Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia
In the play, Hamlet and Ophelia were deeply in love, but
after seeing his mother remarry his uncle so quickly after his father died,
Hamlet begins to think that all women are weak and only want sex. He begins to
think the same with Ophelia. This is the reason for the closet scene. It proves
to Hamlet that Ophelia, and by extension, women in general, cannot be trusted.
Hamlet never stopped loving Ophelia, it’s just that Hamlet was so focused
revenge for his father and thoughts of how his mother betrayed him, and thus he
more or less forgot about his love for Ophelia.
Because Ophelia is not Hamlet's mother, and Hamlet loves Ophelia, some readers would say that this clearly goes against an Oedipal interpretation. Hamlet is in love with another woman, not his mother, which is the whole basis of an Oedipal interpretation. On this basis alone, readers could claim that Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia would complicate or work against an Oedipal interpretation of the play.
But there are two sides to a coin. Hamlet's love for Ophelia would be a subconscious attempt to surpress his sexual desires for his mother. It's like he is almost trying to convince himself that he does not love his mother by telling himself he loves Ophelia. Hamlet could also be trying to use his relationship with Ophelia to try to make his mother jealous, like when he dramatically tells his mother that he would rather sit with Ophelia than with her at dinner during the play in scene 3. Critics could argue that this is why Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia would support an Oedipal interpretation of the play.
So Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia could both support or work against an Oedipal interpretation of the play. Which do you think it does?
Ben Rombaut
In reality people could interpret Hamlet a billion different ways. The fact is that nobody knows what Shakespeare really meant. If you wanted to look at Hamlet through an oedipal interpretation it's definitely there when Hamlet supposedly tries to use Ophelia to make his mother jealous. Yet, on the other hand if you don't over think it and just see exactly what is being shown it could be Hamlet having a hissy fit and rebelling because he is furious with his mother for marrying his father``s brother. So in theory, if you search hard enough and want to see it then yes, the Oedipal complex does apply to this situation, but no one actually knows if that`s how Shakespeare himself wanted us to interpret it.
ReplyDelete-Kendra S
I think that Hamlet is in love with his mother, and is violently jealous of Claudius his stepfather. The ‘Oedipus complex’ makes him unable to have a loving relationship with Ophelia, whom he treats badly. His hatred for Claudius is based on sexual jealousy, since Claudius has not only usurped his father’s crown, but also his mother’s bed.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hamlet is jealous of his mother's relationship with Claudius, and despises the way that it was sparked because of the murder of his father. Maybe Hamlet really is in love with his mother and is especially jealous of Claudius because he gets to sleep with her - maybe. But he may also hate Claudius so much not only because of the oedipus complex, but because he was the one to murder his father. I think that this could easily be looked at from either perspective, and that we'll never really know %100 what Hamlet was thinking.
ReplyDeleteps this is actually Rosalind !!!! I'm on Colin's account for some reason LOL but that was me ^^
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Hamlet is confused about his love life because of what he has seen with his mother and father. I think that, deep down, he does love Ophelia however views women as someone that can only cause harm. He is also struggling with his love for his mother as he wants her to be happy and feels it is his decision to be able to choose who is right for his mother. He wants a man like himself to love his mother, which could also add to the fact that he may actually love his mother in a sexual way.
ReplyDeleteSam Hunter