Gene Gill Philippe M.

Jaxon Ap Lit and Comp 7 March 2012 Break It Yourself: The Pitfalls of Self Reliance While interpretations of William Shakespeares Hamlet paint a picture of a troubled son seeking to avenge his fathers murder, the actual point of the play is conceptualized in the murderer, Claudius, not Hamlet. Once Claudius kills his brother, the ensuing events and characters are hallucinations projecting the new kings emotions and thoughts. Claudius hallucinations not only allow the reader to glean a psychoanalytical view of Claudius mind but also a deeper understanding of Shakespeares underlying theme. Killing, under any circumstance, profoundly affects an individual, easily creating strong, complex emotions. Claudius was not mentally prepared to kill his brother and never could have been. There are people that believe that there is no way to train someone to kill and be totally unaffected; that even on a subconscious level, something happens when you commit that act, when you actually pull the trigger (frontline). Soldiers are constantly diagnosed with a variety of mental illnesses after non-murderous killing. Claudius, having murdered his brother, is experiencing an incredible burden, undoubtedly causing him deep psychological trauma and easily causing hallucinations. Hamlet personifies Claudius remorse and guilt in his delusion, appearing soon after Claudius kills the king. Initially, The new king, who is more concerned about addressing his court, basking in his new kingly glory, and marrying his brothers wife,

ignores Hamlet. This reflects Claudius initial attempt to disregard his regret for his terrible act and focus on his personal gain. Almost immediately, however, Hamlet takes a place in front of his whole court, regret takes dominance over victory and Claudius tries his best to keep it satisfied. Of impious stubbornness; tis unmanly grief; It shows a will most incorrect to heaven, Claudius lectures Hamlet, his guilt (Shakespeare 1.2.93-94). The new king is trying to wash any feelings of remorse or sadness from him asserting himself over it and regarding those emotions as unmanly. Claudius succeeds to a certain extent, but merely momentarily. Punishment and retribution is a fundamental human experience, a resolution of the dissonance of guilt. Because Claudius kills his brother in secret, he cannot let go of his remorse and asks Hamlet to stay, a self induced punishment. However, at this point Claudius guilt is entirely subconscious; he is unaware Hamlet must stay in Denmark. A very present, yet hidden guilt has been well studied by Freud in The Economic Problem of Masochism, his subjects couldnt understand themselves [t]hey know well enough by what torments--the pangs of conscience--a conscious sense of guilt, a consciousness of guilt, expresses itself, and they therefore cannot admit that they could harbour exactly analogous impulses in themselves without being in the least aware of them. Claudius guilt, while obviously there, had not had a chance to present itself and therefore is easily denied by the deceitful king. The Murder of Gonzago is the realization of the subconscious guilt. The play forces Claudius to confront his treacherous deed. The play does not test Hamlets convictions, instead, it is a flashback in Claudius mind. Just as Hamlet created the play through the players, the flashback originates from remorse and materializes

through a proxy: Post Traumatic Stress disorder. This disorder, a major cause of flashbacks, and common in soldiers is caused predominately by guilt that troops experience because of moral dilemmas faced in combat not life threatening experiences (Zoroya). Claudius, because of his revealing flashback, is forced to make a decision to confront or suppress his resurging guilt. Claudius decision takes the form of prayer. Hamlets contemplation of murder in the same scene creates one of the most powerful and telling interactions between guilt and the suppression of guilt. Claudius, when forced to confront his wrongdoing, chooses repentance. When Hamlet, the personification regret and indent to punish, sees the repentance, he decides not to kill the king. However, as Hamlet departs, the disillusioned prayer disintegrates into a confession of insincerity, My words fly up thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go (Shakespeare 3.3.97-98) Claudius was successful is temporarily suppressing his feelings, through his confession and disingenuous apology but his forced acknowledgement of them signal the increasing strength of his guilt, and hamlets drive to act despite failing to do so on this occasion. Select few paradigms are commonly used to explain hamlets indecisiveness and procrastination in killing Claudius. These beliefs can be separated into three main arguments Hamlet is weak willed the habit of meditation paralyzes the capacity for action ... [or] Christian ethics, or moral scruples, are a deterrent to blood revenge (Reed 1). However, they are unwarranted and irrelevant, hamlet is not an actual character but a projection of Claudius mind, subject to being affected by other parts of the mind. Like any other emotion, the guilt and remorse Hamlet personifies waxes and wanes and consistently builds, like waves during the

