20th Century Criticisms

20th Century Criticisms

1. Psychoanalytic Approaches look at the Character's Mind

   • Psychoanalytic critics examine the characters' repressed desires and search for hidden messages in text's imagery and symbolism
   • 20th Century Criticism was mainly concerned with character analysis. Hamlet's delay, was considered the play's main weakness

2. Freud's Oedipal Analysis

   • Freud believed that the unconscious mind was full of thoughts, feelings and memories that people were unaware of but that influenced their behaviour
   • Freud argued that Hamlet can take action because he murders Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
   • Hamlet's hesitation comes from his unconscious mind, because hamlet has a repressed desire for his mother
   • Claudius achieves what Hamlet subconsciously wished he had done (killing his father and sleeping with his mother)
   • Elrich's Father Figure Analysis
     • Elrich didn't agree with Freud's approach. He questioned whether Freud was just imposing his own beliefs about the Oedipus Complex
     • Every boy needs a strong father who they can imitate and he believed that Hamlet's psychological problems are caused by the lack of this strong father figure.
     • He explained the delay occurs because Hamlet wants his weak father to be strong and take his own revenge

3. A.C Bradley focused on Character Criticism

   • Bradley thought that the plot should be unified and that tragedy comes mainly from character and the character's actions, rather than the plot
   • He argued that the conflict in Hamlet is a result of Hamlet's "inward struggle" from his reluctance to fulfil the role of the traditional revenger
   • Hamlet is a "man who at any other time and in any other circumstances...would have been perfectly equal to his task"
   • Hamlet's lack of action is caused by his disgust for his mother's lustfulness. Gertrude's actions and Hamlet's sensitive nature meant that he also became disgusted with the world, and this stopped him from acting.