Just as concerts emerge from the interaction of many instruments, so our understanding of Shakespeare is enriched by different approaches to him. Psychoanalysis assumes that creative writers have the need to both reveal and conceal their own inner conflicts in their works. They leave residues in their works that, if we pay attention, can become building blocks that reveal aspects of the unconscious. Readers may find that the questions raised add to the pleasure of reading Shakespeare and that they deepens their understanding of his plays. Topics covered include the pivotal position of Hamlet, the poet and his calling, the Oedipus complex, intrapsychic conflict, the battle against paranoia and the homosexual compromise. By using psychoanalytic techniques in analyzing his plays and characters, the author reveals more about Shakespeare's hidden motivations and mental health.
Preface: Why this book was written , The Pivotal Position of Hamlet ,
Hamlets Enigmas , Hamlet: the inability to mourn and the inability to love ,
The Poet and his Calling , A Midsummer Nights Dream: how Shakespeare won the
right to write plays , The Tempest: the abdication of creativity , Timon of
Athens: the loss of creativity , The Oedipus Complex , Richard III: the
Oedipus complex and the villain , Julius Caesar and Freuds Totem and Taboo ,
Macbeth: an audacious variant on the oedipal theme , Antony and Cleopatra:
dangerous dotage , Coriolanus: an astounding description of a destructive
motherchild relationship , King Lear: the daughter as a replacement for the
mother , Richard II: abdication as a fathers reaction to the Oedipus complex
, Intrapsychic Conflict , Measure for Measure: the disintegration of a harsh
superego , The Battle Against Paranoia , Othello: motiveless malignity or
latent homosexuality? , The Winters Tale: latent homosexuality and paranoia
, The Homosexual Compromise , The Merchant of Venice: a portrayal of
masochistic homosexuality , Twelfth Night: a sublimation of bisexuality in
homosexuality
Martin S Bergmann