心理冲突在《哈姆雷特》中的展现

心理冲突在《哈姆雷特》中的展现

刘　容

（四川师范大学外国语学院　四川成都　610047）

摘要：几个世纪以来，莎士比亚的著名戏剧《哈姆雷特——丹麦王子》在语言写作、人物塑造以及情节编排方面赢得了持久的赞誉。而本文旨在讨论其人物心理冲突的展现。这一点是通过人物的对话和独白这样的戏剧手法得以实现。人物的心理冲突展现不仅能够圆满地塑造人物，推动情节的发展而且对于展现伊丽莎白社会有着积极的作用。再者，莎士比亚的这一手法有着重大的文学意义。因此，通过深入人物复杂的内心世界，读者能够得到更多的文学享受和启发。

关键词：心理冲突；展现；戏剧手法；对话；独白

Presentation of Psychological Conflicts in Hamlet

Assuming the year of 1601 saw the born of an outstanding drama composed by Shakespeare—Hamlet，Prince of Denmark，so up to now with elapsing of four centuries，people are still engrossed in the tragedy of Hamlet and concentrations are found in its plot planning，language writing and the hindering of revenge etc.．The more striking point，however，is focused on its successful character portrayal such as the depiction of a melancholy，deeply reflective and keenly observant Hamlet，a contemptible，loathsome and treacherous Claudius as well as other characters．Specifically，the presentation of psychological conflicts of characters is assumed to make extraordinary contribution to vivid character portrayal and has deep effect on plot manipulation．Psychological conflicts within the inner world of characters would be a vivid and concrete image of the real world even though it is in a subjective and abstractive form．It won Shakespeare great reputation and has unusual literary significance．Hamlet is an ancient story not a new one，but it was Shakespeare who was capable of waking in new shoes along old road made advancing adaptation by plot planning and the usage of poetic and chosen language which is profound in wisdom and philosophy thus has strong power for vivid character portrayal especially for presentation of psychological conflicts．Shakespeare’s outstanding writing faculty made the psychological conflicts emerge out of characters by dramatic means，i.e．their discourse and soliquys．and gave readers great enjoyment while penetrating into the inner conflicts of characters.

As mentioned previously Hamlet，Prince of Denmark is an ancient story．It originated from a family feud in northern history and saga that was first told by Saxo Grammaticus in his Historian Danica in 1514．Then in 1576 Belleforest told his version of Hamlet in the fifth volume of his Histories Tagiques．Later on，it went to Thomas Kyd’s turn to rewrite this thrilling story．He made great advancement in character portrayal and plot manipulation．His work is well known as Ur-Hamlet in which he first adopted ghost that was succeeded by Shakespeare later．Then what was the former story of Hamlet like？ According to Belleforest’s version，the original story was quite a different one compared to Shakespeare’s version．In pre-Christian time，the King Hamlet was slain by murderer．The public was convinced that it was for the defense of the queen．Hamlet’s disguised madness was accounted for protecting himself．When being sent to Britain，Hamlet married the daughter of Britain and remained in England for a whole year．At the time returning to Denmark and finding that the villainous king was celebrating the death of him，Hamlet，in extreme wrath，set fire to palace and the king died in fire to receive his deserved punishment．How about Shakespeare’s version of Hamlet？As a successor，he absorbed the elite of all his predecessors，including plot manipulation，employment of ghost as well as elaborate and vivid character engraving and even appropriate adaptation and making out new things，i.e．profound language and dramatic presentation of characters’ psychological conflicts．The following is the main story of Hamlet of Shakespeare’s version.

Hamlet，prince of Denmark，experienced a life of sorrow，melancholy，gloomy，and perplexing conflicts，hesitation and revenge．After being informed of the truth of his father’s murder by the King’s ghost，Hamlet decided to disguise himself in madness in order to dig out the fact before seeking revenge on the usurping emperor—Claudius who was not only ruling the country at that time but also married Gertrude，the former queen and Hamlet’s mother．Then such a play of murder was performed before the king as was arranged by Hamlet deliberately．Later on，the conscience-stricken king escaped the breathtaking murder show and preyed sincerely in his chamber．Hamlet witnessed and eavesdropped that on the spot．The angered prince then went into his mother’s room and took the life of Polonius，the chief counselor to Claudius，whom Hamlet had mistaken for Claudius．Committing such a slaughter，poor Hamlet was sent to England by Claudius whose intrigue was weaved to kill Hamlet there．However，the hero survived the murder and had a fencing match with Polonius’s son Laertes．In the last scene of the play，the villainous king was killed．However their sword had been previously poisoned by Claudius．Both Hamlet and Laertes died．The queen was also poisoned to die．The play ends tragically with the death of all the principal characters.

