Hamlet and Macbeth: A Psychoanalytical Reading

Abstract

The theatrical performances and plays are often considered to be an effectual on the stage for the supernatural, natural, soliloquies and different other forms of literary terms and concepts. They evoke emotion not only in the mind of the characters of the play but they also evoke emotion in minds of the audience. Shakespeare plays arouse the intensity of emotion which advocates universal themes such fear, anger, hatred, jealousy, greed etc. Shakespeare uses the aspects of psychology in the mind of the characters to show how a real person would react in real life by appealing to the unconscious and hidden thought. This paper aims to focus on William Shakespeare’s plays Hamlet and Macbeth through the lens of Freudian psychoanalytical perspective. This study focuses on the dark side of human characters which is repressed from the external world.