爱与恨之间的徘徊—对哈姆雷特的心理分析

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1、湖北师范学院外国语学院2012届英语系毕业论文Wandering between Love and HateA Psychological Analysis of Hamlet1 Introduction1.1 A Brief Introduction of HamletHamlet is considered the summit of William Shakespeares art. The story comes from an old Danish legend. Before Shakespeare, Thomas Kyd had written a play on the sam

2、e subject. It was a tragedy of “blood and scheme.” But under Shakespeares pen, the medieval story assumed a new meaning.The action of the play is laid in Denmark. Gertrude, Queen of Denmark widowed by the sudden death of the King, within two months marries the late kings brother Claudius, who thus b

3、ecomes the new King. Prince Hamlet son of the late king, returns home from the university of Wittenberg. He suspects about his fathers death. Later his fathers ghost appears to him at the castle of Elsinor, and confirms Hamlets suspicion. He plans to take a revenge of the murder. To dull Claudius vi

4、gilance, Hamlet pretends to go mad. However, his madness is taken by Polonius, to be an emotional disturbance due to his passion for Ophelia, daughter of Polonius. But under a strange combination of circumstances, Hamlet killed Polonius for mistake, and the King also find that he is not really mad,

5、he determines to destroy Hamlet. He sends Hamlet to England, intending to have him killed there, but Hamlet gets rid of it by luck. Heart-broken at the death of her father, poor Ophelia goes mad and then is drowned in a stream. Hearing of the news that father and sister are both died because of Haml

6、et, Ophelias brother Laertes vows to avenge it. The king arranges that Laertes wounds Hamlet but is himself struck with the same poisoned weapon. Before death, Laertes reveals the plot. The Queen at the moment was killed by the wine that planed for Hamlet. Hamlet stabs the king, and then dies throug

7、h his poisoned wound. The story ended with the death of the major characters. The part above is a simple summary of the tragedy, and we know the process of Hamlets revenge is full of difficulties, the most important difficult is his hesitation.1.2 Surveys the Studies on Shakespeares Greatest Tragedy

8、William Shakespeare (15641616) is a great dramatist and poet during the English Renaissance period. Ben Jonson once dedicated a poem in praise of the author: “soul of the Age!”(A Short History of English Literature, 59) He has written 37plays, 2 long narrative poems, and 154 sonnets. Among them, Ham

9、let, is believed to be the summit of his art. Just like Mona Lisa smiling mystically, Hamlet is an attractive and mystical art, on which critics and readers of many generations continually discuss.We know, tragedy, a supreme of literature, is a kind of beauty that is grave and majestic. It has witne

10、ssed the advancement of human beings. Shakespeare is a genius of characterizing tragic heroes and heroines. Proud King Lear, ambitions Macbeth and credulous Othello, their tragic flaws or sins justify their punishment. Of the four great tragedies of Shakespeare, Hamlet is the most prominent one. Bes

11、ides the impression of vastness of topics it covers, the characterization of the hero Hamlet contributes greatly to its success. Most Shakespearean tragedies are classified as character tragedies, and for many Shakespearean scholars, so is Hamlet, the diamond on the tragic crown. The idea has ever b

12、een prevailing in Shakespearean research that the tragic flaw of Hamlets character that delays his revenge action should be responsible for the tragic ending. Different from other three heroes, proud king Lear, ambitious Macbeth and credulous Othello, each of whom has a sin or tragic flaw in nature

13、that leads him to the tragic ending, Hamlet is characterized as a brilliant humanist; he is educated in Wittenberg, where there is thick atmosphere of humanism; he advocates equality and is quite sincere to his friend:I am glad to see you well.Horatioor I do forget myself!Sir, my good friend, I will

14、 change that name with you. And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio? Marcellus? (Hamlet, Act1 Scene2, 28)Hamlet is a masterpiece of Shakespeare in his third period. This period of Shakespeares dramatic career is mainly the period of “great tragedies” and “dark comedies.” In the plays of this peri

15、od, the tragic note is aggravated. The sunshine and laughter of the second period has turn into clouds and storms. The cause of such a change should be sought from Shakespeares change of moods as influenced by the social upheavals at the turn of the century. In Hamlet we see the bright and happy lif

