The character Hamlet clearly portrays Freud’s three parts of personality; id, ego and super-ego. Additionally, Freud indicates Hamlet as an example in his theories, such as ‘’Mourning and Melancholia’’ and Oedipus complex. However, in ‘’The Interpretations of Dreams’’ Freud interpreters and even Freud himself states that Hamlet was more related to Oedipus complex, which is a significant example for the theory. (Desmet, 1999, p.161) Obviously it was a very controversial claim and there were many scholars who didn’t agree with this. The main disagreement by a lot of Hamlet interpreters was their claim that the reason Hamlet’s feelings toward his mother were more of an unconscious kind rather than sexual desire. (Robson, 2009, p.61) The root of analogy between Hamlet and Oedipus complex is derived from Oedipus Rex. …show more content…
So, this case indicates that Oedipus complex theory isn’t actually based on the sexual desire as in Oedipus Rex, but the unconscious mind of children, as Jacques Lacan stated, “There is Oedipal Desire in Hamlet and boys, although it’s absolutely unconscious.” (Desmet,1999, p.61) However, Freud’s Oedipus complex theory generally needs to be discussed more as if it’s either an actual theory or just a