inconsistencies in jones' analysis

Jones attempts to illustrate how the character of Hamlet is motivated throughout the work by an unresolved Oedipal complex, residual of his youth. However, examining Jones' efforts to show how the actions of the play correspond to Freudian theory, several inconsistencies become clear- illustrating that Jones is perhaps trying too hard to make the two fit together.
Firstly, Jones discusses the mysogynistic attitude Hamlet takes towards the female characters in the play. His anger towards Ophelia is a manifestation of his Oedipal complex, resulting from his associating her with his mother in his mind. While this all seems to make sense, it also seems to be unecessary commentary. Why can't Hamlet's anger at Ophelia be simply the result of his affections being one sided? Ophelia has enticed him and then dropped him. Furthermore, she has betrayed him by spying on him. That alone is reason enough for him to be angry, even without associating Ophelia with Gertrude. Hamlet is he Prince of Denmark, probably accustomed to getting exactly what he wants, perhaps a bit spoiled. No doubt he would be angry at failing to secure the object of his affections! It seems superfluous and unnecessary for his anger at Ophelia to have anything to do with his repressed desires for Gertrude. The story itself provides enough reason for him to be upset without the Freudian analysis tacked on.
Another inconsistency is Jones assertion that Hamlet took so long to kill Claudius because since Claudius has fulfilled the all the Oedipal desires that Hamlet has had to repress, "he cannot kill him (Claudius) without killing himself." Jones implies that Hamlet has come to identify with his unclet o such an extent, that he cannot bring himself to kill him. This theory however, does not make sense in light of Freudian principles. According to Freud, children repress their desires as a result of their realization that such desires are socially unacceptable. Hamlet then, seeing that Claudius has been able to fulfill these desires without suffering social ostracism, would surely have thought that he too, was no longer forced to repress these desires, as society would accept him anyway! Accordian to Freudian theory, Hamlet should have acted MORE impulsively, and killed his uncle with further haste, now that he saw that such desires could be fulfilled without the risk of social undesirablity. With all this in mind, it seems that Jones is trying a little too hard to fit the actions of the play to Oedipus complex.

Oedipus

It is quite interesting to know that during infancy you can obtain such a level of jealousy. Is it possible to really have a rival during infancy? According to psychological theories, this is true. I found it quite unrealistic for an infant to have a rival due to jealousy. When you think of one having a rival, you think of a human being ranging from early adolescence to adulthood in competition with another human within the some age range. From reading this excerpt it is a lot easier to see how Hamlet was in rivalry with his father for his mother affection. It helps the reader to come to an understanding that even though Hamlet wanted to seek vengeance for his fathers death, he isalso happy that his father is gone.

Gertrude seems as if she doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. Her actions are defined in many ways. Some go with the fact that she is uneducated and acts the way she does because she doesn't know any better and some seem to think that she knows exactly what she is doing and acts that way to keep her status. I agree with the fact that she is completely clueless and acts only to make others happy. She is very weak and a woman with no confidence.

Tragedy and the mind of the infant

In reading the exerpt by Ernst Jones, i found it very interesting as to how much jealousy and hatred can actually be accumulated in infancy. Not only how much is accumulated, but how much this can affect the child in his adult life. i also found the discussion on the subject of death to be interesting, to note how a child just views the person as being gone...not really understanding the morbidness of it. i also enjoyed the reading on the relationship between the author and the reader and the play. this section explained just how writers may come up with an idea and the link between the unconsciouse and creativity. the fact that an autors creativity may really stem from his surpressed desires as a child is quite interesting, given the fact that we view creativity differnetly.

Freud's theory in Hamlet

Ernest Jones did a great job in breaking down the mystery of Hamlet. He believed that Hamlet was slow ro avenge his fathers death because of his own desire for his mother, this is called the Oedipus complex. Jones believes that Hamlet secret desire for his mother made him reactr slow and hesitant. The Oedipus complex which was created Freud suggestes that boys have a desire for their mothers just like girls have desire for their fathers. The child also secretly wish that the other parent was not around so that they could have favorite parent to themselves, not in a sexual way but for attention. Therefore Hamlet was so to react to his fathers death and his uncle marrying his mother because now his father is out the picture. All of this is true but in my opinion if Hamlet suffered from the Oedipus Complex then he would got rid of Claudius right away because Claudius has taken he spot for his mother affection and time. I liked the explanation and it made a lot of sense but it didn't quite add all up, there had to be more to why Hamlet was so slow to revenge his fathers death. Maybe he was scared of what his mother waould thought of him or maybe he wanted someone better for mom.

