Hamlet Essay, Research Paper
To be or not to be-that is the question , Hamlet asks himself in this famous
soliloquy what he should do the situation he is in. As we live, we make
thousands of decisions each day, and each decision that we make makes a big
difference in our lives. In the decision making process there has been a
question that was raised by the Freudian psychologists. Is one following his
or her pure conscious will, or is there something else that influences the
decision making process? The Freudians argue that there is such influence
called unconsciousness. They argue that even though we cannot physically
acknowledge our unconsciousness, it is probably influencing every move of
one s life. Shakespeare demonstrates that doing what is against one s
personal ethical code creates sense of guilt in unconsciousness and will
eventually lead to one s downfall.
We live in series of conflicts. Norms and laws of the society often
conflict with an individual s wills and desires. Even one s own
unconsciousness could conflict with one s conscious motivation, or vice
versa. Hamlet in the play has conflicting minds because he decides to murder
Claudius, his uncle, in order to revenge for his father King Hamlet. Hamlet
wants to get revenge on Claudius but he has trouble going through with it
because his unconsciousness is telling him to do what is ethical. He often has
to remind himself that the King has killed his father and is also infecting his
mother with filthy incestuous acts. Without reminding himself, he cannot
complete the task of killing his relative, although he is the Claudius is the one
who murdered his father.
Hamlet cries and asks why he cannot act on his revenge unlike
Fortinbras, feeling guilt in his consciousness because he cannot revenge for
his innocent father. There is another kind of guilt, unconscious guilt, that is
hiding and resisting to be pulled by his consciousness and that is the main
reason why Hamlet cannot act right on his words and makes other people
believe that he is genuinely insane. According to Freudians, when one s
having thoughts that one does not want to recall-anything unpleasant, one
hides the thoughts and keeps them in the unconsciousness. Freudians also
say the actions that one takes will reflect such conflict or problem stored in
unconsciousness.
Wh
lets him escape from the situation. Freudians would say that his deep wish in
his unconsciousness state that doesn t want to harm people, especially his
uncle, is preventing him from committing a crime that is against the society,
the norms, and his own ethical code. Hamlet, like his hesitation shows, does
not realize that fact and thinks of himself as a coward.
As Hamlet hesitates and goes through his little plays that delay his
revenge, he is leading his own way to downfall. When his emotion is fierce,
after finding out that Claudius did kill his father, he goes into Gertrude s
closet to talk to her and throws a dagger at Polonius, thinking that he is the
King. Killing Polonius opens a new way to Hamlet s downfall, getting
Laertes upset and wishing to kill Hamlet, no matter how or where. If Hamlet
didn t hesitate to kill Claudius when he was praying, Hamlet wouldn t have
gotten killed by the poison on the sword, which was secretly planned by
Laertes and the King, who later realize that Hamlet knows the truth behind
his father s death. All the guilt that was created heads them to follow their
downfall slowly and eventually setting other situations that fastens the event.
Gertrude usually does not show any guilt through out the play but in
this particular scene, as her unconscious guilt is stimulated by Hamlet s bitter
and sharp speeches daggers without forms feels that she is very guilty of
incest. Hamlet was verbally attacking Gertrude and pinpoints her sin calling
Claudius a mildewed for Blasting his wholesome brother . By raising the
guilt that Queen tries to repress, Hamlet forces Gertrude to bring the guilt
from her unconsciousness. It makes such a contrast with other answers that
Gertrude made against Hamlet s bitter words. For example, before Hamlet
talks about incest Gertrude answers:
What have I done, that though dor s way thy tongue
In noise so rude against me?
By making a guilty act, one walks his way to downfall because the
guilty act conflicts with his ethical code of unconsciousness. That is what
happened to Hamlet, Claudius, and the Queen in this play, and all three of
them have committed crimes that make them feel guilty unconsciously,
bringing them to follow and create other situations that lead their way to
downfalls.