Shakespeare's Hamlet and King Lear both contain a multitude of driving forces at work behind the actions of the main characters, but common to both plays there is a It's an obvious Freudian interpretation of what's driving two of the most interesting characters in all of Shakespeare's canon, Hamlet and Edmund the Bastard. Shakespeare is dealing with two characters whose desires are such that they upset the accepted balance of nature. The Freudian drive at work in both characters is the infamous "Oedipus complex", which essentially boils down to the desire to kill the father and take his place next to the mother. Hamlet and Edmund both desire to perform actions that will destroy the patriarchal system currently in place, and they both crave unhealthy relationships with a mother or maternal figures. If Hamlet and Edmund both succeeded in their respective plots, the natural order of the world would be endangered, and that order is already disrupted simply by the two characters' attempt to realize their wish to have a father (figure) replaced by themselves . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The main aspect of the Oedipus complex lies in the desire for the son to kill the father and take his place at the head of the governing authority, and both Hamlet and Edmund are vigorously forced to perform this act. This desire may very well be natural as part of the cycle of life, but the successful completion of this crime results in an absolutely unnatural imbalance in the system. Killing the father usually leads to chaos rather than the creation of a new governing order. The chaos resulting from attempting to invoke this new order causes disorder in the universes of both Hamlet and Edmund even before they have killed their father figure. Both Edmund and Hamlet clearly desire their father or father figures to be overpowered by force and both engage in ruthless behavior to accomplish their missions and perform the act of assuming the role of head of the patriarchal system. The system, as is clearly demonstrated by the utter devastation their actions result in, is unable to handle the rebellion and therefore fails miserably, causing death and disorder on a cosmological level. Edmund unquestionably wants to upset the existing hierarchical system and so plans to defeat and succeed his father. For Edmund the question arises of the validity of primogeniture and contests the reasons why it must be the only system in place for the inheritance of lands and power, especially considering that he is - or so he thinks - the most intelligent and sophisticated and, ultimately, deserving the two brothers fighting for Gloucester's inheritance. Edmund says that "Thou, Nature, art my goddess" (King Lear, I.ii.1), and he may have a case. Nothing could be more natural in the world than the succession of the son upon the father. But nature does not rule in the fixed world of man, especially in the confines of the royal inheritance. The king exists as the sovereign ruler over all, without question. The father is nothing more than an imitation of the king, who rules his family. The long-established hierarchical structure of human society expressly prohibits the killing of a parent. Everywhere in the world and throughout history this action has been considered contrary to the established moral code by which we live. You don't kill the one who gave you life. Yet Edmund considers his father's death, even if physically at the hands of another person, to be part of the natural order of things. Edmund's boundless ambition puts every possible action at stake; no moral sense prevails overhis choices. He willingly leaves his father alone with his enemies, knowing full well that his father will be tortured. How far this torture will go, Edmund doesn't seem to care. After all, he has already obtained the title of Earl of Gloucester, which symbolizes and foreshadows his father's death and Edmund's ascension to his place of honor. The hierarchical system has been tampered with and chaos is already beginning to overwhelm the inhabitants of the work. For Hamlet, the question of whether to kill his father and take his place is a little more confusing than that of Edmund considering that his real biological father is already dead as the play opens, thus raising the question of who Hamlet seeks in a father figure in his ambition to usurp. Since the elder King Hamlet has already been sidelined by murder at the hands of his brother, why doesn't Hamlet take his rightful place as the rightful heir to the throne? For whatever reason, Hamlet does not assume royal power and instead finds himself left as a prince under the rule of his uncle, who has fulfilled the other wish Hamlet unconsciously desired: to take his place as the husband of Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. . Claudius goes so far as to claim that he has taken on the role of Hamlet's real father when he describes Hamlet as "my cousin Hamlet and my son" (Hamlet, I.ii.63). The identification with the father is made complete when Claudius wraps Hamlet in a tighter family shirt. So for Hamlet, Claudius becomes the father figure that must be ousted and in this way Hamlet can idealize the memory of his real father and thus escape the guilt of wanting to get him out of the way. Claudius makes a much more palatable victim for Hamlet in contrast, as he is in Hamlet's mind, to his almost divine biological father. Edmund doesn't just want to unbalance the position of authority that his biological father represents; as the show progresses, a collection of father figures begin to take shape that Edmund plots to overthrow or usurp or at the very least cuckold, which can be seen as a symbolic castration thus taking away the source of power from those men. The Duke of Cornwall fits right into the Oedipal mix when he tells Edmund “you will find a dearer father in my love” (King Lear, III.v.24). Both Cornwall and the Duke of Albany appear as surrogates for Edmund's father in his voracious rise to power. They can be seen as potential enemies and obstacles in his true quest for power. They hinder his eventual assumption of the throne, which appears to be his ultimate goal. It quickly becomes apparent that Edmund has expressed a sexual interest in both Cornish and Albany wives. In this way Edmund realizes part of his Oedipal desires. Perhaps Edmund never even knew his biological mother and so his search for a mother figure never ends. Most likely both Goneril and Regan are older than Edmund and can therefore be seen as mother figures. Edmund takes on the role of father/husband in taking the two women. With Cornwall conveniently killed by another, he can easily take Cornwall's place and assume his power and take Cornwall's wife as his own, thus achieving the purpose of the Oedipal drives within him. Where Albany is concerned, things get a little more complicated. To even seize the power of Albany, it is obvious that Albany itself must be treated in the most severe manner. Goneril and Edmund conspire to ensure that the father figure is actually dealt with in time. Unfortunately, for both of us, that moment didn't come soon enough. Edmund's final father figure is King Lear himself, the personification of the standard, accepted order of things in the universe. None could be more symbolic of what Edmund is up against.