16、e of the young prince darkened by the lust and ingratitude of his mother and by the revelation of his uncles foul murder of his father, and, after long hesitations and suspense, the Danish prince in his own death carried out the task of revenge, while the pure, weak Ophelia shares the same fate with

17、 him. 2. Literature Review2.1 A Concise History of Shakespeares HamletOne of the reasons why Hamlets story so popular in the world is that the unique character of him. Hamlet is neither a vase and a weak person nor a thought-sick book-worm. In this play, nobody thinks of him in that way. Though he i

18、s deprived of his right to the throne, he is still loved and respected by everyone. And in the other aspect, he is a prince full of love. Just as he describes Ophelia: “O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers; I have not art to reckon my groans; but that I love thee best, O most best, believe it.

19、Adieu. Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst this machine is to him”(Hamlet, Act2 Scene2,86)First, Hamlet is a humanist, a man who is free from medieval prejudices and superstition. He has an unbounded love for the world instead of the heaven. He praises human beings, he says:“What a piece of work

20、is a man! Now noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!” (Hamlet, Act2 Scene2, 98)Second, Hamlet is a young prince who has the spirit of human

21、itarianism. He condemns highly of the social that against humanity. He deeply observes the social reality and looks down upon the brutal and inhuman reality. He makes a loud appeal for it:“For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressors wrong, the proud mans contumely, the pangs of d

22、espised love, the laws delay, the insolence of office, and the spums”(Hamlet, Act3 Scene1,124)Third, starting from his humanist love of man, he turns to those around him with the same eagerness. He loves goods and hates evil. He adores his father, love Ophelia and greets his school-fellows with hear

23、ty welcome, while he is disgusted with his uncles drunkenness and shocked by his mothers shallowness. In his contact with the people around him, he cares for nothing but human worth and shows contempt for rank and wealth.Fourth, he is a romantic prince who is always so gloomy. It is said that withou

24、t a doubt that the most important character of Hamlet is gloomy. But this kind of character is not negative, it is rather the result of his penetrating habit of mind. When there is a sudden situation, he would ask himself: “what can I do for it? When? How? What will be the consequence to the State?

25、What is the good of doing it in such a world as this?” Such as:“Denmarks a prison. Then the world one. A goodly one; in which there are many confines, words, and dungeons, Denmark being one o the worst.”(Hamlet, Act2 Scene2, 95)All his life is thinking about and exploring how to destroy the “prison”

26、, although he perishes with the enemy at last, he sets a good example for struggle on and does not compromise with the enemy.The never waning interest in Hamlet has, since the beginning of the twenties century, spilled over to fields of intellectual endeavor beyond that of literary criticism, causin

27、g Hamlet to be interpreted more variously than before. Throughout the lay world reader and audience response continues to be enthusiastic, a credit to Ben Jonsons prophetic tribute that Shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time. It is true that Hamlets forte does not lie in an unswerving resol

28、ve or in a single-minded and vigorous execution of it (Shakespearean Tragedy, 1904). Charles Lamb is an essayist, poet, and critic. He began to read Shakespeares works when he was six years old. He once wrote a very popular book of evaluating Shakespeare, he said: as for Hamlet himself, he has the d

29、eepest sorrow, the silent thoughts that afraid of light and voice, and dare not face to the wall or empty room.”(On the Tragedies of Shakespeare, 29) Goeth describes Hamlet as a noble, weak and retiring man, who is too sentimental or spiritual weak and not fit for the task set to him; Scholoegel and

30、 Coleridge think that Hamlet is an over-reflective intellectual and he has the philosophical cast of mind that inhabits practical action, and so the cause of the irresolution is an excess of the reflective or speculative habit of minds; Wilson Knight believes that Hamlet is overwhelmed by the sense

31、of evil that makes him disillusioned about the cruel society. Samuel Johnson, as a neoclassicist said that the prince was an instrument rather than an agent:Hamlet is, through the whole play, rather an instrument than agent. After he has, by he stratagem of the play, convicted the King, he makes no

32、attempt to punish him, and his death is at last effected by an incident which Hamlet has no part in producing.(Preface to Shakespeares plays,69)In the later half of the 18c, as more and more critics began to become interested in Hamlets delay, Hamlet became the synonym for sensitivity. As a romantic

