Incest in Hamlet! What fun!

For this weeks assignment we were told to write about something to do with Hamlet that we have not fully covered in class. I thought talking about incest would be fun! Most of these ideas I claim wholly as my own so they might not actually be correct. Actually, who am I kidding? Shakespeare was a twisted guy...I'm totally right.

1.) Claudius and Gertrude:

The relationship between Hamlet's uncle and mother is the most obvious example of incest in the play. Only two months after Hamlet's father died, they got married. This made Hamlet quite angry and uncomfortable. He can be quoted in his angsty soliloquy as saying that "She married. (Gertrude) O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!" (Act 1) Marriage between in-laws was looked down on at that time by the Christian church because it was considered incest. The fact that it was so speedy after the late King Hamlet's death did not help.

2.) Polonius and Ophelia:

Before you go all crazy on me for this one, hear me out. I am not claiming that Polonius and Ophelia had a sexual relationship but I am claiming that their relationship went a bit further than the average father and daughter relationship. Hamlet refers to Polonius as a "fishmonger" throughout the play, implying that Polonius acts as his daughter's pimp to gain power. It is true that Polonius does consistently push the theory that Hamlet was driven mad by his love for Ophelia. His control over his daughter and her love life can also be seen when he warns her to stay away from Hamlet because he will not be a committed beau. Ophelia always listens to him. She is completely dependent and seems to make no real decisions of her own.  When Polonius is killed, Ophelia is driven mad with grief. She sings songs about dead lovers and flowers. It is true that some think the lover in the songs is Hamlet, yet one of the songs describes the dead lover as having a white beard. They were not sexually involved but I do think that Ophelia had very complex feelings for her father and the line between father and love-interest is shown as being very blurred when she descends into madness.

3.) Hamlet and Gertrude

So I'm absolutely positive that there is nothing physical going on between these two but I do think that Hamlet talks WAY too much about his mother's sex life. I think he has a bit of an Oedipus Rex complex. Of course he couldn't really do the killing the father part of the complex since his Uncle did that for him...Perhaps there's a bit of jealousy in Hamlet's despise for Claudius. Perhaps his need to avenge his father comes from his guilt that he has some serious mommy issues.