred for their marriage. While Hamlet is holding back his feelings, he becomes more angered at their attempts to calm him. Gertrude is also aware of Hamlet?s feelings for Ophelia and uses this as an excuse for Hamlet?s madness. Hamlet has plenty of time to confess the cause of his madness and that?s what he should have done. Instead, Hamlet allows his mother to think he is madly in love rather than tell the truth. After Hamlet delivers his play and sees guilt in his uncle, Gertrude sends for Hamlet. Instead of hurting his mother, he insists on her to tell him the truth. It would have been easier to just go ahead and hurt Gertrude. Also, Hamlet should have acted more swiftly on this, then her confession could have taken place earlier in the play. This could save him from a great deal of pain and leave his thoughts for other problems.

Hamlet is often seen as one of the most well known examples of an Oedipus Complex presented in literature. The reasons for this is probably because of the plot that resolves around the revenge that Hamlet has against his step-father Claudius and because of the relationship that Hamlet has with his mother that is loaded with sexual energy. Hamlet's love for his mother is especially exemplified by the Mel Gibson's interpretation of the infamous closet scene.

The Oedipus complex refers to the thoughts some men have regarding their mother or maternal figures. Many scenes from the play can prove Hamlet did have these thoughts about his mother, such as acts one and three. If the reader knows what he or she is looking for, then these signs can be easily spotted. The story of Oedipus Rex is an

Similar to Hamlet. Hamlet is a teenage and is influenced by his Oedipus complex. He has been frustrated by his mothers' remarriage to Claudius, which makes him jealous. Hamlet has confronted his feeling again about his mother's remarriage and says, "No, by the rood, not so. You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife, And-would it were not so!-you are my mother." (3.4.13-15), Hamlet also mentions his wishes that Gertrude was not his mother. This could suggest that Hamlet is jealous of Claudius and could be wishing that if he was not her son than he could and been married to Gertrude. Hamlet felt this loneliness inside of him, which is due to his father's death and Ophelia leaving him. He felt that both his mother and him would be lonely after his father's death and accompany one another, but, Gertrude found someone else. Hamlet is no accepting their marriage which is a sign that he is not willing to accept the reality that he cannot get his mother and fulfil their loneliness. Hamlet is feigning this madness, but, gets tangled up in the reality and world of fantasy. He does not know how to keep the acting and showing his reality separate. Hamlet is unable to keep his facts (look for a diff word) straight about if he does or does not like Ophelia. Just like when he says, Let her not walk i' th' sun. Conception is a blessing, but, as your daughter may conceive-Friend, look to 't."

After the death of King Hamlet, Claudius marries Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude. Claudius marries Queen Gertrude for the “betterment” of the country. Claudius stated, “I am still possessed of those effects for which I did the murder: my crown, my own ambition, and my queen." (3.3) “My words rise upward, but my thoughts remain below. Words without sincerity never reach heaven. (3.3 101-102). Claudius’s motive was to become king, to become important and powerful. Hamlet was the next in line for King after his father’s death and Claudius did not want that. Hamlet is disturbed that his mother married his uncle and doesn’t mourn her husband’s death. Hamlet sees the overall picture unlike his mother. At first, Queen Gertrude doesn’t see anything wrong with marrying her brother in-law. Claudius murdered King Hamlet by pouring poison in his ear while he was sleeping. Claudius’s actions give Hamlet a reason for his

Throughout William Shakespeare’s classic play, Hamlet, it is very clear that the Prince of Denmark suffers from severe parental problems. These problems bear a stark resemblance to those borne by Oedipus, the classic staple of Greek mythology. The similarities, however, end and begin with an unhealthy obsession towards the mothers of each character and a distinct distaste towards the father that would border on hatred. Oedipus is, due to childhood experiences that were uncontrollable to him, largely unaware of these issues and even takes steps to disprove them. Hamlet, on the other hand, finds himself in this situation due to circumstances that he encounters later in life. While both Hamlet and Oedipus have very unnatural and unusual

Throughout William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Shakespeare portrays Hamlet with the same types of behaviors and frustrations in humans that Sigmund Freud saw at a much later date. When the relationship between Hamlet and his mother is analyzed Freud's oedipal complex theory comes to mind. The oedipal complex is a theory created by Freud that states that "The child takes both of its parents, and more particularly one of them, as the object of its erotic wishes."(51) Because of this desire to be with the parent of the opposite sex, a rivalry is formed with the parent of the same sex. In the play, Hamlet shows great hostility toward his uncle Claudius because his mother's remarriage to him. Hamlet sees his mother's remarriage as disgusting

But Hamlet was written when Freud had not been born and his theory about oedipal complex cannot be applied to Hamlet. It is not likely that Shakespeare knew about this complex while he was writing Hamlet. Hamlet was not in love with his mother, he was just acting mad because of his father’s death, his mother’s marriage and the appearance of the ghost. These events made him feel alone and confused and in a state of constant thinking, it took him a long time to finally start acting and revenge his

Freudian theories are most prominent in Hamlet out of all Shakespeare’s plays. The most common repressed desire is that of Oedipus. In the myth Oedipus killed his father, and went on to marry his mother, without knowing who each of them were. In this myth the feelings are brought to light however in Hamlet they stay repressed. We only learn of it through the effects it causes. Hamlet is all about incest. After his father’s death his mother plans to marry his uncle. This is Hamlets first association of sexuality with his mother. Hamlet sees this as ‘foul incest’ little does he know that he is repressing his own psychosexual feelings. With someone about to take his father’s place, it stirs a long repressed desire of Hamlets to take his father’s place.

Evidence for the Oedipal complex can be found in Hamlet’s anger at Gertrude for so quickly remarrying to Claudius and not showing proper grief towards her former husband, King Hamlet. In act 3 scene 4, Hamlet rebukes Gertrude for a deed “…as bad, good mother, / As kill a king and marry his brother” (lines 29-30). In this scene, Hamlet claims that Gertrude was King Hamlet’s killer, which is contradictory to what the King Hamlet’s Ghost had stated: that Claudius had killed him. To explain this logical inconsistency, the psychoanalytic element of condensation must be understood, as according to Freud, condensation and displacement are closely related. Condensation is the representation of multiple emotions in a single idea. Several meanings are “condensed” into one image.

“Why did Hamlet take so long to finally kill Claudius?” Many philosophers have dappled into Shakespeare’s most controversial book. Some looking for answers, and trying to find a deeper understanding as to why Hamlet has hesitation towards the murder of Claudius. Ernest Jones’s pounders with many theories to answer this question in his most famous article, "The Oedipus-Complex as An Explanation of Hamlet's Mystery: A Study in Motive.” Jones begins with playing off Hamlet’s fears, the idea that maybe Claudius’s crime is just so frightful and unnatural that he could only consider it real with very legitimate evidence. (Jones 78) Jones even starts to boast in the idea that Hamlet’s hesitance is due to some internal conflict between the need to fulfill his task and some special cause of repugnance towards his mother, therefore introducing the Oedipus-Complex. (Jones 84) Finally, leading off with the theory that Hamlet is just simply incapable of making any decision at all. (Jones 76)

One central theme in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, is the Oedipal complex, evidenced by the rivalry and resentment that characterizes Hamlet’s relationship with Claudius. Until the bedroom scene, this could be any son’s resentment towards a new stepfather, towards a mother who appears to have forgotten her late husband, and towards defending his family’s honor. However, the Oedipal complex, a reoccurring theme throughout the book, perhaps suggests a more personal motive behind Hamlet’s disgust with his mother’s betrayal of his father and with his mother’s sexual relationships.