The psychology of Hamlet : read at the meeting of the Psychological Society of Great Britain, May 1, 1879 / by Mr. Serjeant Cox.

  • Edward William Cox
Date:
[1878]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The psychology of Hamlet : read at the meeting of the Psychological Society of Great Britain, May 1, 1879 / by Mr. Serjeant Cox. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    in ghosts was universal. When Shakespeare made such marvellous dramatic use of the supernatural, it would have been deemed insanity to question that spirits walk the earth. Then comes the interview with the Ghost; the revelation of that murder “ most foul, strange, and unnatural.” With one of Hamlet’s melancholy temperament such a tale could not but “ han’ow up his soul, freeze his young blood.” And it wrought a sudden change in him. His one object in life thenceforth should be to avenge his father’s murder. To this end, in the haste of the moment, he devises that scheme of pretended lunacy which explains the whole future action and apparent contradictions of the play. He will “ put an antic disposition on ” to avert suspicion from his real purpose. Nothing can be more explicit than his intimation that he was going to assume a character with a distinct and obvious design. Nevertheless, in the face of this express avowal, volumes have been written to con- tend that Hamlet was really mad. The voices of his frightened friends remind him that he has a part to play, and his purpose is even then avowed. He had resolved to feign madness with obvious design. But very soon his constitutional irresolution returns. He doubts, hesitates. I am not sure that he does not—what we see so many do among ourselves—after awhile begin to question his senses and doubt to-morrow what he has seen to-day. If he does not banish the vision altogether, he certainly begins to doubt if it was an “ honest ” ghost. It was the popular belief that the devil could assume all shapes, even those of angels, for the entrapping of souls, and this reflection made him hesitate again. Certainly this irresolution, this wavering between duty (for such was vengeance to him) and doubt could not but disturb somewhat a mind not naturally well balanced. He [270]