Hamlet: A Genomics Interpretation

[James Brody]

An environmentalist might blame his mother's affair for Hamlet's protests, boring speeches, and general nastiness. David Rowe, the prominent behavior geneticist, would point out that miserable children often come from miserable biological parents. The odds favor misery doubled or perhaps bumped up by an exponent: Hamlet, a prototypic neurotic, should be no exception.

The Prince of Denmark was also the Prince of Indecision and might inspire philosophers but not his mother, Gertrude. Not even mothers love a complainer, especially if a son! If Gertrude were impulsive like her son (according to Buss, 2004, impulsive narcissists are the ones most apt to have affairs) but confined by marriage to a grumpy old king, an affair with his younger, psychopathic brother could have been a marvelous antidepressant. After all, it's generally true, that feeling good means caring less what other people think (Kramer, 1993).

The little brother certainly received less in utero support from his own mother, an outcome of imprinting taxes levied on each succeeding male. He threw off traditional outlooks, consistent with Sulloway's Born to Rebel but because of Darwinian contests in utero rather than post partum. The snotnose bedded the queen, achieved a better lifestyle, and got revenge against his older brother whom mother really did love more at least in a physiological sense.

The King and Queen, both of them plausibly impulsive and, therefore, academic slackers, still had to finish their homework.

Gertrude finally killed the last remaining half of the husband she disliked when she killed her son; likewise, she already killed half of her son when she killed his father in the first place. (Her new mate was merely her tool!) She also killed half of herself when she killed Hamlet but she didn't like him all that much and might have had her own edition of low self esteem. Therefore, eliminate Hamlet, have another, cheerier son although a bit of a clown. And really all sweet Gertrude had to do was smile...no blood on that babe's hands!

Bottom Lines:
1) Hamlet was suckered.
2) Laertes not only killed Hamlet, but also avenged his sister and father and became Gertrude's emergent little helper.

Stage Notes

Buss, D. (1999/2004) Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind. NY: Doubleday.
Haig D (1999) Genetic conflicts and the divided self. A talk given at Hunter School of Social Work, Manhattan, May 6, 1999.
Kramer P (1993) Listening to Prozac. NY: Viking.
Rowe, D. (2002) Biology and Crime. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury.
Shakespeare, W. (whenever) Hamlet.
Suomi, S. (2000) How gene-environment interactions shape individual development trajectories in rhesus monkeys. Presentation at a conference, "The Relationship System," Georgetown Family Center, Washington, DC, April 2000.

James Brody, Copyright, 2006, all rights reserved.