• Comparison of Hamlet and Oedipus Rex: Freud begins by comparing Hamlet to Oedipus Rex. Both plays, he argues, are rooted in the same psychological "soil"—that is, they both deal with the Oedipal complex, a concept Freud developed to describe a child's unconscious desire for their opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the same-sex parent. However, while Oedipus Rex openly explores this desire, Hamlet presents a repressed version of it. In Oedipus Rex, the protagonist directly acts out this desire by unknowingly killing his father and marrying his mother. In contrast, Hamlet is aware of these feelings but represses them, which Freud argues is typical of modern humanity's more complex emotional life, where repression plays a larger role.
• Hamlet’s Hesitation: Freud focuses on Hamlet’s inability to carry out the revenge his father’s ghost demands—killing Claudius, the man who murdered his father and married his mother. This hesitation is central to the play, but the text doesn't clearly explain its cause. Freud dismisses earlier interpretations, such as Goethe's idea that Hamlet is paralyzed by excessive intellectual activity or another interpretation that Hamlet is simply weak-willed or melancholic.
• Oedipal Interpretation of Hamlet’s Inhibition: Freud proposes that Hamlet’s hesitation stems from the fact that Claudius represents the fulfillment of Hamlet’s own repressed Oedipal desires. Claudius has done what Hamlet unconsciously wished to do as a child—kill his father and take his place with his mother. Hamlet, therefore, cannot bring himself to punish Claudius because doing so would also mean confronting his own repressed desires, which generates deep internal conflict. His loathing for Claudius is mixed with self-reproach because, at an unconscious level, Hamlet identifies with Claudius. The revenge he is tasked with would be like punishing himself for desires he cannot acknowledge.
• Psychological Repression and Neurosis: Freud argues that Hamlet’s repression of these feelings manifests as neurotic symptoms. He likens Hamlet’s internal conflict to the way a person with neurosis might repress troubling thoughts or desires, which then only surface through indirect "inhibitory effects." Hamlet's hesitation to act is one such effect—his inability to take action is a psychological symptom of the repressed conflict.
• Hamlet’s Aggressive Actions: Freud points out that Hamlet is not incapable of action, as seen when he kills Polonius and sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths. However, these actions are distinct from the central task of killing Claudius, suggesting that Hamlet's inhibition applies only to this specific act of revenge.
• Connection to Ophelia and Shakespeare: Freud notes Hamlet’s sexual aversion toward Ophelia, which he links to the same unconscious Oedipal conflict. Hamlet's disgust with his mother’s sexuality extends to all women, including Ophelia, which explains his harsh treatment of her. Freud also speculates that Shakespeare’s own psychology influenced the play, suggesting that the death of Shakespeare’s father around the time of writing Hamlet may have stirred up similar repressed feelings in the playwright.