PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA AND IMPOSSIBLE LOVE IN HAMLET
PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA AND IMPOSSIBLE LOVE IN HAMLET

Summary/Abstract: Over the centuries, “Hamlet” has been the subject of countless critical approaches from brilliant scholarly thinkers, from Samuel Johnson to Harold Bloom. The present article strives to investigate from an interdisciplinary critical perspective how Hamlet’s psyche is affected by the appearance of his father’s ghost. Drawing on sources as diverse as neo-classical, romantic, and psychoanalytical criticism, the article explores the inner changes that shift Hamlet’s perception of the nature of his Self, resulting in the instability of his relationship with other characters. The second section investigates the particularities of Hamlet’s desire concerning the women of the play to show how his malignant desire destroys familial and romantic bonds, finally leading to his traumatic influence on other characters such as Ophelia and Gertrude.

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