33、 critic, Goethe declared that an over-sensitive soul burdened with an arduous task was the key to Hamlets procrastination:A lovely, pure, noble, and most moral nature, without the strength of nerve which forms a hero, sinks beneath a burden which it can not bear and must not cast away. All duties ar

34、e holy for him; the present is too hard. Impossibilities, but such for him. He winds, and turns, and torments himself; he advances and recoils; is ever put in mind, ever puts himself in mind; at last does all but lose his purpose from his thoughts; yet still without recovering his peace of mind.(Wil

35、helm Meisters Critique of Hamlet”,97)In the early 19c, romanticist like Coleridge and used individualistic qualities in Hamlet to explain his delay. Coleridge said that Hamlet, not a doer, but a thinker: Hamlets character is the prevalence of the abstracting and generalizing habit over the practical

36、. He does not want courage, skill, will, or opportunity; but every incident sets him thinking; and it is curious, and at the same time strictly natural, that Hamlet , who all the play seems reason itself, should be impelled, at last, by mere accident to effect his object. I have a smack of Hamlet hi

37、mself. (A Concise History of Shakespeare Criticism, 69)Ernest Jones, in The Oedipus Complex as an Explanation of Hamlets Mystery(1910), A Psycho-Analytical Study of Hamlet(1923), argue that the reason for Hamlets hesitation was that if he had killed his uncle he will be a person who just want to ful

38、fill his desire:It is his moral duty, to which his father exhorts him, to put an end to the incestuous activities of his mother, but his unconscious does not want to put an end to them, and so he cannot. By refusing to abandon his own incestuous wishes he perpetuates the sin and so must endure the s

39、tings of torturing conscience. And yet killing his mothers husband would be equivalent to committing the original sin himself, which would if anything be even guiltier. So of the two impossible alternatives he adopts the passive solution of letting the incest continue vicariously, but at the same ti

40、me provoking destruction at the kings hand. ( Eenest Jones,1-90)In this chapter, with my limited knowledge, I have listed several literary writers commentary about Hamlet . Its a very simple summary.3. Wandering between the Edge of Love and HateAs we know, this tragedy mainly talked about the reveng

41、e of Hamlet, and around the plot develops, there are some people who have the distinctive personalities. Shakespeare vividly show us a soul-stirring story about conspiracy. In this play, the treatments that Hamlet towards the different person is worth to study.3.1 Love of Hamlet Hamlet is a gloomy p

42、rince who is always thinking too much. And we can easily guess that before his fathers death he must be a very romantic man, the world that he knows is beautiful. Then things changes: his father is murdered by his uncle; his mother is over-hasty to marry to his uncle after his fathers death; his for

43、mer friends are dispatched by the king to spy on him; his girl friend is sent as a tool to find out whether he is really mad or not. Although one incident after another, Hamlet did not compromise to the evil. He still persists in loving the people who cares him.3.1.1 Love of His FatherIn the beginni

44、ng of the play, Hamlet comes back to Denmark after hearing his fathers death. To start with the sadness, his mother conciliates him to cast his knighted color off, and be look like a friend on Denmark. Although Hamlet was an humanist and full of new ideas, he also could not hide his sadness, he says

45、:Nor customary suits of solemn black,Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,Nor the dejected haviour of the visage,Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,That can denote me truly. These indeed seem, For they are actions that a man might play; (Hamlet, A

46、ction1 Scene2, 22)Yes, all of those surpass a show, the real trappings and woe are hided in the heart. When he see his mother sits beside the new king and she seems do not very grief, Hamlet can not help but ffeel angry, he says:So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to

47、 my mother That he might not beteem the winds of heavenVisit her face to roughly. Heaven and earth ! Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on; (Hamlet, Act1 Scene2, 26)After he meets the ghost, and the ghost tells him the old king Hamlet is m

48、urdered by Claudius with juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, he is extremely angrily. He hopes himself with wings as swift, as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to his revenge. Because of the love of his father, he decides to take a revenge at all costs.3.1.2 Love of His MotherHis mother,

49、 Gertrude, is the source of all the conflicts in the play. And Hamlets deep thinking on his mothers remarriage and his later assault on her are the key point to make him live in agony. Some scholars insisted that in fact Hamlet do not love his mother because she marries to the new king just after ol

