Shakespeare presents Hamlet’s mind to be in a state of grief-induced confusion, exhibited through hostility. However, at this point in the play, it must be remembered that Hamlet is affected both by his father’s recent death and his mother’s hasty marriage, and is unaware that Claudius murdered his father.
In Hamlet’s first soliloquy he is already contemplating suicide, revealing the extent to which his father’s death had a dramatic effect on his outlook to life:
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew (1.2.129-30)
Here, Shakespeare portrays how Hamlet now views the world, that is has become foul and is populated by ‘things rank and gross in nature’, referring to his mother and Claudius in their indecent haste in marrying each other. Therefore, his father’s death was possibly one of the reasons as to why Hamlet’s mind is in turmoil.
Although, Hamlet’s soliloquies are possibly representative of a reflective philosopher with his soliloquies providing a gateway into Hamlet’s thought processes. For instance, he tries to reason whether he should believe the Ghost’s proclamation that King Hamlet was murdered by Claudius.
However, although Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts are presented in soliloquies, whether these are what he is truly feeling needs to be considered. Shakespeare is merely suggesting Hamlet is contemplative of suicide because he never actually acts upon his thoughts.
Jacques Lacan’s theory, ‘I am not where I think’ (Lacan, 14), may be applied to Hamlet’s character because what Hamlet is thinking is not necessarily what he believes, suggested in his statement to Claudius:
So Uncle, there you are. Now to my word:
It is ‘Adieu, adieu remember me’
I have sworn’t (1.5.110-2)
Here, Shakespeare reveals Hamlet’s criticism of his hesitation when taking vengeance upon his uncle, ‘my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth’. Hamlet delays his action throughout the play, waiting until he can confirm Claudius actually murdered his father, suggesting that Hamlet’s thoughts are indeed ‘nothing worth’ because he does not immediately act upon his thoughts.
Furthermore, the political aspects Shakespeare presents in Hamlet relate to Hamlet’s duty, as a prince, to avenge the King if he has been murdered. It is therefore important to consider the Elizabethan context in which Hamlet may be perceived in comparison to the twenty-first century, thus:
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing – no, not for a king (2.2.520-1)
Where a twenty-first century audience would express sympathy for Hamlet’s loss and would understand his hesitation in taking vengeance, an Elizabethan audience would not sympathise towards him for avenging his father’s death, and would question why Hamlet is showing inaction. As Doré Ripley suggests, ‘The church advocated God’s vengeance, while the state demanded justice through God’s chosen representative(s)’ (Ripley, 1), meaning it would be Hamlet’s duty to avenge his father’s death in the eyes of the Elizabethan Church, for God’s cause. Therefore, this would certainly contribute to Hamlet’s turmoil, with the added pressure to ‘exact God’s vengeance on the wicked’ (Ripley, 2), and become King of Denmark. However, in the eighteenth century, Thomas Hanmer drew attention to Hamlet’s delay in avenging his father’s death, suggesting that ‘Had Hamlet gone naturally to work there would have been an end of our play’, meaning Shakespeare’s play would not have been as dramatic for his intended audience of his era.
Ernest Jones suggests that Hamlet refrains from killing Claudius earlier in the play because he had already committed the deed Hamlet himself subconsciously wished to carry out; ‘The long “repressed” desire to take his father's place in his mother's affection is revealed in unconscious activity by the sight of someone usurping this place exactly as he himself had once longed to do’ (Jones, 99). This is evident in the play when Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius, however he decides to wait for when he is in ‘th’incestuous pleasure of his bed’ so he is guaranteed to suffer the same pain Hamlet’s father did when he was in purgatory. Eliminating his competition in the most torturous way suggests Hamlet’s hatred towards Claudius for marrying his mother.
As an extension of this Hamlet is somewhat hostile to his mother throughout the play, shown through the language Shakespeare uses when Hamlet is alone with her. His anger towards his mother’s sexuality is expressed, thus:
O shame, where is thy blush? Rebellious hell,
If thou canst mutine in a matron’s bones,
To flaming youth let virtue be as wax (3.4.82-4)
Hamlet demands to know how young people can be expected to control their passions if mothers cannot control theirs. In the same scene, Hamlet pleads with Gertrude not to sleep with Claudius that night and to,
Refrain tonight,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence (3.4.166-8)
After that until she no longer wishes to sleep with Claudius. Whether this is right must be considered in psychoanalytic terms because abstinence stores up emotions that leads to a later emotional explosion. In the context of the play as a whole, this is symbolic because throughout Hamlet stores up his confusion, anxiety and turmoil until he explodes in the final scene, ending in death and destruction of the dynasty.
Recent developments in Hamlet criticism suggest Hamlet’s attitude towards his mother can be explained in terms of Freudian psychoanalysis, in particular the Oedipus Complex where ‘unconscious ideas and feelings centre round the wish to possess the parent of the opposite sex, and eliminate that of the same sex’ (Rycroft, 118), according to Charles Rycroft in ‘A Critical Dictionary of Psychoanalysis’. Although this is a modern theory which did not exist during the Shakespearean period, Shakespeare unconsciously reflects this possible interpretation of character in the play. Hamlet seeking to avenge his father by eliminating Claudius, his mother’s husband, could be one of his motivations and subsequent causes of his emotional turmoil. His confusion is, therefore, redirected onto Ophelia who experiences Hamlet’s anguish. Rycroft also suggests that this is symbolised in Hamlet as ‘persons who are fixated at the oedipal level that are mother-fixated or father-fixated reveal this by choosing sexual partners with obvious resemblances to their parents’ (Rycroft 119). However, Ophelia’s qualities are not representative of Gertrude’s as Shakespeare suggests Gertrude tends to sexually dominate men in the play whereas Ophelia is obedient to them, suggesting she is vulnerable. Therefore, whether Rycroft’s analysis is related to the play must be considered because it does not directly link to Hamlet’s situation, choosing to have a relationship with Ophelia because she resembles his mother he has sexual desires for. In Gertrude marrying Claudius, Hamlet’s jealousy is provoked, which eventually contributes to his rage when alone with his mother, ‘You are queen, your husband’s brother’s wife’. Here, Shakespeare shows Hamlet’s confusion within his complex situation, that his mother has become queen by incestuously marrying her husband’s brother. Combined with Hamlet’s oedipal fantasy and his mother’s new marriage, therefore, he is bound to show rage and confusion towards his mother and hostility towards her new partner.
In conclusion, Hamlet is a character whose mind is in turmoil, which is subliminally presented through Shakespeare’s use of soliloquies. This turmoil could exist due to Hamlet’s life experiences, whether they were his father’s death or his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle, who murdered his father. These occurrences may have caused Hamlet’s confusion between mothers and lovers, his contemplation of suicide and his hostility towards others, resulting in catastrophe at the end of the play. An Elizabethan audience would not sympathise with Hamlet’s hostility towards other and his delay in taking vengeance and so could argue that his mind is in turmoil, the reason why he is inactive.