U4A3 Assignment

By what other psychological means can you explain Hamlet's venomous anger toward his

mother? Consider the sheer hatred for his uncle and yet explain, at the same time, his inability

to kill Claudius when he so easily kills Polonius and later sends Rosencrantz and

Guildenstern, his long time friends, to their deaths.

Any young man like Hamlet, who is clearly suffering from clinical depression, is already sad

enough. Nevertheless, Hamlet is not just any young man, he is a prince burdened with duties

of a kingdom. And as if that is not stressful enough, Hamlet has more psychological

complications which had been working hand-in-hand to form his personality, drive his

emotions and ultimately decide his action.

First of all, Hamlet’s venomous anger toward his mother can be explained by his Oedipus

complex. Sigmund Freud introduced this psychoanalytical theory in 1899 by which the

patient suffers “a desire for sexual involvement with the parent of the opposite sex and

a concomitant sense of rivalry with the parent of the same sex” (Britannica). With this desire

for his mother Gertrude the Queen, Hamlet was angry her betrayal of his father's love by

marrying another man only two months after his death. In act 1 scene 2 line 140, Hamlet

complained, “So loving to mother

That he might not beteem the winds of heaven

Visit her face too roughly. – Heaven and earth,

Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him.

As if appetite had grown

By what it fed on, and yet, within a month –

Let me not think on’t. Frailty, thy name is woman! –

A little month, or ere those shoes were old

With which she followed my poor father’s body,

Like Niobe, all tears.” From this quote, we can see how livid and annoyed was Hamlet while

he witnessed his mother marrying to his uncle, the usurper Claudius. In act 3 scene 4 line 56,

Hamlet moaned, “See what a grace was seated on this brow?

Hyperion’s curls, the front of Jove himself,

An eye like Mars to threaten and command,

A station like the herald Mercury

New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill –

Here is your husband, like a mildewed ear

Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes?

Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed

And batten on this moor? Ha, have you eyes?” Also, in act 3 scene 2 line 358, Hamlet said, “I

will speak daggers to her but use none.

My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites.

How in my words somever she be shent,

To give them seals never, my soul, consent!”

Hamlet was torn by madness and betrayal as his mother should have stay mourning for his

father while protecting his crown, as he was the rightful heir to the throne but not his uncle.

Furthermore, Hamlet was secretly sexually obsessed with his mother. He visualizes his
mother in ways that only a lover would do. In Act 3 scene 4 line 36, Hamlet said, “And let

me wring your heart. For so I shall

If it be made of penetrable stuff,

If damned custom have not brassed it so

That it is proof and bulwark against sense.” His jealousy was clear when his imagination of

Gertrude’s sexual act with his uncle Claudius drives him insane. In act 3 scene 4 line 92,

Hamlet said, “but to live

In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,

Stewed in corruption, honeying and making love

Over the nasty sty-” Only someone who is suffering from Oedipus complex will have such

sexual thought about one’s mother. Normal son will reserve certain respect of his mother and

will refrain from such vivid and detail description of his mother’s sexual act. And yet when

Hamlet was not the one involved in this act but his uncle, he could no longer control his

anger and despise of his mother. In act 3 scene 4 line 185, Hamlet said, “Not thia, by no

means, that I bid you do –

Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed,

Pinch wanton on your cheek, call you his mouse,

And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses

Or paddling in your neck with his damned fingers.” Hamlet was actually upset with himself

because he knew being in love with his mother will not come to a happy ending in any ways.

Also, in act 3 scene 4 line 15, Hamlet said, “You are the queen, your husband’s brother’s

wife,
And – would it were not so! – you are my mother.” Hamlet wished that Gertrude is not his

mother for multiple reasons. First, he feels shameful of her betrayal towards his father’s love,

then he feels repulsive of her incestuous marriage to his uncle.

On the other hand, Hamlet's mind had been corrupted by a near Schizophrenia influence

where he acted with relapsed hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and

disorganised thinking. Other symptoms include social withdrawal, decreased emotional

expression, and apathy (Owen, 2016) while continually ignoring the fact that he shoulders

essential duty to his country and Denmark's people as a prince. Claudius admitted all the

crimes he had committed in his monologue in Act III scene III, killing of his brother, and

taking the throne from Hamlet. In act 3 scene 3 line 9, Claudius said, “A brother’s murder.

Pray can I not.” And in act 3 scene 3 line 53, Claudius said, “‘Forgive me my foul murder’?

That cannot be, since I am still possessed

Of those effects for which I did the murder:

My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen.” Hamlet hates his uncle for marrying his

mother while loathes him should anyone tries to compare Claudius to his late father. With the

crime of murdering King Hamlet looming over Claudius's head and yet, Hamlet is still unable

to take the strike when he had the perfect opportunity. Hamlet's inability to act can be

observed by his delusions, disorganised speeches, extremely perplexed behaviour, and

negative symptoms that resemble a patient of Schizophrenia. We can see how Claudius

announced Gertrude as his new wife and stole Hamlet’s mother (body and affection) from

