Freud on Shakespeare: An Approach to Psychopathetic Characters

Abstract

What happens when the fictional characters of Shakespeare are transformed from the stage/page to the analyst's couch? Sigmund Freud's interest in literature permeates all his work and much of his life. His lively and informative views on Shakespeare, scattered throughout his works, are indeed a fascinating topic. This paper attempts to trace Freud's analytical approach to Shakespeare in general and his observations of psychopathetic characters in five plays-Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Macbeth and Richard III. While Freud refers to Shakespeare frequently in his writings, there is an obvious missing link in the Freudian Shakespeare; among Shakespeare's four major tragedies, he leaves Othello out. Aiming at filling out Freud's silence about a major Shakespeare play, I will attempt a short disquisition on Othello. The paper will end with an examination of psychoanalysis as a critical tool.