The Theory Of 'Oedipus' Vengeance In Shakespeare's Hamlet

Revenge is when a person wants to retaliate for someone else’s wrongdoing. When someone does something terrible to another person, it is human instinct for that person to seek revenge to get even. In the tragic play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the main character Hamlet vows to avenge his father’s death at the hands of Claudius. Instead of Hamlet being eager to jump to his father’s request, Hamlet delays several times throughout the play. Every time Hamlet goes to seek revenge, something always gets in his way whether it is the theory of the Oedipus complex, his faith, or his in ability to decipher when he is mad or thinking straight.

The Oedipus complex is a psychoanalytic theory introduced by Sigmund Freud. This theory is derived from the Sophocles play, Oedipus the King, who unintentionally murdered his father and married his mother. The Oedipus complex is when a male is infatuated with his mother and battles with his father for maternal attention. Freud states that all men unconsciously want to sleep with their mother. In Hamlet, Hamlet sees Claudius as the man who killed his father and married his mother. Hamlet delays his revenge because Claudius represents his deepest desires to sleep with his mother. Freud

Hamlet is clearly very religious throughout he play, but he comes into obstacles with whether or not he is doing the Christian thing. Because of Hamlet’s faith, he is more indecisive and thinks more about his actions. For example, Hamlet had a perfect time to complete the revenge when Claudius was down on his knees praying. Hamlet says, “Now might I do it pat. Now he is a-praying. And now I’ll do’t. And so he goes to heaven. And so am I revenged.—That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven,” (Hamlet p.167 Act 3, ll. 77-83). Right when he had a clear chance to revenge his father, he stopped because