The Mind According to Shakespeare: Psychoanalysis in the Bard's Writings Marvin Bennett Krims, M.D. PRAEGER Path: K:/GWD-KRIMS-06-0402/Application/GWD-KRIMS- 06-0402-FM.3d Date:8thAugust2006 Time:12:49 UserID:40311 THE MIND ACCORDING TO SHAKESPEARE Path: K:/GWD-KRIMS-06-0402/Application/GWD-KRIMS- 06-0402-FM.3d Date:8thAugust2006 Time:12:49 UserID:40311 Path: K:/GWD-KRIMS-06-0402/Application/GWD-KRIMS- 06-0402-FM.3d Date:8thAugust2006 Time:12:49 UserID:40311 THE MIND ACCORDING TO SHAKESPEARE Psychoanalysis in the Bard’s Writing Marvin Bennett Krims, M.D. Path: K:/GWD-KRIMS-06-0402/Application/GWD-KRIMS- 06-0402-FM.3d Date:8thAugust2006 Time:12:49 UserID:40311 Libraryof CongressCataloging-in-Publication Data Krims,MarvinBennett, 1928- The mindaccordingtoShakespeare:psychoanalysis inthe bard’swriting /Marvin BennettKrims. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references andindex. ISBN 0-275-99081-8 (alk.paper) 1.Shakespeare,William,1564–1616—Knowledge—Psychology. 2.Shakespeare, William,1564–1616—Characters. 3.Psychoanalysisandliterature—England. 4.Psychoanalysisinliterature. 5.Psychologyinliterature. 6.Mindandbodyinliterature. I.Title. PR3065.K75 2006 822.303—dc22 2006020998 British LibraryCataloguing inPublication Datais available. Copyright '2006by MarvinBennett Krims Allrights reserved.Noportion ofthis bookmaybe reproduced, byanyprocessor technique,without the expresswritten consentof the publisher. Libraryof CongressCatalogCardNumber:2006020998 ISBN: 0-275-99081-8 First published in2006 Praeger Publishers, 88Post RoadWest, Westport,CT06881 Animprint of GreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc. www.praeger.com Printedin theUnited States of America Thepaper usedinthisbookcomplieswiththe Permanent PaperStandardissued by theNational Information StandardsOrganization (Z39.48-1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Every reasonable effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright materials in this book, but insome instancesthis has proven impossible.The author and publisherwill be glad to receive information leading to more complete acknowledgments in subsequent printings of thebook, andin themeantime extend theirapologies for anyomissions. Path: K:/GWD-KRIMS-06-0402/Application/GWD-KRIMS- 06-0402-FM.3d Date:8thAugust2006 Time:12:49 UserID:40311 copyright acknowledgments An earlier version of ‘‘Prince Hal’s Aggression’’ appeared as ‘‘How Shakespeare’s Prince Hal’s Play Anticipates His Invasion of France’’ in The Psychoanalytic Review 88.4 (2001): 495–510. An earlier version of ‘‘Uncovering Our Hate in The Taming of the Shrew’’ appeared in SexualityandCulture 6(2002): 49–64. A modified version of ‘‘Hotspur’s Fear of Femininity’’ was presented at the Ninth Inter- national Conference on Literature and Psychoanalysis, Lisbon, Portugal, July 1992 and was published in Literature and Psychology 40 (1994): 118–132. It also appeared in PsyArt: A Hyperlink Journal for the Psychological Study of the Arts. Article 001129 (2000). Available athttp://www.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/journal/. An earlier version of ‘‘Frailty, Thy Name is Hamlet’’ appeared in Free Associations 42.2 (1998): 232–246. Earlier versions of ‘‘Romeo’s Childhood Trauma’’ appeared in Studies in Psychoanalytic Theory 4.2 (1995): 58–69. It alsoappearedin PsyArt:A Hyperlink Journal for the Psycholog- ical Study of the Arts. Article 991022 (1999). Available at http://www.