Id Ego Superego In Hamlet

Analyzing the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, through a Freudian lens gives us insights into Hamlet's character, allowing us to understand the character on a much deeper, more detailed level. Freudian Theory states that a person's unconscious is split into three parts; the id, the ego, and the superego. The id forms at birth. It contains primal desires such as aggression and is the “evil” part of the personality. The superego forms throughout the period of maturity. It provides morals to the conscience, teaching us not to commit bad deeds such as to steal or kill. This is the “good” part. The ego is the decision-making part of the personality that balances thoughts from the id and the superego to decide the best compromise of the two’s inputs. In the play, we see Hamlet as a young adult, not yet fully developed, get caught in a traumatic situation. Hamlet falls into depression, and the balance between his superego and id begins to deteriorate as his superego
When we begin to mature and grow our superego forms to help us make the right decisions, like helping others and thinking about long and short-term consequences. Before our superego fully forms, we understandably make bad decisions at times. At the start of the play Hamlet can be interpreted as having a functioning superego, although we do see the primitive desires of his id under the surface. We see examples of this throughout act one and two. During these acts we can see Hamlet's superego functioning through his self-restraint and control. When visited by the Ghost of his father, Hamlet finds out his uncle murdered his father. Hamlet showcases his functioning superego by holding himself together and not retaliating against his uncle. Instead, he waits and plots to gather sufficient evidence first, saying “I'll have grounds more relative than this.” This