Hamlet and the Oedipus Complex The play Hamlet by William Shakespeare contains elements very similar to Sophocles' Greek myth, Oedipus Rex. In the late 1800s to early 1900s, a Vienna-based physician, Sigmund Freud, developed a theory based on the events of the play Oedipus Rex, which has since been dubbed the "Oedipus Complex." Ernest Jones also applied his knowledge of Freudian psychology and wrote a convincing article suggesting that Hamlet cannot kill his uncle Claudius because of his repressed feelings for his mother. In the story of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus fulfills a prophecy given to him, by killing his father Laius and sleeping with his mother Jocasta. When Oedipus realizes that he has fulfilled the prophecy, he gouges out his eyes, causing blindness. In Shakespeare's masterpiece, Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark finds himself stuck in the Oedipus scene (uncle instead of his father.) As the play progresses, Hamlet seems unable to cope to his repressed childhood feelings, leaving him in a state of confusion and melancholy. Hamlet struggles to find the truth among the people he once trusted. He seems disturbed because of his lustful feelings for his mother Gertrude, while his hatred for his uncle Claudius seems to deepen. There are many parallels we can draw between Shakespeare's Hamlet and Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Freud used the Greek myth Oedipus Rex as a means of breaking down the human subconscious. According to Freud, all men suffer from the Oedipus complex. The Oedipus complex can be defined as a man's unconscious desire to lust after his mother and the desire to kill his father. Freud believed that there are two opposing forces within every human being. He said that the ...... middle of article ......nes, E. Hamlet and Oedipus, in Bevington, David Twentieth Century Interpretations of Hamlet. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1968 Kovesi, Dr S. Conference Paper “Hamlet and Psychoanalysis” 2002 Shakespeare, W. Hamlet The Oxford Shakespeare ed. Olver, HJ Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982Information regarding Freud's theory and works from website addresseshttp://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/4158 (General information)http://www.freudpage. com/en-us /freud/psychotheory1.html (Classical psychoanalytic theory)http://www.mii.kurume-u.ac.jp/~leuers/Freud.htmn (Psychoanalytic theory)http://www.geocities. com/~mhrowell/ (Psychoanalytic theory) http://fox.klte.hu/~keresofi/psychotherapy/index.shtml (Dictionary of psychoanalytic terms) http://www.vuw.ac.nz/psyc/vornikFreud/FRONT .HTM (General Information and Psychoanalytic Theory)