Jealousy and Death

Ernest Johnes says that one's jealousy will arise one's desire to remove rivals. Assume Hamlet desired all of his mother's affection in his childhood, but his father took away much more love from his mother. Thus, his father is his first rival. If his father was not posined by his uncle, the tragic of Hamlet would be as similar as Oedipus' killed his father and slept with his mother. This theory is respectful, but in fact normal people don't behave like that.

Hamlet and Ophelia

Ernest Jones analyzes Hamlet's character through Freud's use of infant development. A son must go through a stage that represses the mother away from being the center love object. However throughout the beginning of the play we see that the Queen shows her warmest affection towards her son Hamlet. According to Freud, depending on how repressed a child is away from the mother, he will look for a woman either more similar or contrasting to the image of the mother. Hamlet's love for Ophelia is never explained in the play so we have no evidence if Hamlet truly loved her. Ophelia's character is different from the Queen. Gertrude is a woman who cares about her social status than morals, depends on a man and is born into an aristocratic family. Ophelia relies more on her morals, more of an independent thinker and is born into the working class. She is the extreme opposite of the Queen despite Hamlet's close bond with his mother prior to his Father's death.

Hamlet & Oedipus

I found the Jones reading to be very enjoyable. The analysis he makes how Hamlet found some satisfaction in his father's death on a subconcious level because of the attraction to his mother that was created in infancy which effected him in adulthood. It really takes a look at the way a mother acts toward her son when he is an infant effects his relationships with women in the future. Hamlet feels betrayed by his mother because Claudius has taken the spot that he was longing for subconciously. Also Hamlet cannot fully trust Ophelia because he identifies her with his mother and feels she will let him down as well. This is a very intersting disection of Hamlet's inner feelings in respect to the Oedipus Complex.

Hamlet

Discussing the castration complex in class helped me to understand our readings for this class. It made me open to understand where these authors were coming from when they analyzed the readings for themselves. This process also makes you think about children in our everyday lives. They know if they act out they get attention but then realize they could get punished for it and soon start to seem closer to an adult figure to "redeem" themself.
Jones feels that Hamlet was stalling on killing his uncle. Jones brings up the point that Hamlet is a bit tardy. Instead of Hamlet killing Claudius as he was praying Hamlet felt it ironic and wrong to kill a man as he was praying. He thought in doing this he would send Claudius to Heaven than anyother place; Something that Hamlet did not want.

I find it quite fascinating applying Freudian concepts to literature. However, the practical applications that can be brought into our own lives that de Berg suggests, seems very minimal if any. Jones discussed in his book why Hamlet is so hesitant on avenging his father's death. He suggested that it was due to the fact that Hamlet was having serious internal conflicts that are acting on his subconscious level. He suggested that there was a special bond between Hamlet and Gertrude during his younger years and was not able to act on the libidinal forces and could not get his father out of the way. However, in my opinion, this key point cannot be proven from the story. As I noted in class, no one asked the little infant what he is feeling or any of his heartaches that he is enduring during his childhood. True, it maybe unconscious & would not be able to express it outright, nonetheless there is no proof of its existence. There is no textual evidence, I believe, to support Jones' claim that Hamlet could not act on his wishes and desires. Nevertheless, studying Freud and literature can provide with some interesting talk over the dinner table, but to have practical applications, further research is definitely needed.

Oedipus and Hamlet

Like we discussed in class Hamlet had gone through that castration phase. He is so upset that his father isn't there any more that he can't help but blame the mother. However, what I don't agree with is why Hamlet would go for Ophelia, when I believe she is nothing like Hamlet's mother Gertrude. She is clearly kind and sweet and has no alterior motives. As for the mother, she is harsh and cold and an opputunist. If the Oedipus complex really applied to hamlet I think that he would be more interested in someone else.

Freud in Hamlet, Hamlet in Freud

The Freudian analysis of Hamlet makes sense with Hamlet; it fits into the plot and character of Hamlet (or is it just that Hamlet is made to fit into Freud’s ideas?). However, there was one thing that seemed to be an inconsistency with Freud’s ideas. Freud’s Oedipus Complex manifests during the younger years, but, as we mentioned in class, as the castration complex develops the child loses interests with the mother as a love object and begins to relate with, and tries to imitate, the father. In Hamlet’s case it seems that only one of these results of the castration complex takes place. Hamlet identifies with his father, he seems, from his mourning, to have loved his father, not competed with him. If his relationship is that of competition then he might have felt that “secret joy and satisfaction” that Jones talks about in his essay. However we see Hamlet displaying nothing but sadness over the death of his father. Yet he also is, according to Jones and Freud, viewing his mother as a love object, which seems inconsistent with the theory as I understand it.

