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

  • Cox, Edward W. (Edward William), 1809-1879.
Date:
[1878]
Catalogue details

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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    revenge—liis conviction that a duty had heen imposed upon him to which he must sacrifice the past and all its fond records. How terrible was this mental struggle is shown in that wonderful scene with Ophelia, in which he bids her go to a nunnery. How he wavers between his long cherished love for the girl, whom he believes to have been thrown in his way purposely to try him, and his resolve to sustain his assumed character in the presence of the spies who were watching him. Here again we see the characteristics of the man betraying themselves in his indecision, his cynical philosophy, his reflective habits, his incapacity for action—a character by no means rare in social life. Who has not known men who can think profoundly and well, but cannot do; who rightly point the way, but want the force of will to follow it ? That is the character of Hamlet. He is a moody man, and, like all moody men, his spirits are sometimes extravagantly high, sometimes wretchedly low. Even his humour is tinged with melancholy, as witness the dialogue with the gravediggers. According to the mood of the moment is the aspect to him of the world and all its belongings. It must be remembered, also, that he was possessed with the superstition that prevailed down to a very recent time. He was a philosopher of the schools, and when Shakespeare embodied this marvellous creation of his genius, even philosophers did not doubt the existence of ghosts. It was a part of the world’s ci’eed, and to question it would have been deemed as rank a heresy as atheism. This must be taken into account in any estimate of the character of Hamlet as exhibited in his speech and conduct. He never for a moment doubted that he had seen a visitor from the other world. The doubt that troubled him was not if his senses had deceived him, or imposture trifled with him, but if the Ghost really was the actual personality it professed to be. It miqlit be a devil. Was it his father’s [268]