Oedipus Complex Essay

In the scope of the Freudian theory of psychology, the Oedipus complex is a sexual desire of involvement with the parent of the opposite sex while having an associated rivalry with the parent of the same sex. The name derives from Oedipus, King of Thebes in Ancient greek mythology. Oedipus was born into the Theban royal family, abandoned, and unknowingly adopted by the Corinthian Royal Family. Upon hearing the Oracle of Delphi’s tell him that he was fated to slay his father and marry his mother, he decides never to return to Corinth (while still not knowing that they are his adoptive parents). On his way to Thebes, Oedipus kills his father and then marries the widowed queen (his mother). Oedipus and his mother have four children; when the truth comes out, the queen kills herself and Oedipus blinds himself and goes into exile. Freud believes that the Oedipus myth shows a desire in each person to hate and wish to murder their father, while sexually lusting for their mother as stated in Die Traumedutung, “it is the fate of all of us, perhaps, to direct our first sexual impulse towards our mother and our first hatred and our first murderous wish against our father” (Freud 921). Due to this complex, Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia is greatly clarified. Being that Hamlet subconsciously lusts for his mother (Gertrude), he tries to distance himself from Ophelia by saying things to the extent of “get thee to a nunnery” (Shakespeare 3.1.131) inferring she is a whore. However, Hamlet retracts his statements by saying “I lov’d Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/ could not with all their quantity of love/ make up my sum” (Shakespeare 5.1.285-287). These interactions with Ophelia blatantly show Hamlet suffering from the Oedipus complex. He toils in his mind over the two women; Ophelia is better suited for him but he struggles with the sexual nuances between Gertrude and himself. Not only does the Oedipus complex explain Hamlet’s strange relation with Ophelia, it also clarifies Hamlet’s delay in the murder of King Claudius. According to Freud, King Claudius is “the man who shows him [Hamlet] the repressed wishes of his own childhood realized” (Freud 923). As Freud explains, King Claudius is the …show more content…
Hamlet’s first soliloquy shows great insight to his inner thoughts and torment relating towards his mother. Hamlet states “Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, / She married. O, most wicked speed, to post/With such dexterity to incestuious Sheets!/ It is not, nor cannot come to good./But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue”(Shakespeare 1.2.158-164). Hamlet is preoccupied with his mother’s personal life. Furthermore, this quote appears to show Hamlet subconsciously awaiting his father’s death. Hamlet does not even mention sadness over his father’s death until the ghost shows up and tasks Hamlet to go and kill Claudius. This event conjectures how Hamlet is content after his father's demise. The oedipus complex rears its ugly head yet again when Hamlet shows his true feelings for his mother. In act three scene four, Hamlet storms into Gertrudes quarters to scold her. He commands her to not to sleep with Claudius. In this scene of the play Hamlet confesses to his mother and tells her how he really feels about her and her relationship with the