Summary:
“Lawrence and Lacan on ‘The Transformation of Hamlet’” written by Misook Kang is a journal article that analyses two essays written on Hamlet. Missouk Kans is an Associate professor at Inje University in Korea. Her article compares D.H. Lawrence and Jacques Lacan’s readings of Shakespeare’s play by focusing on Hamlet’s view of women. Both Lawrence and Lacan find the source of Hamlet’s insanity in his relationships with women, specifically in his attitude toward the sexuality of women. One of Lacan’s hypotheses about the play is that Hamlet’s prompt action for revenge is hindered by his desire of his mother. Lacan argues that Hamlet does not follow the pattern of an Oedipal narrative in which he would have most likely identified himself with Claudius, the recipient of his mother’s love. Instead, Hamlet chooses to not choose between the two kings because Gertrude’s voracious desire is the basic determinant for his own desire. To support this argument, Lacan points to the closet scene of Act III, where Hamlet attempts to make his mother renounce her love for Claudius. When she expresses her willingness to follow Hamlet’s demand, Hamlet abruptly relinquishes it. Lacan considers Hamlet’s unconscious will to not commit as the main cause of his tormented mental state. Hamlet does not know what he wants so he cannot find a way out of his situation of his dependence on his mother. Kang, the author of the article then compares Lawrence and Lacan’s discussions of Ophelia and relates them to Hamlet’s sense of the body.
Kang then proceeds to share the two thinker’s opinions on the relationship between Ophelia and the male characters in the play. Lacan concludes that there must have been some authorial intent when Shakespeare chose to expand Ophelia’s function in the play compared to earlier in the story. Given that Ophelia is not present in a large chunk of the play, the three stages by which she is linked to Hamlet are what capture Lacan’s attention. The first of these so called stages is when Ophelia reports Hamlet’s behavior when he visits her after seeing the ghost of his father which shows the strange indecisiveness toward her. The second stage is after the nunnery scene in Act III when Hamlet speaks to her about sex and having children and that she is no better than a woman conceived as the bearer of children which he curses. Lacan attempts to identify Ophelia with the phallus and argues that she is marginalized and rejected by Hamlet as a symbol signifying life and the creation thereof. The third stage is after Ophelia is dead. Only with her death is she reintegrated into the play when Hamlet finally makes his declaration of love. Her emergence in the play corresponds with the trajectory of the way Hamlet could attain his own individuality. Kang states that Lawrence’s essay does not include as elaborate of a discussion of Ophelia, however she thinks he would agree with much of Lacan’s analysis. Unlike Lacan, who sees Ophelia as “bait” and a man’s object of desire, Lawrence demonstrates moe sympathy toward women. Lawrence is apparently more alert and resolute toward gender stereotypes and is repulsed by by Hamlet for his conceited perversion with Ophelia.
Gender Theory in Hamlet 