50、d hamlets funeral. As Hamlet says: “the funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.” (Hamlet, Act1 Scene2, 28) But I do not agree with them. Just as A.C. Bradley points out:It was not his fathers death; that doubtless brought deep grief, but mere grief for some one loved and lo

51、st does not make a noble spirit loathe the world as a place full only of things rank and gross. It was the moral shock of the sudden ghastly disclosure of his mothers true nature , falling towards him when his heart aching with love, and his body doubtless was weaken by sorrow(A.C. Bradley).From the

52、 sentences above, we can easily get the idea that its the cruel realities that make Hamlet lode the hope of the love from others including the original love for human beings. Personally speaking, parents give us lives, and spend all their life time and energy to offer us a better living environment,

53、 no matter who should love our parents. And of course everyone loves his or her parents even he is Hamlet. Hamlets filial love of his mother could be further proved by his agreement of his mothers plea :Queen. Let not thy mother lose her prayer, Hamlet: I pray thee stay with us, go not to Wittenberg

54、.Hamlet. I shall in all my best obey you, madam. (Hamlet,Act1 Scene2, 25)But after Hamlet solid about the truth that the man whom his mother marries is the killer, the image of a worthy mother is gone. After he is sent to her chamber, he begins to lecture her with harsh words, which almost break her

55、 heart. And this can be treated no respect for his mother. But the key is that we should differ “respect” from “love”. Though his respect to his mother disappears, his love to his mother rooted in the heart.In a word, the disappearing of respect towards his mother does not equal to disappearing of l

56、ove towards his mother.3.1.3 Love of His GirlfriendOpheliaIn Hamlet, the true love between Ophelia and Hamlet is a shining diamond in this play. She is an innocent, beautiful, law-abiding and docile girl. Although her father is one of the enemies of Hamlet, she still loves him without changing, and

57、Hamlet loves her either. He once wrote a letter for Ophelia:Doubt thou the stars are fire;Doubt that the sun doth move;Doubt truth to be a liar;But never doubt I love. O dear Ophelia, I am ill at this numbers; I have not art to reckon my groans; but that I love thee best. O most best, believe it. Ad

58、ieu.Time evermore, most my dear lady, whilst this machine is to him.(Hamlet, Act2 Scene2, 86)This passionate love letters can make every reader moved. From this letter we can see how tenderly and entirely Hamlet loves Ophelia. Believing that people are usually vulnerable before their lovers, with ra

59、re exception to Hamlet, Claudius and Polonius decided to let Ophelia find whether Hamlet is mad or not. The only way for Hamlet to trust the king is cruel to Ophelia who in fact is a helpless role used by her father and her brother. When Hamlet throws the harsh words towards Ophelia, in fact, he als

60、o breaks his own heart. Because those words are not come from his heart, so when use Ophelia to prove he is really mad, he also find a suitable way for her to escape from the disaster: Get thee to a nunnery! Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could ac

61、cuse me of such thing that it were better my mother had not borne me. (Hamlet, Act3 Scene1, 126) AS Hamlet predicts he and Ophelia may not have a happy ending, he tries to let Ophelia lose hope of him, and go to the nunnery. From the later story, we could see that if Ophelia did this, she will not l

62、ose her life.From all the proofs I found in the text, we can feel Hamlets deep love towards Ophelia.3.1.4 Love of HimselfAccording to the psychological analysis, peoples fear toward death because the world we exist after death is unsure, no one has got a clear idea about it. By the angle of Science,

63、 respect life is a human nature. We love life, love ourselves. Just as a Chinese saying that better bend than break. Hamlet love his life even though he always ready to die for revenge. So when he decides to take a revenge, he hesitates:To be, or not to be, thats the questionBut that the dread of so

64、mething after deathThe undiscovered country, from whose bournNo travelers returnspuzzles the will,And make us rather bear those ills we haveThus conscience does make crowds of us all(Hamlet, Act3 Scene1,124)So we should take Hamlet as a common person usually has the quality of selfishness, or we can

65、 say all of us love ourselves, including Hamlet.In this former chapter, I talk about the person that Hamlet love, and all the love comes from his inner heart, though the cruel reality force him to make a change, to be a cold bloody avenger, we can still feel his deep love for them. And next, I will talk about the person that he bitterly hate and look down upon.3.2 Hate of Hamlet3.2.1 Hate of Claudius Claudius, who is the example of ev