Hamlet (Vol. 44) | Peter Erickson (essay date 1985)
Peter Erickson (essay date 1985)
SOURCE: "Maternal Images and Male Bonds in Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear," in Patriarchal Structures in Shakespeare's Drama, University of California Press, 1985, pp. 66-80.
[In the following excerpt, Erickson studies the importance of male bonds in Hamlet, maintaining that because both Gertrude and Ophelia fail to meet Hamlet's needs to be nurtured Hamlet transfers these emotions to Horatio.]
The tensions in the relationship between father and son in the Henriad are pushed in Hamlet to the point of full-fledged, paralyzing crisis. The patriarchal imperative equates love with obedience; love not being granted unconditionally, the son proves his loyalty by performing his duty as the father sees it. In Hamlet's case, this test takes the most drastic form imaginable:
GHOST. If thou didst ever thy dear father love—
HAM. O God! GHOST.
Revenge his...
[The entire page is 5248 words long]
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