Shakespeare's Hamlet has been interpreted in various ways in order to explain the actions of the protagonist, Prince Hamlet. A controversial interpretation of Hamlet's behavior is the Oedipus theory, introduced by Sigmund Freud. The Oedipus complex is when a son has feelings of desire for his mother, and jealousy or anger towards his father. This is evident through language and diction Shakespeare uses in act three scene four, while Hamlet speaks with his mother.
During the conversation with his mother, Gertrude, Hamlet is focusing more on his mother's sex life rather than avenging his father's death. They young prince talks to his mother about her bedroom romances and his disgust for it. Hamlet is very frank, holding nothing back, about his mother's sex life referring to it as, "rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty!" (3.4.92-94), Prince Hamlet believes her bed is desecrated by the act of sex with Claudius. A son should talk about his mother's sex life to her. Hamlet's overstepping the boundaries between a mother and son with his commentary. Crossing this line suggest that he thinks of himself as more than just her son but as a lover.
Like Orestes, Hamlet is out to avenge the murder of his father. However, both of these guys have to do some serious thinking before they do it. They differ a bit in that Hamlet's father was killed by his uncle instead of his mom. In some versions of Orestes' story, though, Aegisthus (who is Agamemnon's cousin) either plays a big part in the murder or does it himself.
Another similarity is that both Hamlet's and Orestes' moms move on pretty quickly after their husbands die. Gertrude, Hamlet's mom, marries her former brother-in-law Claudius shortly after her husband is buried. Though Gertrude has nothing to do with the murder of her husband, like Clytemnestra, her ability to hop in bed with another member of the family so quickly only adds fuel to her son's angst.
