Unraveling the Mind of Hamlet: A Psychoanalysis

The play ‘Hamlet’ by William Shakespeare which is probably one of Shakespeare’s best plays. The protagonist Hamlet who is the most about a character in the play as he displays several traits in the play. Gertrude which is the name of Hamlet’s mother and his deceased father King Hamlet which we don’t know the cause of his death in the beginning of the play. Claudius who is Hamlet’s uncle has now married Gertrude which is Hamlet’s mother so now he is considered Hamlet’s uncle and stepfather. Hamlet’s lover Ophelia who he has a very deep affection for, and his long-time childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, these characters help give an accurate and deep description on the type of person that Shakespeare displays him to be. These are the questions we will research in our work 'Psychoanalysis of Hamlet Essay'.

Hamlet has displayed several traits throughout the entire play. He showed signs of recklessness, being heartless, cautious, and being a sensitive guy. These traits both rub off in positive and negative, Hamlet may have other traits that stand out more than others and they are scenes in the play displaying that. I believe that Hamlet’s actions and intentions are always pure whether if it is in a positive or a negative way.

At the beginning of the play, Hamlet is first looked at as a sensitive guy and it was visible as for the way he reacted to the death of his father. Hamlet’s thoughts in his head were all over the place, and he was very motivated to seek revenge for his father after he found out the cause of death in act one as the cause of his death is that Claudius poisoned him. He was also stunned that his mother was having an intimate relationship with his deceased husband’s brother Claudius, right after the death of King Hamlet. There were certain scenarios where Hamlet shows signs of being heartless especially when he kills his childhood friends Guildenstern and Rosencrantz and kills Polonius. These killings showed us that he is a heartless guy, even though Hamlet is seen as a heartless character he is still sensitive. Sensitivity and emotions can be dangerous things as it can drive people to do very unpleasant things, and Hamlet was a prime example of that.

In addition, Hamlet’s behavior and actions most likely were a key factor on why Ophelia committed suicide, as Hamlet’s trouble makes him behave without thought and not think of the consequences if he goes through with it. This craziness is the reason why he stabbed Polonius through the curtain without verifying who it was as he thought he was really stabbing This proves that Hamlet is reckless, but he shows that he is cautious as he was very careful on how he was going to kill Claudius. He is thinking about questions of what happens when your dead, and whether your soul goes to heaven or hell. These exact reasons are why he didn’t kill Claudius immediately after he found out he killed his father, especially after he saw Polonius praying as he didn’t want him to go to heaven, he wants to catch Polonius in the act of doing something wrong so his soul will go straight to hell.

Furthermore, Hamlet’s crazy behavior throughout the story was all an act to catch Claudius in the act of being guilty. In Act Two, in the first two scenes, Hamlet and Claudius were both trying to set each other up with traps to catch their secrets, as Claudius spies on Hamlet to discover the reason why he is acting crazy, and Hamlet attempts to “catch the conscience of the king”. Hamlet sets up a play-within-play called the Murder of Gonzaga which is about the Duke of Vienna, and his wife, who marries his murdering nephew. Hamlet uses this play as an opportunity to be 100% sure that Claudius in fact killed his father which proves that he is a cautious guy.

Hamlet’s love for Ophelia was real as he did really care for her. He will show signs of him hating her and then being intimate with her after, he also showered Ophelia with a bunch of gifts and letters. In Act III, Hamlet gives the famous saying “To be or not to be”, he was very cruel towards Ophelia as he knows that Polonius and Claudius are spying on him. In line 103 of the same act Hamlet then asks Ophelia “Ha, Ha! Are you honest?” as Ophelia is hiding a lot of secrets and not being honest with anyone and herself which causes Hamlet to have trust issues with her. Hamlet was heartless at times to Ophelia as he never thought of the fact of her being suicidal and him not being in the right state mentally, and he knows this isn’t the first time this happened as Hamlet was rude to Ophelia before, and Hamlet has nobody to trust and he is in the right to not trust Ophelia as her father and Claudius told her to have a conversation with Hamlet as both of them will spy on them watching it, her father also gave her a “prop” and Polonis stated, “ Tis too much proved, that with devotion’s visage we do sugar o’er the devil himself”. Hamlet’s brutality towards Ophelia is not because he hates her and wants her to feel miserable it is because of the things going on in his life. First off, Hamlet is angry and frustrated with his mother as she married his father’s killer and he is most certain about that. Hamlet has every right to be brutal with Ophelia also as she tried to set him up.

Hamlet was not a strong character he is very sensitive; this had caused him to stall on things he had planned. This internal situation resulted on him taking very long to conquer Claudius. Hamlet was unable to deal with the situation and make quick decisions when it had required him to, every human being has a weakness or flaw in their character, and is never always easy to conquer them. Hamlet would show consideration for the needs of others, but there were instances where he would act without thought, an example of this is when he killed Polonius through the curtain without seeing who it really was. That example reveals that he is both reckless and heartless.

As a result, the suicide of Ophelia really made him feel like he was all alone at heart. This loneliness was like a stab in the heart for Hamlet, being isolated internally is a well-known way on a person can go insane. After the death of his father, Hamlet’s the only person who can see the ghost of King Hamlet nobody else does, Hamlet is very disappointed with the life that he is living, he states in a soliloquy, “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!”. Hamlet basically sees no use for the life he has, and always thinks over the statement “To be, or not to be, that is the question”.

To conclude, Hamlet was overall a good guy that had a lot of high standards but didn’t acknowledge the fact that Ophelia had a straightforward background. All his good and bad qualities will forever have a feeling on the lives he impacted and will be remembered for it.