Psychoanalytic criticism throughout Hamlet

All throughout the play Hamlet, by Shakespeare, Hamlet himself acts as if he is crazy. In
his mind, all of the shouting about random nonsense was for a good cause. No matter what his
motives were, these actions still portray psychoanalytic criticism.
Psychoanalytic criticism is an example of how the text/film is a reflection of someones
emotional condition, or mental state. Absolutely anything the character does could be taken into
consideration for their state. Whether it be their thoughts, actions, words, or even what they eat.
In the novel, Hamlet seems more aggressive. He sputters off random words when certain
people come near, and knowingly gives off the idea that he is crazy. The fact that he does all of
this on purpose just shows the psychoanalytic criticism in the play.
On the other hand, in the film, Hamlet always seems calm, collected, and almost caring. But
only to start with, then suddenly a switch flips and he goes crazy. During this state of mind, he is
only thinking about himself and what scheme he can stir up to get revenge for his father. The
psychoanalytic criticism is shown by Hamlets ability to change his personality in an instant.
In the film, the argument between Hamlet and Ophelia started off smoothly. Its almost as if
Hamlet is playing a mind game, which is an obvious sign of psychoanalytic criticism. You
should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it.
I loved you not. (Hamlet IIIi 117-119) He starts off being a normal loving man, but within
seconds turns into an evil self esteem crusher. He rips into Ophelia and says nothing but harsh
words.
While Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude, are talking, things start getting out of hand. Hamlets
temper starts to rise, so in the novel, Polonius is spying on the conversation from behind a
curtain and yells out for help. How now? A rat? Dead for a ducat, dead. (Hamlet IIIiv 24-25)
The psychoanalytic criticism in this scene is displayed by the way Hamlet reacted to Polonius
shouting out. He didnt take a second to even think about what he was about to do. He just
instantly lashed out and stabbed at the curtain, not knowing for certain of the identity of who was
behind them. He had a false hope of it being Claudius. This act of immaturity and inability to
control himself gives a clear idea of his state of mind.
Hamlets lack of self control and carelessness towards other people displays his crazy state of
mind, which in turn portrays how psychoanalytic criticism is shown in both the film and the
novel.