Furthermore, the thought of incest and murder combined are too intolerable to be borne. Hamlet appears to be repulsed by his Oedipal desires understanding that incest is morally wrong; the confliction within him manifests itself both in repulsion of women and madness. Ironically, Hamlet tries to prevent these thoughts but his actions seem to suggest that he is preoccupied by his mother’s sexuality.
Hamlet is obsessed with his mother’s sexual life and his description of it is leaves nothing to the imagination:
‘In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed / Stew’d in corruption, hanging and making love / O’er the sty.’
He forcefully commands his mother not to be tempted into bed with Claudius and is explicit when ordering her not to allow the king to paddle in her ‘neck with damn’d fingers’. He is so opposed to their love-making that he cannot prevent himself from constantly commanding his mother not be enticed into the king’s bed; his jealousy is apparent:
‘ Do not let the bloat king tempt you to bed again/…/ But go not to my uncle’s bed.’
Although he postpones in killing Claudius, Hamlet is not afraid to openly criticize and make a mockery of the king. He calls him a ‘Vice of kings / A cutpurse of the empire and rule.’ He also metaphorically describes him as a ‘mildew’d ear’ that is ‘A paddock, from a bat.’ His Oedipal lusts lead him to disapprove of Claudius openly, as he views him as his archrival.
The killing of Polonious can easily be related to the Oedipus complex: the thrust of the sword that takes Polonious’ life can be exhibited as phallic. Hamlet kills Polonious, believing him to be Claudius, whom he wishes dead as he is the rival to his mother’s affections. Perhaps the killing is to outwardly express and release his misplaced sexual feelings.
However, the Queen’s character traits are sensual in nature and she expresses a passionate fondness for her son. She describes him as ‘fair Hamlet’, ‘gentle son’ and ‘sweet Hamlet’. She is constantly concerned for his well-being and this could easily be read by Hamlet in the wrong aspect. In return Hamlet displays his affection for his mother. He calls her ‘fair’, ‘sober’ and ‘wise’; saying he is ‘cruel, only to be kind’. He occasionally asks his mother to keep away from Claudius’ bed rather than threatening her. In the same instant he cannot bear to depart from her chamber, even after saying goodnight to her more than five times displaying the affectionate side of his character.
But on the other hand, Hamlet also goes out with Ophelia, which could mean that he is not entirely in love immorally with his mother. But the audience could easily take this to mean that Hamlet needs to be distracted from his feelings for Gertrude and by going out with Ophelia he does so. It could easily be an effortless attempt to render feelings of jealousy from Gertrude by his ‘love’ towards Ophelia. Hamlet is so cruel to Ophelia because he cannot be in a relationship that is not sustained by true love. He only seems to be doing what society deems acceptable by sharing a relationship with Ophelia whom is someone his own age: as a relationship with his mother would be unacceptable.
