The relationship between Hamlet and his mother is very special, it is seen in many families throughout the world. Even though their bond is so strong, it can bring many emotions into play. These emotions include jealousy, anger, sadness, and the feeling of abandonment. Son’s can feel this way especially when figures such as step-fathers get in the way of their mother’s love and constant attention. A prime example of this type of conflict can be seen in William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet. Throughout the play, Hamlet’s emotions were changing but it was obvious for everyone to see that all his problems and feelings stemmed from his mother. The relationship with his mother was strong but with every single misstep, the bond they had slowly started to crumble. Hamlet was a man who loved his mother so much and the attention she gave him made him feel whole, but when he realized that his mother had moved on from his father’s death and was giving her love and attention to another man, that drove him crazy and sent his mental state into a downwards spiral.

Sadness was an emotion expressed by Hamlet and his mother throughout this play. He had just lost his father to death and that death lead to him losing the constant attention from his mother. Hamlet needed this attention from his mother since he was considered a “Momma’s Boy”. Realizing that he could not be the center of attention anymore filled him with sadness knowing that his mother would be busy with the other man who was in her life. Knowing that he would have to cope with his father’s death alone and without her made him sad because he knew that she would not be there to feel the same way he does. When Hamlet says, “To be or not to be that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against the sea of troubles And, by opposing, end them” (Shakespeare 3.1.64-68). To any reader, you can hear the sadness in Hamlet’s voice. I believe Hamlet is considering a life of sadness knowing that his mother’s love is now gone or to take his own life and go with his father to heaven. The relationship with his mother is filled with so much sadness that he does not want to sit there and deal with it anymore.

Hamlet expressed his anger towards his mother many times during the duration of this play. As a reader, you can tell all this anger came from the fact that he realized that his mother was shallow enough to move on from his father’s death so fast. Knowing Hamlet and how he was in such a dire situation to receive emotional and physical support from his mother I am not surprised that he reacted with anger towards his mother. I believe the anger also came from the realization that Hamlet would have to cope with his father’s death alone knowing that his mother had moved on so quickly, he just wanted her support to help build himself back up. The most prominent moment where you can see Hamlet take out his anger on his mother was the moments after the play where he confronted her about how fast she had moved on from his father’s death. A quote that Hamlet says during this argument was, “From the fair forehead of an innocent love And sets a blister there, makes marriage vows As false as dicers’ oaths O, such a deed As from the body of contraction plucks The very soul, and sweet religions make A rhapsody of words” (3.4.52-57)! Hamlet said this quote to insult his mother calling her first marriage with his father meaningless as if it meant nothing to her. This is the anger he took out at his mother for leaving him alone to deal with everything and not giving him the constant attention and love that he wants the most during this moment.

Jealousy was one of the most profound emotions that Hamlet had displayed through his actions, words, and emotions during the entirety of the play. I believe that this jealousy came from the love that he was losing from his mother. As mentioned before Hamlet was a well-known “Momma’s Boy” and losing that attention from his mother was making him feel so jealous on the inside. Those feelings of jealousy that were building up inside of Hamlet were so strong that he was willing to kill a man to receive his mother’s love and attention back. As a son myself, seeing my mother give my brother attention also does makes me jealous, so I can see how Hamlet is feeling, but I believe that his intentions and dire needs for his mother are more than should be expected. A good example of Hamlet showing his jealousy through words is when he says, “ So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly” (1.2.143-146). Hamlet says this quote in a sarcastic tone, by saying it this way you can sense the jealousy he knows that his mother’s love is not going towards him anymore.

With the relationship that Hamlet and his mother had, the constant love and affection was more than enough but when Hamlet realized that the love he was receiving would go somewhere else after his father’s death it filled him up with negative emotions. With all this tension building up between Hamlet and his mother I am not surprised by all the emotions Hamlet was feeling. I can tell that Hamlet almost feels abandoned in this situation. His father has passed away and his mother has left him to mourn alone while she moves on to another man. The pain of his mother turning her back and moving on with her life so quickly must have felt so rough on Hamlet. In the end, the relationship between Hamlet and his mother was very strong but it was filled with a lot of tension and emotion. Hamlet wanted all the love that he could from his mother but she was more interested in moving on with his Uncle and that is what brought the whole family into the ground.