Loss Of Innocence In Hamlet

McDermott 4 In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the character Hamlet is depicted as paralyzed into inaction due to the traumatic events of his father’s murder and his mother’s betrayal in her marriage to his uncle. Sigmund Freud, in his essay “Interpretation of Dreams”, perceives this inaction as a result of Hamlet’s incestuous feelings for his mother. Based on the text, it is obvious that Hamlet is reluctant to carry out the quest given by his father because of his fear of losing his innocence. This is seen in his dialogue with others when talking about his mother, his inability to let go of the past, and his hesitation to act, even though he’s shown he is capable of doing so. Through William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the use of the
Hamlet throughout the play is constantly pushed forward to killing Claudius by the apparition of his father; these appearances indicate that Hamlet is unwilling to move passed his father’s death, which for him would mean accepting his loss in a parent and a loss in his final obstacle before manhood. Hamlet is no longer a son, but he has yet to be king, as Claudius has usurped the throne. Most sons would be adamant to try and obtain what should’ve been there’s, but Hamlet sees kingship as his entrance to adulthood, which forever will strip the innocent world he had believed in. This reasoning is supported in Hamlet’s reaction to seeing his father’s ghost after the murder of Polonius, “Save me, and hover o’er me with your wings, you heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure?” (Shakespeare 63). Hamlet pleads with the specter to guard and keep him safe, even though he is not certain that this is even his father and neither an evil poltergeist nor a hallucination created from the stress Hamlet has endured. Hamlet’s willingness to accept this absurd apparition, indicates Hamlet’s wish to stay a son, or moreover a child. If Hamlet realizes that he is no longer a son, he must realize the world he also desperately clings to is no longer his reality. Freud asserts that Hamlet is avoiding carrying out his quest because he sees himself as no better than Claudius, as they both desired his mother; Claudius was just more willing to take any measures to achieve it. “Thus the loathing which should drive him on to revenge is replaced in him by self-reproaches, by scruples of conscience, which remind him that he himself is literally no better than the sinner whom his is to punish.” (Freud 282-283). It is obvious that Hamlet does not view Claudius as an equal, but rather he fears Claudius because his death represents Hamlet’s