Hamlet

I have read Hamlet two times before. every time that i read this book, i discover more and more things about it. In particular this time, I noticed all the imagery and refrences to nature..many times there was refrence to the snow, the flowers, and nature. The second thing that I noticed was how much foreshadowing is really in the play. There were so many key points and refrences that i noticed i was highlighting that was foreshadowing. I did find some confusion in Act II when i first started reading it. I have never really focused on the significance of the players and the play that was being put on. i understand that hamlet used that to test the validity of the ghost, but some of that play confused me.

Hamlet

Throughout the play the audience is confused on Hamlet's mental condition. He does show the audience some intelligence when he plans the play for Claudius reenacting his father's murder. From Claudius's reaction it is clear that he murdered his father but Hamlet does not immediatly act upon it. This shows internal conflict within Hamlet. The theme of the play is revenge but at the end everyone dies which sends a mixed message to the audience.

Hamlet

The storyline in Hamlet definately keeps the readers entertained and always wanting to know more. This play is focused around family and respect. We see many times how Hamlet went out of his way to do right by his father. Even though he did stop and question himself a number of times, in the end he did carry out his fathers wish. I find this play always having an unpredictable turn of events and that is what I enjoyed the most.

Hamlet

Shakespeare's Hamlet is one of literatures greatest works. Throughout the the play, symbolism is heavily used to describe a lot of different scenarios throughout the play. For example; Denmark is referred to as a person. The ghost in Denmark, is like the anti-chrsit. It kind of gives you the notion that something is wrong in Denmark. Shakespeare's use of symbolism helped me to connect the chain of evens throughout the play.

Hamlet

Hamlet written by Williman Shakespeare is a classic show of a man revenge. Personally Hamlet is not my favorite Shakespeare play but i found it to be quite interesting. I always love the parts when the ghost (King Hamlet) arrives and begins telling things of the past. I have read Hamlet fives times so far and everytime i find something new in the play.

Hamlet

Hamlet is one of my favorite Shakespeare books ever written. The way Shakespeare connects all of the people in the royal family to the society. In the play, Shakespeare uses Denmark as a person and characterizes Denmark as you would a person.
Hamlet is like an ordinary person. He may have seem obsessed with death but the impact of the father and the ghost of his father got to him that he wanted to get revenge and to put his fathers soul and HIS mind to rest. He was constantly thinking about this ghost who keeps visiting him and he wanted it to stop and that was the only way he can think of.
Overall Hamlet was an interesting book and kept the reader into the story.

Hamlet

What sets this play apart from other Shakespearean plays is the concept of trust. Hamlet struggles many times to see who he can trust throughout the story. First he tests the trust of the ghost by gauging Claudius' reaction to the self scripted amendments to a show. Secondly he can not immediately trust his former friends ordered by Claudius to help Hamlet's "insanity". The issue of uncertainty is very paramount in this play. There are many occasions where Hamlet doubts his actions and reacts impulsively. For the most part he reacts violently for example when he stabs the tapestry where Polonius is and where he grabs Ophelia by the wrist with a deathly gaze.

Hamlet

"Hamlet" is a widely-known literary work that deals with revenge. Revenge is one of the evil natures within us. We seek harm to those who hurt us and the novel "Hamlet" portrays this very well. We don't act out our anger explicitly but many times we "murder" others internally. Based on Freud, Claudius is mainly surrounded by the pleasure principle, id. He killed his own brother for his desire to be king and married his sister-in-law out of lust. Such actions of an adult are unacceptable in society. A matured man would not commit himself to solely fulfill his desires and needs. He would consider others as well, meaning to have a balance between his id and ego, the reality principle. His lack of such equilibrium brought tragedy for the entire family.

Reaction to "Freud’s Theory and Its Use in Literary and Cultural Studies"

I think that psychoanalysis is not a very practical way study literature. The author states that “... even if the psychoanalytic reading contradicts existing readings, this does not mean that one is compelled to choose between them. One can also accept both…” (Berg, 87). I would have to strongly disagree with that. Readers may have many different interpretations of a particular literary work, but there is only one right interpretation. The one intended by the author. And the only way to prove the correct interpretation is to provide direct evidence from the text without any assumptions, or at least attempt to. In using psychoanalysis to interpret Hamlet, the author makes really dangerous assumptions. He compares the analysis to interpretation of dreams (there is no evidence that dreams have anything to do with our unconscious.) And claims that there is a direct link between the author and the text “…insights into the mind of the author provide important clues to the meaning of the text” (p. 85). Even thought the author himself admits that this theory is difficult to substantiate, it does not make it any better.
This analysis also lacks structure. The author attempts to apply it to fairy tales. To “The Fisherman and the Jinny”, on page 98 in the first paragraph he parallels child’s deprived feelings to bottled up Jinny. But in the second paragraph the parallel is all of a sudden reversed, fisherman represents the child, and Jinny represents the adult. This analysis is very inconsistent.