The great differences between the original story and Shakespeare’s lie not only in plot manipulation but also character portrayal that have intrinsic and compact connection with psychological conflicts presentation respectively．Shakespeare’s version won vast popularity from the Elizabethan audience who were quite attracted by the characters：being overwhelmed by Hamlet’s bitterness and psychological conflicts，sorrowing for Ophelia’s madness and melancholy life，yet being wrathful for Claudius’s usurpation，treachery，incest and slyness and，signing for Gertrude’s weakness and incompetence．How could Shakespeare exert such effect on his audience and why did Shakespeare prevail over his predecessors？ The reasons are not only accounted for drama itself but its dramatic realization of psychological conflicts of characters that can strike audience much and make audience embrace the complex inner world of characters．Characters’ discourse and soliquys is the dramatic way of realization of psychological conflicts．For example，in Scene II of Act I：

HAMLET．Or that the everlasting had not fixed

His canon’gainst self-slaughter．O God，God

How weary，stale，flat，and unprofitable

Seem to me all the uses of this world！

Fie on’t，ah，fie’tis an unweeded garden

That grows to seed.（1．2．131～136）

The soliquy of Hamlet is plentiful evidence of conflicts within his mind．That is he had no way but to live in the cruel “unweeded garden” which he disgusted intensely．Then what kind of role is presentation of psychological conflicts played in Hamlet？ As I concerned it should be summed up as three aspects，i.e．plot promotion，unfolding internal world of characters and revealing the Elizabethan society.

First of all，for plot promotion，it has something to do with the style，i.e．drama．In a drama，how could audience know the development of plot？ Undoubtedly audience can get clue through characters’ discourses and soliquys，which bridge the gap between characters’inner world and audiences．Demonstrated in this article，presentation of psychological conflicts of characters contributes a lot to plot promotion．Horatio，Hamlet’s loyal friend，found the ghost previously．Curiously enough，he still feared to make conversation with the ghost．He said：“ It harrows me with fear and wonder.”（Act I，Scene I）When was urged by Marcellous，he spoke to it with terrible dread，illustrated by Barnardo’s discourse：“ How now，Horatio？ You tremble and look pale.”（Act I，Scene I） It was exactly the conflicts between curiosity and dread that made people eager to make out what the ghost was and inform Hamlet of it．So，from this way，psychological conflicts exert deep influence on promotion of plot．As concerned Hamlet’s hesitation to seek revenge，conspicuously it is for the sake of long lasting of the story and the complication of the plot as well as ethical norm of Christian time，but hesitation of Hamlet revealed his vehement psychological conflicts．After long time of reflection，musing，desperation and wrath then it was the high time to execute public justice but Hamlet hesitated，he considered：

“Why，this is hire and salary，nor revenge.

‘A took my father grossly，full of bread，

With all his crimes broad blown，as flush as may；

And how his audit stands，who knows save heaven？

But in our circumstance and course of thought，

‘Tis heavy with him，and am I then revenged，

To take him in the purging of his soul，

When he is fit and seasoned for his passage？

No.（3．3．79～87）

Suppose without such hesitation，the king would have been slain immediately by Hamlet，so as to reach the peak of ploy as well as it’s end．There would be no other stories should be told by Shakespeare to readers，no the queen’s true repent，no Laertes’ seeking revenge and the final breathtaking fence matching and the most intriguing scene of the story —all main characters died．To most probability，the tragedy of Hamlet should not be titled as tragedy but tragic-comedy since the hero got success and survived only villains died．With such unsatisfactory point，Shakespeare’s version of Hamlet would crash down to a failure，if being more seriously．So the importance of hesitation of Hamlet i.e．his psychological conflicts for seeking revenge or not cannot be ignored．It plays an extremely vital role in the plot planning without it：Shakespeare’s story of Hamlet would confront a disaster.

Furthermore，Hamlet’s pretended madness was not only the reflection of psychological conflicts in his mind but also the necessity for plot development i.e．making further convincement of Claudius’ guilt．The conflicts deepened or rooted in Hamlet’s mind when he was impelled to confront a series of misfortune．On one hand，he intended to make out Claudius’ guilt；on the other hand，he had to shield himself in madness for speculation．Thanks to his disguised madness，the plot was going on．So it happened that Claudius sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet and did not commit immediate crime on him meanwhile Hamlet successfully arranged a murder-revenge play showing on before Claudius and made him flee and pray in the middle of the play．Accordingly，the inner conflicts of Hamlet presented by his madness are not an unnecessary but a core part in plot manipulation for its crucial importance in plot.

Secondly，presentation of psychological conflicts is a good show of the complex inner world of characters，unfolding a vivid and wonderful picture to readers．Hamlet，the hero of this story，was a scholar，poet and soldier in public．However，what was going on in his mind？ Hamlet，as son of former king and Gertrude’s，was really tortured by the incest of his mother and his uncle，Claudius．When was called upon to execute public justice by the ghost，Hamlet undoubtedly should seek revenge on Claudius．However，how should Hamlet deal with his mother？ Yet，the ghost remains curiously tender towards Gertrude：

Taint not thy mind，nor let thy soul contrive

Against thy mother aught，leave her to heaven….（1．5．85～86）

However，the conflict between seeking revenge on his mother or not haunted in Hamlet’s mind for a period of time．After long and painful musing，he violently censured his mother when she intended to soothe him and make out the course of his madness：

