Hamlet’s Oedipus Complex

1. Hamlet’s Oedipus Complex Bernice Robles Coraima CalderonDavid Castaneda Salena Zapata

2. Contents • The effects of the Oedipus Complex on Hamlet • How Hamlet handles his feelings • Hamlet’s end • The Oedipus Complex • What is it? • Hamlet’s relationships with others • Hamlet and Gertrude • Hamlet and Claudius • Hamlet and Ophelia

3. The Oedipus Complex Developed by Dr. Sigmond Freud The complex of emotions aroused in a young child by an unconscious sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex Derived from Sophocles’ work Oedipus Rex

4. Hamlet and Gertrude • Hamlet asks his mother to stop sleeping with Claudius, Hamlet wants to be the only man that his mother loves, but his love for his mom was more than just a Mother-Son affection • He wanted to take the role of his father and one of those roles was being with Gertrude Did Hamlet want to have sex with his mom? • There is a chance that Hamlet could have sexually desired his mom, he wanted to become exactly like his father and do everything he did, in this case his mother

5. Hamlet feels hatred toward him because Claudius took the place hamlet wanted after his father’s death. This place involved a different form of a relationship with his mom. The relationship hamlet wanted was not the mother-son relationship. • He wanted to take his father’s place after his death which would mean taking his wife. Claudius is in the way, so Hamlet hates him. Hamlet and Claudius • When his mother is killed at the hand of claudius, though a mistake, hamlet is angered enough to finally kill claudius. • Hamlet puts off killing claudius because of his oedipal relationship with his mother. • If he kills claudius, he is hurting his mother. He loves his mother so he doesn’t want to hurt her. • he doesn't kill Claudius, and avenge his father, when he is presented the chance because of this (act 3 scene 3) • Because his mother is dead, there is nothing holding hamlet back from killing claudius. He gets to take out his hatred without hurting his mother.

6. He feels that his mom is playing with his emotions, so he plays with Ophelia’s emotions • Nunnery scene act 2 scene 1, contrasts with play scene act 3 scene 2 • in nunnery scene he is pushing ophelia away while in the play scene he expresses the desire to sit next to her instead of next to Gertrude. Hamlet and Ophelia • An attempt to make his mother jealous when he chooses to sit with ophelia instead of his mom at the play - act 3 scene 2 • He makes sexual advances/puns towards ophelia which could mirror the sexual desire he feels for his mother. They even have sex. Act 2 scene 1. Act 3 scene 2. • Hamlet uses Ophelia as a substitute for his mother

7. How Hamlet handles his feelings * The role that Hamlet's education in  Wittenberg University plays goes with the idea that in the Oedipus complex the relationship between the male child and the father is competition for the mother's affection. Hamlet recognizes that his father was a well respected man and subconsciously wants to be like his father. Thus, his decision to have an education. Serves as  a coping mechanism for his feelings towards his mother and father because he has no place with his mother with Hamlet Sr. in her life * focuses more on his mother's marriage (I,ii,156-159.)  * Claudius killing King Hamlet gives Hamlet an excuse to not only avenge his father, but also kill the "father" that is with his mother.  -"The Freudian position was that the greater the Oedipal Complex, the greater the effort will be to repress it" (Jones, Ernest, and Freud Sigmund)  - Hamlet is more depressed and disgusted by the fact that Gertrude marries Claudius than that Claudius has taken his rightful birthright as King of Denmark.  - Hamlet repressing his urges for his mother and killing his father 

8. And in the end… Hamlet was more concentrated with getting Claudius away from his mother and trying to win her over that he forgot about his goal to kill him and avenge his father Hamlet was blinded by love Hamlet was side tracked, he had many opportunities to take Claudius out but his mom was more important to him Hamlet does not kill Claudius until after Gertrude has died

9. Works Cited Bevington, David M. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Hamlet ; a Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1968. Print. Jones, Ernest, and Freud Sigmund. "Dr. Freud's Hamlet." Dr. Freud's Hamlet. University of California Santa Cruz, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. "Oedipus ComplexAbout Our Definitions: All Forms of a Word (noun, Verb, Etc.) Are Now Displayed on One Page." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.