Hamlet's Oedipus Complex
Various works of literature contain characters who embody the elements of the classic Oedipus Complex, that of a son with an undue and unhealthy attachment to his mother. D.H Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, along with other early modernist works, shows how a son's bond to his mother can lead to that character's major downfall. Even earlier than works of the late 19th Century does the Oedipus Complex appear, in this case, William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Shakespeare's play about the Prince of Denmark shows the beginning of an Oedipal Complex, with Hamlet's jealousy of his uncle Claudius for marrying his mother Gertrude and the rage that Hamlet's emulation causes. The story behind the Oedipus Complex derives from Sophocles story of Oedipus Rex, King of Thebes. Oedipus, crazed by his love for his mother and envy of his father, plots to kill his father and marry his mother. He succeeds in the murder of his father and marriage to his mother, and later his mother bears children to Oedipus, making a full incestuous cycle. Oedipus' act on envy and rage leads to the character's downfall, where his mother commits suicide and Oedipus himself gouges out his own eyes and suffers banishment from his country. The Oedipal Complex involves the i
And sets a blister there, makes marriage vows Hamlet then goes on to probe at Gertrude's sexual life with Claudius, claiming that she lives "In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,/Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love" (3.4.91-3). His interrogation goes on, with many lewd references to Gertrude and Claudius' sexual relations, where Hamlet speaks of the "king tempt[ing] [her] again to bed" and the King's "paddling in [her] neck with his damn'd fingers" (3.4.182-5). Hamlet's constant exploring of his mother's carnal nature results in the manifestation of an overwhelming sexual concern for his mother, showing that Hamlet is more moved by a corrosive jealousy of Claudius than the traditional idealistic ways of the Renaissance and kindred honor. This contention of the new King eventually derives from Hamlet's incestuous love for his mother. The slaying of Polonius, Hamlet claims, was meant to be an attack at a rat, however, Hamlet had hoped that Claudius would be in Polonius' place. By killing Claudius, who serves in the place of Hamlet's father, both in marriage and family, Hamlet would have come closer to completing the Oedipal cycle. Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose Shakespeare's character Hamlet incorporates the spirit of the Oedipus Complex in his revenge against his father's brother. Many critics have disagreed with the Freudian view, but the textual evidence from Act 3 provides enough support for Hamlet's incestuous love for his mother, Queen Gertrude. Claudius replaces Hamlet's father, both as King and as Gertrude's husband, and Hamlet desires nothing more than to have Claudius die by his hand, which would enable Hamlet to have his mother's love all to himself. Unfortunately for Hamlet, a tragic, death-ridden turn of events leads to his goal's incomple
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Approximate Word count = 1216
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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