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Hamlet and Oral Fixation: Revenge and Insanity

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Hamlet and Oral Fixation: Revenge and Insanity
Augusto Gabriel R. Tan
Mr. E. P. Salazar
Composition IV
18 January, 2013

“Oral Fixation: Revenge and Insanity”

I. Introduction
Hamlet is known to be one of the most complex characters that Shakespeare has ever written. Hamlet is such an enigmatic character because there is always more to his being than what the other characters in the play can see (Alexander Crawford, Web). Shakespeare was able to create a personality which is emotional, intellectual yet rash and judgmental and shows the change and shift of personality through the entire play. (Amanda Mabillard, Web). But because of unplanned hardships as well as the murder of his father by Claudius which was told to him by his father’s ghost (who tells him to avenge his death), Hamlet must now expose Claudius for what he has done and kill him to avenge his father. But because of this, Hamlet seems to have developed a fixation with killing Claudius, thinking it is the only thing that can give him the satisfaction the he wants. This paper will aim to break down and expose Hamlet’s Oral fixation because he is able to use and manipulate other people with his mask of insanity to achieve his revenge on Claudius and his own personal satisfaction.

II. Psychoanalytic Theory
a. Specific Traits or Parts of the Theory apply to Hamlet
The Psychoanalytic Theory of Sigmund Freud refers to the influence of the subconscious mind on the behavior of a person (Kendra Cherry, Web). In Hamlet, there are many possibilities of Psychoanalysis in the different characters, and mostly in Hamlet himself. The most dominant trait Hamlet suffers from, and the one this paper is arguing for, would be the fixation in the Oral Stage and how this fixation (along with his subconscious) affects his actions. Fixation is the theoretical notion that portions of an individual’s libido have been invested in something and the individual feels a need to acquire or finish whatever he feels need to be accomplished and is caused by frustration,
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