Hamlet: A Selfish Fool
Hamlet is known as one of the greatest pieces of literature ever to be written. Perhaps the reason for its popularity and high reputation is because of the many underlying questions that Shakespeare leaves unanswered. Shakespeare forces the readers and watchers of the play to think about the occurring events. Shakespeare's style of writing often leaves his readers with questions, and Hamlet is no exception. Even today, people devote ther lives to deciphering Shakespeare's work. The most popular question found in Hamlet is undoubtedly the question of why Hamlet was so slow to act out the wishes of his deceased father. Could Hamlet have suffered from an Oedipus complex? Did Hamlet have a conscientious objection to the murder of another human being? Or could it be that Hamlet was too distracted by wallowing in his own self-pity to jump to action?An Oedipus complex is a Freudian theory where a child (usually male) has a romantic desire for the parent of the opposite sex and tends to resent the parent of the same sex. In other words, this theory states that Hamlet was in love with his mother. Could this really have been the reason for Hamlet's hesitation? I think not. Hamlet's first soliloquy was almost entirely devoted to the defa
A solid reason against the theory of Hamlet's inability to kill another person is when Hamlet kills Polonius. " Hamlet realizes how foolish he is to hesitate yet he does nothing! Instead of fulfilling his father's wishes, he remains feeling sorry for himself and contemplates suicide a number of times. This is most brave, that I, the son of a dear father muder'd, prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words, and fall a-cursing, like a very drab. If anything, I would think that Hamlet would act quicker because of the foul deeds that Claudius has done to Gertrude. He had all the motivation in the world to kill Claudius: Claudius had killed his father, disgraced his mother with incestuous deeds, stole his crown and kingdom, and showed hardly any sympathy to Hamlet during Hamlet's mourning period over his father's untimely death. In fact, he even made jokes about it when he told Claudius that Polonius was "at supper not where he is eating, but where he is being eaten. There was no Oedipus complex, there was no moral objection or fear, only the selfishness within Hamlet's own character that kept him from killing Claudius. Not once in the play did he regard the feelings of those around him. " Obviously this is not the cry of a mother who is involved in a loving relationship with her son. an opinionated suggestion for why Hamlet's hesitation is not due to an Oedipus complex is because I don't see how a love for his mother would prevent him from killing Claudius. If Hamlet had acted out immediately, he would have spared the life of Polonius, and saved his beloved Ophelia from the pain of losing a father and the eternal pain of suicide. Gertrude cries out, "Speak no more sweet Hamlet, your words are like daggers to my ears. Conscience had nothing to do with his delay of action; he found nothing exceptionally difficult about taking a man's life. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet is obsessed with the idea of taking his own life. Hamlet showed no remorse for either of his killings, therefore Hamlet's delay was not because of conscientious objection.
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