King Hamlet in act 1 scene 2 line 8. Claudius said, “Therefore our sometime sister, now our

queen,

Th’ imperial jointress to this warlike state,

Have we – as ‘twere with a defeated joy,

With an auspicious and a dropping eye,

With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,

In equal scale weighing delight and dole –

Taken to wife.” But then Hamlet on his own sensing his secret desire for his mother, Hamlet

knew that Claudius being the new husband of Gertrude would be the only moral obstacle

between himself and his own adultery thoughts. Knowing that his desire for his mother will

have no resolution Hamlet would rather Claudius stay alive to remind himself of the social

taboo. Hamlet suspected Claudius murdered his father but he would not kill him until he can

prove that Claudius is guilty. And he also wanted to find out if his mother was involved in the

murder. So, in order to have a full revenge for his father's death, Hamlet took his time to

investigate the truth. Hamlet was technically Claudius "stepson" now, so without solid proof

that Claudius was indeed the murderer of his father it will be illegitimate for him to simply

take revenge as that would be an act of treason or could be viewed as a coup d'etat. In act 1

scene 2 line 67, Hamlet mocked Claudius and said, “Not so, my lord. I am too much I’ the

sun.” Actually, Hamlet could have killed Claudius in Act 3 Scene 3 but he did not. One

interpretation is that Hamlet fears that killing Claudius while he was praying will

automatically send him to heaven without punishment. In act 3 scene 3 line 75, Hamlet said,

“And now I’ll do’t. And so he goes to heaven.

And so am I revenged. – That would be scanned.

A villain kills my father, and, for that,

I, his sole son, do this same villain send

To heaven.” Hamlet may believe he was delaying from fear of sending Claudius to a

"heavenly" afterlife while his father's ghost had clearly told him he was in purgatory

suffering.

Lastly, with Hamlet’s continuous revelation of psychological instability, it is not surprising to

identify his behaviours similar to those of bi-polar disorder when we analyse his swiftness

and cold-blooded manner in his killing of Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

According to the Healthline (Kerr, 2019), the key symptoms of this disorder include feeling

overly happy or “high” for long periods of time, having a decreased need for sleep, talking

very fast, often with racing thoughts, feeling extremely restless or impulsive, becoming easily

distracted, having overconfidence in their abilities and engaging in risky behaviour. And it is

hard to avoid seeing resemblance in how Hamlet interact with Polonius and his two old

school mates. For Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who were being sent by Claudius to spy on

Hamlet, once their scheme was being discovered Hamlet had no hesitation in killing them. He

found no moral responsibility for these two "old schoolmates". Their betrayal was apparent,

and they served no other purpose for Hamlet in the master plan of avenging for his father. In

act 2 scene 2 line 14, Hamlet said, “Some little time so by your companies

To draw him on to pleasures and to gather,

So much as from occasion you may glean,

Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus

That, opened, lies within our remedy.” And in act 3 scene 2 line 329, Hamlet said, “Why,

look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me! You would play upon me. You would

seem to know my stops. You would pluck out the heart of my mystery…' Sblood, do you

think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you

can fret me, you cannot play upon me.” Besides, Hamlet also wanted to use his swift
execution of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to send a message or a threat to Claudius that he

could be decisive as well if needs be. In act 3 scene 4 line 209, Hamlet said, “They must

sweep my way/And marshal me to knavery.” And in act 3 scene 4 line 213, Hamlet said,

“But I will delve one yard below their minds,

And blow them at the moon. Oh, ‘tis most sweet

When in one line two crafts directly meet.” As for Polonius, Hamlet had never tried to hide

his loathe for the man as he called Polonius a "Fishmonger" in Act II Scene II line 188 first

because of his apparent support towards the usurper Claudius and Gertrude. That position

taken by Polonius clearly put himself as an enemy of Hamlet. In act 2 scene 2 line 43,

Polonius said, “Have I, my lord? I assure my good liege,

I hold my duty as I hold my soul,

Both to my God and to my gracious king.” Secondly, Polonius had been famous for being

schematic and treacherous, and his actions were not trustworthy and will continuously post as

a threat to Hamlet. In act 2 scene 1 line 19, Polonius said, “And there put on him

What forgeries you please. Marry none so rank

As may dishonor him. Take heed of that.” And in act 2 scene 1 line 62, Polonius said, “Your

bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth.

And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,

With windlasses and with assays of bias,

By indirections find directions out.” Even though Hamlet liked to take his time with his

revenge, having such a "rat" (as how Hamlet addressed Polonius when he killed him) around

is still rather annoying. Hamlet may prefer to clear the path between himself and his primary

opponent Claudius from other distractions. Lastly, it may be Hamlet's tactic to isolate
Claudius and Gertrude so that when the time comes for his final blow, his enemies will have

no help.

Hence Hamlet's swift action to kill Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is not

contradictory to his delay in avenging for his father. It is highly likely that being decisive and

ruthless like how he removed Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern was in fact truer to

Hamlet’s nature, especially when it is clear in his mind that he had no emotional attachment

to this lot. Not being able to take a quick blow on Claudius was due to his psychological

complication caused by Hamlet’s fondness towards his mother and his father. Such emotional

reliance triggered his Oedipus complex, Schizophrenia and bi-polar reactions, resulted in

Hamlet’s crumbling ability to structure his revenge.

Britannica, T. E. (n.d.). https://www.britannica.com/science/Oedipus-complex. Retrieved January 10,

2021, from britannica.com.

Kerr, M. (2019, November 5). https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/manic-depression-

bipolar-disorder. Retrieved from www.healthline.com.

Owen, P. M. (2016, January 14). https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-

6736(15)01121-6/fulltext. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from www.thelancet.com.