Oedipus Complex in Hamlet and Room
By Gabriella Colacci
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Summary of Emma Donoghue's Room
Important People to Remember!
Hamlet's Unfinished Oedipus Complex Quotations
"But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son-/A little more than kin, and less than kind./How is it that the clouds still hang on you?/Not so, my lord, I am too much in the sun." (1.2.65-67)
Jack's Unfinished Oedipus Complex Quotations
"He's talking to me. My chest's going clang clang. I hug my knees and press my teeth together. I want to get under Blanket but i can't, i can't do anything. 'He's asleep.' That's Ma. 'She keep you in the closet all day as well as all night?' The you is me. I wait for Ma to say no, but she doesn't. 'Doesn't seem natural.'" (Donoghue 93)
Hamlet's Inability to Self Actualize Quotations
"She married-O most wicked speed! Top post/With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!"(1.2.156-157)
Jack's Inability to Self Actualize Quotations
"When she takes Bronwyn's underwear down it's not like Penis, or Ma's vagina, it's a fat little piece of body folded in the middle with no fur. I put my finger on it and press, it's squishy. Deana bangs my hand away" (Donoghue 317)
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Discussion Questions
Do you believe that Gertrude and Ma raised their sons to have a dying love for them or is it the natural cycle of the Oedipus Complex.