Psychoanalytic Analysis of Shakespeare?s Hamlet Essay

Several emotions engulf Shakespeare’s Hamlet throughout the play, the most famous being Hamlet’s own emotional state. His madness, triggered by his incestuous uncle, has led several scholars to explore the psychological causes of his madness. This research into Hamlet’s madness will explore his madness in comparison to other characters, the psychoanalytical studies behind his madness, and defining whether his madness is genuine or another play within the play.

While it is true that Hamlet was merely playing the role of someone who had gone mad, many people may say that Hamlet’s madness was brought upon himself simply by the fact that he was trying to fulfill the orders from his dead father yet couldn’t because of his lack of acting upon a plan. It is strongly possible that Hamlet became extremely frustrated because every chance he got to expose Claudius and capture him in this enormous secret, he failed to do so. Therefore, Hamlet’s madness could be judged as reasonable but most likely for different reasons than one may think. Rather than going mad over the concrete facts that his father died and his mother remarried his uncle less than two months afterwards, he drove himself mad over his own flaws. Hamlet’s tragic flaw absolutely led to his tragic downfall as a

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince Hamlet serves as one of the most multi-faceted characters in the entire play with critics often deeming his personality “paradoxical”. Ultimately, Hamlet provides the audience with the epitomy of internal contrast and instability by rapidly transitioning through periods of caution and rash action, introversion and extroversion and calculation and spontaneity.

Over the course of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet begins to act strange. He not only acts strange, but he begins to act like a madman. Therefore, many question his sanity after reading the play. There are many examples and hints throughout the play that leads one to believe that Hamlet has slowly gone mad after losing his father. It is noticeable that Hamlet is mad when he enters Ophelia’s room, sees the Ghost, and talks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Shakespeare’s character, Hamlet, is known for his indecisive personality. It is a trait that humanizes Hamlet in the sense that every man is flawed. However, this feature is Hamlet’s main

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a work of immense depth in character development, most notably the personal, moral and psychological battles

In the beginning of the play the main character, Hamlet, gets a visit from the ghost of his father that has recently deceased unexpectedly. His father’s ghost appears throughout the play but only Hamlet has the ability to see this spirit which leads to the conception that he has gone insane. He grieves his father’s death in very unhealthy

Throughout the play, Hamlet, Shakespeare applied a myriad of motifs to enhance the meaning and complexity of his work. One of the numerous motifs utilized in the play is madness. The question of Hamlet’s actual madness is profusely raised among readers in the Elizabethan era and is still brought up numerous times today. Some may assert that Hamlet was literally mad and others may argue that Hamlet’s madness was feigned. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet spotted his father’s ghost and discerned that his father’s death was caused by his uncle, Claudius. This situation initiated a whirlwind of events that took Hamlet on a downward spiral. These events are comprised of Hamlet’s actions to try to avenge his father’s death. They support and convey the impression that Hamlet’s madness was real. Although, Hamlet specifically claimed that he was not mad in the text. Hamlet’s madness was feigned since he confessed his reasoning for his antic disposition in order to avenge his father’s death and get revenge for Claudius’ actions.

Hamlet has thrust upon him the dual responsibility of avenging his father and becoming a man. These new responsibilities push Hamlet’s already fragile sanity over the edge into madness. “Hamlet experiences anxiety both because of the dysfunction of previous masculine roles and because of his shames at their loss, a loss he holds himself accountable for” (Rosen, 63). Hamlet is instantly roused from a bout of depression at Horatio’s news of the ghost. Hamlet undoubtedly feels that this ghost might be able to put his mind at rest.

With Hamlet’s tragic flaw being his inability to act, he is plagued throughout the play by his immense intelligence and philosophical nature, which causes him to overanalyze each situation, rendering him unable to carry out any action in response. This is evident in the play by the frequent delay of acting out his father’s revenge due to the uncertainty of the evidence pertaining to his uncle’s crime. Hamlet’s inability to act creates a discourse between hamlet and his consciousness, generating an abundance of stress, which causes him to become increasingly frustrated as the play progresses. This frustration leads to him at moments in the play to behave in a rash and impulsive way or acting in an inappropriate manner, contradicting his methodical and reserved disposition. It is the consequences of these “inappropriate” actions that resurfaces at the plays end, to haunt the character, as Hamlet’s inability to act while using his renowned logic and intelligence ultimately leads to his eventual demise at the plays conclusion, due to his inability to act both “effectively” and “appropriately” in critical situations.

Hamlet faces challenges throughout the play that try his inner strengths and test his ability to handle the situation. He is torn between wanting to seek justice, and avenge his father’s death. Hamlet is also caught up in an intricate web of lies and deceit, he is considered mad by most characters when in all actuality it is just playing off of the actions of others to benefit himself. He puts on different acts trying to hide the truth, which makes him seem sincerely mad to the people around him. The truth of the matter is that Hamlet can’t decide whether or not his convictions are accurate. This dilemma ultimately leads to not only the deaths of the main characters, but the downfall of the kingdom.

    Does the ghost in Shakespeare’s Hamlet conform to the standards for ghosts in the days of the dramatist? This essay will answer this and other questions about the ghost in the drama.

The ghost in Hamlet is the subject of many literary critiques; in my research I came across two articles in particular about this topic that caught my interest. In particular, Zimmerman’s article explores Kristeva theory of abjection. The reaction from a threatening breakdown in meaning caused by the loss of the ability to distinguish between subject/self and object/other. The human corpse is one of the most common causes of this reaction because it reminds the living of their own materiality. Upon reading this I was able to relate it to Hamlet as Zimmerman did, “When the ghost first appears, he comes encased in armor, a "portentous figure," a "fair and warlike form" (1.1.112, 50). What lies behind the armor is of course a corpse: if what makes Hamlet Sr. seem alive is his battle-ready fierceness, then what makes him an "illusion" is the mystery within. "no/thing," an apprehensible outside enclosing and

The ghost made the whole situation for Hamlet seem even that much more unreal. He already wished that all of the recent events he had to deal with were not real. He then has to deal with the reality of this ghost. It seems to influence him terribly and takes a negative toll on his emotions. This occurrence continues to further diversify Hamlet’s feelings and emotions (Snider, 67).

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society,