Evaluating the characters of Hamlet according to Carl Jung
Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology, formulated a theory of the human personality in which he speculated that an individual is made up of four distinct but related aspects. The personality is composed of:
1- thinking: looking introspectively, sometimes critically, at that which is happening around us
2- feeling (emotion): showing sensitivity to your own feelings and those around you
3- sensation: taking pleasure in the exercise of some or all of your senses
4- intuition: the ability to "intuit" or reach decisions or analyze situations based upon an inherent knowledge or sense of what is right or wrong. i.e. "woman's intuition"
For a person to be their “true self” all of these elements must be in balance. This will create an INDIVIDUATED person. This process, however, is very complex and people often fall more strongly into one category over another.
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Assignment: You have now been introduced to some of the main characters from the play Hamlet. Working in groups of three, examine the ways in which you see your character from this initial ‘meeting’. We will re-visit your assignment at the end of the unit to see if your findings are the same or if your opinions have changed.
Part A: Choosing from Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, Polonius or Ophelia, evaluate each of the four aspects of their personality as stated above. You must find at least one example (with quotes to support) in addition to your analysis.
Part B: As a group, decide how well each category is balanced within your character (e.g. you may determine that Ophelia is made up of 50% feeling, 10% sensation, 20% intuition and 20% thinking). Show your findings in graph format.
**if you wish, you may merge Part A and Part B so that they are represented together (e.g. the info from Part A could be inside the section of the graph for Part B).
Category / Level 1 / Level 2 / Level 3 / Level 4Thinking / Student demonstrates limited analysis in examining character trait and personality / Student demonstrates some analysis in examining character trait and personality / Student demonstrates considerable analysis in examining character trait and personality / Student demonstrates thorough analysis in examining character trait and personality
Application / Student applies limited knowledge of Jung’s theories to characters of Hamlet / Student applies some knowledge of Jung’s theories to characters of Hamlet / Student applies considerable knowledge of Jung’s theories to characters of Hamlet / Student applies thorough knowledge of Jung’s theories to characters of Hamlet
Communication / Student demonstrates limited accuracy in language conventions, demonstrates limited visual appeal in work / Student demonstrates some accuracy in language conventions, demonstrates limited visual appeal in work / Student demonstrates considerable accuracy in language conventions, demonstrates limited visual appeal in work / Student demonstrates thorough accuracy in language conventions, demonstrates limited visual appeal in work