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Some years ago, André Green coined the term hamletology to refer to the discipline which encapsulates the vast literature on the theme of Hamlet. Although there are many branches within the field of hamletology, one of the most important is that of the psychoanalytic literature, a branch that began with Freud himself. This book is the recent fruit of this branch, edited by a Uruguayan psychoanalyst resident in Madrid, and contains nine essays by psychoanalysts of diverse background and different theoretical orientations, although there is a clear predominance of the Lacanian perspective.
Judging by the content of the essays it would seem that the title of the book refers more to Hamlet himself than to the tragedy of the same name. Indeed, the figure of Hamlet is the focus for most of the book's chapters. This is not surprising if something Harold Bloom (2002) said is borne in mind, namely that the figure of Hamlet does not fit within the tragedy, it invades the work, transcends it. Here, then, considerations of the tragedy as a whole take a secondary role, while references to Shakespeare are few and anecdotal.
Several of the chapters in the book appear to follow the tradition, begun by Freud and firmly established through Jones (1948), of treating the figure of Hamlet as a real person. As Sopena says,
Despite his not being a real figure, when we refer to Hamlet we do so as if he were a person. He is a creature of fiction but a living one, one who is subjected to psychic forces which remain unknown both to him and to the author or reader or spectator. (p. 9)
As is known, Jones proposed analysing the unconscious of Hamlet, an imaginary figure, as if he were a living being. This, at least, was what he sought to do, and it is an approach with a solid basis, for it was a living being who created the hero, who gave him emotions and thoughts, and who dictated his behaviour. According to this approach, Hamlet is an almost-person, with his conscious life, his unconscious, his dr