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/ journal/. An earlier version of ‘‘Misreading Cressida’’ appeared in The Psychoanalytic Review 89.2 (2002): 239–256. An earlier version ‘‘Love’s Lost Labor in Love’s Labour’s Lost’’ appeared in Studies in Psy- choanalytic Theory4.1 (1995): 58–85. An earlier version of ‘‘Sonnet #129: The Joys and Trials of Making Love’’ appeared in The Psychoanalytic Review 86.3 (1999): 367–382. The chapter also appeared in PsyArt: A Hyperlink Journal for the Psychological Study of the Arts (2000) Article 000427. Available at http://www.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/journal/. An earlier version of ‘‘Correspondence between an Elizabethan Woman and Her Psy- choanalyst: Beatrice on theCouch’’appearedinThePsychoanalyticReview 92(2005): 67– 115. Path: K:/GWD-KRIMS-06-0402/Application/GWD-KRIMS- 06-0402-FM.3d Date:8thAugust2006 Time:12:49 UserID:40311 This book is dedicated to my dear wife, Kathlyn Haigney Krims, for her nurturing love and ever-sustaining friendship. She provides sympathy and support to me in times of sadness and discouragement and shares my joy in times of good fortune and celebration. These qualities, along with her highly intelligent literary sensibility and endless patience, made this book possible. No man can ask for more than what Kate gives without being asked. Path: K:/GWD-KRIMS-06-0402/Application/GWD-KRIMS- 06-0402-FM.3d Date:8thAugust2006 Time:12:49 UserID:40311 Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction xv 1 InDefenseofVolumnia’sMothering inTheTragedyofCoriolanus 11 2 PrinceHal’sAggression 2255 3 UncoveringOurHateinTheTamingoftheShrew 3399 4 Hotspur’sFearofFemininity 5511 5 Frailty,ThyNameisHamlet 6655 6 Romeo’sChildhoodTrauma 7777 7 MisreadingCressida 8899 8 Love’sLostLabor inLove’sLabour’sLost 110055 9 Sonnet#129:TheJoysandTrialsofMakingLove 111177 10 KingLear’sInabilitytoGrieve:‘‘OrEreI’llWeep. OFool,IShallGoMad!’’ 112299 11 CorrespondencebetweenanElizabethanWoman andHerPsychoanalyst:BeatriceontheCouch 114455 12 Epilogue 117777 Notes 119955 Bibliography 221111 Index 221177 Path: K:/GWD-KRIMS-06-0402/Application/GWD-KRIMS- 06-0402-FM.3d Date:8thAugust2006 Time:12:49 UserID:40311 Path: K:/GWD-KRIMS-06-0402/Application/GWD-KRIMS- 06-0402-FM.3d Date:8thAugust2006 Time:12:49 UserID:40311 Preface T HE CLOSE RELATIONSHIP between psychoanalysis and literature has a long history, dating back to the late nineteenth century when Sig- mund Freud worked on his most important book, The Interpretation of Dreams. At that time, when psychoanalysis was in its infancy and was rejected by most of the important minds in fin de siecle Vienna and by the rest of the world, Freud turned to classical literature to bolster the shaky claims of psychoanalysis to authenticity. It was the Sophocles rendition of the Oedipus tale that Freud leaned on to ‘‘confirm’’ (as he optimistically termed it in The Interpretation of Dreams) to a disbelieving world the eternal, universal nature of his ‘‘scandalous’’ discovery—revealed first in the course of his own self- analysis—that children wish to rid themselves of one parent to obtain exclusive intimacy with the other. Today, of course, psychoanalysis has advanced and no longer requires literature to support its case. Now it has come full circle, as writers use psychoanalytic theory to deepen understanding of texts and people’s emotional responses to the literary experience. Although we always need to keep in mind what literature teaches us about the psyche, we should also recognize that in some ways the psychoanalytic child has become an equal companion to the literary man. The relationship between literature and psychoanalysis has matured into one of reciprocity. We should also bear in mind that although Freud probably chose the Oedipal tale—first inscribed nearly three millennia ago—to sup- port his claim of the validity of lusty wishes in small children, he also