Little Hamlet

In the critical essay by Earnest Jones, it is stated that the psychological understanding of Hamlet's personality and behavior is a case of insanity. It wasn't in Shakespeare's intent to regard Hamlet as insane, but that is how us readers often interpret him. As seen in Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams, Hamlet suffers from psychoneurosis. According to Jones, "psychoneurosis means a state of mind where the person is unduly, and often painfully, driven or thwarted by the 'unconscious' part of his mind." One can relate this statement to Hamlet. His father's brutal murder gave action to his insanity. His thirst for revenge pushed Hamlet to manifest his emotions through desperate and impulsed actions. Hamlet's repressed childhood can explain the real reason behind him murdering his uncle. If as a child, "sane" Hamlet resented his father for taking some of his mother's affection, and secretly wished him out of the way, as years went by, these thoughts would be repressed and all traces of them "obliterated." But if "insane" Hamlet thought of such things as a child, then as the years went by, these thoughts would remain with him and therefore, explain his actions. If what Hamlet wanted was his mother's affection, then his father's death was only an excuse (even though it was first the cause) for his uncle's murder, leaving the audience with a feeling of pity and sympathy at the end of the play.