Written by Paul Gottschalk from, The Meanings of Hamlet
             Paul Gottschalk explores and interprets the meaning in Shakespeare's play Hamlet as seen by many famous critics. In this interpretation, Gottschalk discusses that the meanings are indirect, and quite possibly, there are many different viewpoints that could be taken as literary proof that this play is projected from many of Shakespeare's personal life experiences. Throughout the discussion, Gottschalk gives examples of many different critics such as Sharpe and Jones, as well as many others and their tactics used to interpret the meanings of Hamlet to piece together the answers to their hypotheses. 1 (page 267-277)
             Gottschalk's essay mainly focuses on the idea of explaining the interpretation of this play as a comparison of psychoanalysis and Shakespeare's creativity. He focuses on the fact that the Freudian interpretation of the play is not only an interpretation of the play but also mankind's reaction to it. Gottschalk also makes references to Freud's "Oedipus complex", which is the landmark study of a child's need to sleep with its mother and kill its father. In order to dispute this argument, it is necessary to use psychoanalytic interpretation. Several of the critics mentioned in this discussion have justified this complex as the purpose for the contradiction in the play. The contradiction being that only Hamlet's conscious thoughts are depicted in this play, and that we don't see his subconscious telling him to do the opposite of what he should. This is where the ghost of Hamlets father comes in. This is the only part of the play where his mind or thoughts are discussed. We hear about his bad dreams but they are never fully revealed to us as the reader. The comparative mythology is based on finding out what Hamlet's unexpressed emotions are. (pages 268-270)
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