approach of a high tide. This build creates a polarity between the characters and an everincreasing quandary in the kings mind. The Queen and Polonius are revealed to be personifications of Claudius emotions in the bedroom scene following the play. The queen represents the innocence of her new husband. Hamlet frustrated with his mother, who is a complete opposite to him, accuses her of Claudius of wrongdoing. The queen cries out in defense O Hamlet, speak no more: Thou turnst mine eyes into my very soul literally begging to cease to point out wrongdoing so she may remain delightfully unaware and maintain her veil of innocence (Shakespeare 3.4.89-90). Hamlet, as guilt, easily sees the ghost and becomes a slave to his demands of vengeance. Polonius is a physical embodiment of Claudius sense of security and defense against blame. He is the kings advisor; making sure the king succeeds and goes to the bedroom to make sure his innocence is not tainted by guilt. Polonius is crushed however in the face of hamlet, Even with the concealing curtain to hide behind, a trick Claudius had employed earlier in the play, Polonius is killed. Claudius must react to the killing and protect himself from the devastatingly humanizing remorse he is defenseless against. When guilt is forced to the surface, Claudius is forced to do his best to suppress it, employing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who represent blind blatant denial. Claudius attempts to kill hamlet using them, signifying attempts to deny his culpability outright. Guilt is not easily cast aside however; it prevails just as easily as Hamlet leaving Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to be killed in England. When his more passive approach to deal with his guilt fails, Claudius enlists Laertes to become his denial. Laertes, unlike

his predecessors, takes more direct approach though, finally attacking the guilt, through the proposed swordfight, instead of merely suppressing it. Sigmund Freuds idea of ego, id and super ego can be applied to the roles of Laertes and Hamlet in Claudius mind. Hamlet is the id, the basic impulse, an overwhelming feeling of remorse however. Claudius knows indulging his id however would be devastating, and creates Laertes as the Ego, an attempt to function in the world around him by denying any guilt. The Super ego, or conscience, if found in the interactions between Laertes and Hamlet, as the king struggles with his values deciding what he truly believes about what he did. In Claudius case, the ego is unable to carry out its of job of transforming the powerful forces of the id into more useful and realistic modes of satisfaction It attempts to harness the id's power, regulating it in order to achieve satisfaction despite the limits of reality (Cash). Claudius feeling of regret is simple to strong for his solitary mind and fundamentally week and confused superego. Ophelias funeral highlights Laertes new role as the kings psychopathic denial as well as revealing the conflict in the kings superego. Ophelia represents the rest of the kings emotions and thoughts. As regret begins to grow, the king is forced to obsess more and more other emotions begin to deteriorate just as Ophelias mind did. Her death was unnatural just as the death of Claudius emotions, brought upon by his despicable and still unpunished deed. When Ophelia is lowered into the grave a fight between Laertes and Hamlet ensues to debate who loved and cared about Ophelia more. This is the struggle in Claudius superego to determine whether it is right to indulge his guilt or suppress it, to establish witch is best. The interaction, while inconclusive, forebodes the final scene, where a judgment must be made.

Claudius, no longer able to suppress his guilt, creates the sword fight to finally confront his remorse by literally pitting the two conflicting ideas in his mind against each other, a fight to the death. Claudius favors Laertes, poisoning the drink and the blade; this does little to sway the battle though. As the two fight and confront the truth the queen drinks from the poisoned cup, signifying the death of the kings idea of innocence. Claudius now realizes he is, in fact, undeniably guilty. His psychopathic denial, Laertes, cannot stand either, freely admitting the kings guilt and role in the poisoned the sword and drink. Finally the king is faced with no more masking emotions. No denial, no ideas of innocence. The only remaining thought in Claudius mind is Guilt. Faced with this overwhelming of emotion the king is forced to punish himself, consumed by remorse all parts of him dead at the conclusion of the play, He takes his own life. Shakespeare tragic drama of a solitary madman presents a blunt idea for the reader: Man is not a solitary creature. We need society, government, and other people. When and individual has no word outside of themselves their mind becomes their word. Faced with innately human experiences, such as guilt, sadness, and even joy their fragile world is unable to experience and cope but is overwhelmed and the individual spirals into madness. As Charles Bukowski illustrates There will always be something to ruin our lives, it all depends on what or which finds us first. We are always ripe and ready to be taken. Alone an individual has no chance against these forces of destruction. This effect universal and is mirrored in nature: Cows, fed cow brains contract mad cow disease, Inbreeding can destroy populations, Autoimmune diseases attack their own bodys, Stars collapse into black holes (Bird). Getting to close to yourself is disastrous. Claudius was alone, no one to punish him, to talk to, to deal with his dastardly deed. With no one to

break his guilt for him by punishing him, he was forced to break it himself by taking his own life.

Works Cited: Zoroya, G.. "Study suggests feelings of guilt may be a top factor in ptsd." USA today. USA today, 2011. Web. 1 Mar 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-11-23/study-of-marinesptsd/51386488/1>. Reed, Robert. Hamlet, the psudo procrastinator. Cash, Adam. "Understanding the Id, Ego, and Superego in Psychology." n. page. Print. "The impact of killing & how to prepare the soldier." PBS.og. Frontline, 2005. Web. 13 Feb 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heart/themes/prep.html>. Bird, Andrew. "Andrew Bird's one-man orchestra of the imagination." TED2010 Longbeach, California. Feb, 2010 Concert/Ted talk. Shakespear, William. Hamlet. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Print.