…

Have you eyes？

Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed？

And batten on this moor？ Ha！ Have you eyes？

…

O shame，where is thy blush？ Rebellious hell，

If thou canst mutine in a matron’s bones，

To flaming youth let virtue be as wax

And melt in her ownfire．Proclaim no shame

When the compulsive ardor gives the charge，

Since frost itself as actively doth burn，

And reason panders will.（3．4．66～89）

Such condemnation penetrated deeply into Gertrude’s heart，twisting her ears and her soul，making her repent and self-reproach．She pleaded Hamlet “ No more” to censure like that，for

Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul，

And there I see such black and grained spots

As will not leave their tint.（3．4．90～92）

By such psychological-revealing discourse，the images of Hamlet and Gertrude emerged vividly from line to line and readers are absorbed in the imagination that how feverish Hamlet was in wrath while how sorrowful Gertrud was in repentance！

Thirdly，presentation of psychological conflicts of characters reveals the contemporary world at that time Shakespeare lived in．Shakespeare lived in Christian time．People were deep convinced the existence of God，heaven and hell such mysterious and superstitious things．Again in Hamlet’s hesitation，the conflicts between executing and delaying revenge was a clear evidence of his attitude towards religion，the same is true to the Elizabethan audience’s．Hamlet hesitated because he shouldn’t “ take him in the purging of his soul”（3．3．85）due to the forgiveness which villainous Claudius would receive and illustrated as“ he is fit and seasoned for his passage”（3．3．86）．Quite enough，readers can see resolute religious belief do exist in Hamlet’s mind.

Moreover，psychological conflicts of characters reflects ethical norm of that time．Elizabethan society had an ethical norm against incest．Evil Claudius not only usurped the thrown but also committed incest with Gertrude，The conflicts within Hamlet’s heart violently explored out by his vehemently soliquys with resentment towards his mother：

Why，She would hang on him

As if incrense of appetite had grown

By what if fed on…

Like Niobe，all tears，why she even she

O God，a beast that wants discourse of reason

Would have mourned longer—married with my uncle，

My father’s brother，but no more like my father.（1．2．143～153）

From here，Hamlet Showed intensely condemn towards evil incest and that was in correspondence with the justice and ethical norm of Elizabethan time，Accordingly，Presentation of psychological conflicts of characters was in nature the reflection of contemporary world at that time Shakespeare lived in．What characters said was what Shakespeare wanted to declare while what Hamlet speculated was what Shakespeare was considering，so from Hamlet’s perspective，readers would obtain some knowledge of Elizabethan society.

Mentioned previously，Shakespeare made great advancement in writing Hamlet．Unlike his predecessors who just noted down this historical story，Shakespeare put it into drama．Dramatic presentation of psychological conflicts makes this story remain everlasting applauding for centuries because readers are so stricken by the images of characters and so appreciated by the wisdom and philosophy glistened in words．Moreover，it brought great reputation to Shakespeare and his story．Accordingly，Hamlet was nominated as great masterpiece of Shakespeare since no one else was like Shakespeare，who was so deeply concentrated on the depiction of psychological conflicts of characters at that time．

So presentation of psychological conflicts had great literary significance not only for its contribution to the story of Hamlet but to Shakespeare’s other celebrated dramas such as Machbeth and King Lear．Especially In Machbeth，presentation of psychological conflicts shows reader how it is a tragedy．Moreover，it broadens the way of character portrayal along which the succeeded writers stride on．It was Shakespeare who left great treasure that was not only invaluable in wisdom but also in world literature.

In a word，Hamlet，Prince of Denmark bears over several centuries’ popularity．It is proved to be an outstanding masterpiece of Shakespeare．It strikes people deeply by dramatic presentation of psychological conflicts of characters that plays a vast and vital role in plot promotion，character portrayal as well as revealing the Elizabethan society．Furthermore，presentation of psychological conflicts in Hamlet brings Shakespeare great reputation and gives immortal contribution to world literature．Accordingly，from this perspective，readers can delve into the complex inner world of characters and get more enjoyment and enlightenment about Shakespeare’s tragedies and his time．

References

1．Chen，Jia．A History of English Literature V.1．Beijing：The Commercial Press，1982

2．Carey，Gary．Ed．Cliffs Note on Shakespeare’s Hamlet．Lincoln：Nebraska，1971

3．Hubler，Edward．Ed．William Shakespeare：The Tragedy of Hamlet，Prince of Denmark．New York：the New American Library Press，1973

4．Jump，John．Shakespeare’s Hamlet．London：The Macmillan Press Ltd.，1968

5．Mahood，M.M．Shakespeare’s World Play．London：Methuen Co．Ltd.，1979

Abstract：Hamlet，prince of Denmark，the well-known tragedy of Shakespeare，receives over centuries continual applauding of language writing，character portrayal as well as plot formation．Specifically，argued in this thesis，the significant merit of the drama is the presentation of psychological conflicts that is realized through dramatic means，i.e．characters’ interlocution and their soliquys．It plays an important role in plot development，character engraving and besides，it presents various dimensions of Elizabethan society.Moreover，it has extraordinary literary significance．Accordingly，readers can appreciate much and gain enlightenment by penetrating into the characters’ complex inner world.

Key words：psychological conflict；presentation；dramatic means；interlocution