Hamlet's Enemy: Madness and Myth in Hamlet
This book differs little from previous conceptions of Hamlet the man and of his dynamics and problems and carries the long-existing and deep veins of misogyny revealed in the interpretations of the characters of Queen Gertrude and Ophelia.
Abstract
Written with simplicity and clarity, this book deals with important issues and relates them to problems of psychiatric and psychoanalytic insights. With a few exceptions, Lidz has wisely chosen not to contend with the huge body of existing Hamlet criticism and discussion. Hamlet, he declares, directly challenges the psychiatrist's professional acumen. Is Hamlet mad or feigning madness? Are the "symptoms" a manifestation of something else? Lidz, as others have before him, sees Hamlet's ills as stemming from loss and melancholia. The book differs little from previous conceptions of Hamlet the man and of his dynamics and problems. It does not use the extraordinary ambiguity of everything about this play to see deeper, to look afresh. It also carries the long-existing and deep veins of misogyny revealed in the interpretations of the characters of Queen Gertrude and Ophelia. Psychoanalysts have been quick to brand Gertrude a sensuous, incestuous adulteress. Lidz goes