Activity 1.6

Maslow’s Hierarchy greatly relates to the play Hamlet because each character lies at a certain level on this pyramid of needs. It is hard to determine which level they are all at, for they all have different needs. At the beginning of the play, I believe that none of the major characters in Hamlet fall under the first stage(Physiological) of Maslow’s Hierarchy as they all have basic human needs and necessities, even though some needs such as sex are not seen, it is fair to assume that everyone is getting a piece of that pie. This concept drastically changes throughout the play though. Firstly, Hamlet is a character that may fall in the middle of two stages, those being stage two (Safety) and three (Love/Belonging). This is because when his father (Old Hamlet) was still alive, Hamlet could have been considered to be at stage three (Love/Belonging) or maybe even four (Esteem). The reason behind this being that Hamlet is a character that seems to have a large amount of self-esteem and confidence as well as respect from his peers (until he pretends to be crazy), but he does not seem to have a lot of respect for others as he appears to be a pretty overconfident person therefore not needing to show respect to others. Since Hamlet does not fall under each category of stage four, it is fair to say that he cannot be fully considered at this stage. Hamlet does show all signs of stage three, that is Hamlet demonstrates friendship, family and quite possibly sexual intimacy (with Ophelia). As Claudius killed his father, Hamlet kind of lost the family aspect of that stage, so he must therefore drop to the next stage, that being the second. Hamlet sees Claudius as the enemy and would love nothing more than for him to be out of the picture. He knows that his mother is a good person and does not understand why she loves Claudius so much. In Hamlets eyes, no one is to be trusted. He acts insane so that he can get away with more, and this was not seen by the others. He no longer feels the security of family (and some could argue mental health) therefore he tries to regain this sense of family. He does so by seeking to avenge his father as he promised to do so, and therefore he will be content with his actions and security can once again be restored in his family life. This in turn bumping Hamlet back up to stage 3 of the hierarchy (although this stage is very short lived as his mother dies, and Hamlet ends up dying also).
Secondly, Claudius being quite a bit older than Hamlet is further up in the Hierarchy because he has had more time to complete each stage. Claudius is probably on the fourth level, because he has good self-esteem, a high level of self confidence and he not only has the respect of the people but he also demonstrates some respect in return. Claudius will not make it to the top of the hierarchy because he killed his brother, this demonstrating flaws in his morality, therefore he cannot be considered anywhere above stage four. I believe that Hamlet’s mother Gertrude can also be considered to be on stage four of the hierarchy for the same reasons as Claudius. It can be assumed that Gertrude had something to do with Old Hamlet’s death, therefore causing moral issues (her believing that taking a person’s life is right).
Thirdly, I believe Polonius can be considered to be one of the only characters who is on stage five of the hierarchy. I say this because he definitely demonstrates the requirements of all of the first four stages of the hierarchy. He also demonstrates that he has good morals as he gives a speech to his son Laertes before his departure to France:Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion’d thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch’d, unfledg’d comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in,
Bear’t that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice:
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy:
For the apparel oft proclaims the man;
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be:
For loan oft loses both itself and friend;
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all,—to thine own self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man. (Act I, scene iii (59–80) In this speech, Polonius gives useful advice to Laertes, among his advice the most important points being: keep your thoughts to yourself and do not act recklessly, hold on to old friends and be don’t be quick to trust new ones, avoid fighting but if it is unavoidable be brave, be a good listener, learn to accept criticism but do not be too judgmental, preserve an appropriate appearance, do not borrow or lend money and most importantly; be true to yourself. This speech reveals a lot about Polonius and what his stance on a lot of morals is. In this case, it is a positive outlook of what Polonius believes in, hence him being on the fifth level of the hierarchy.
Ophelia starts off being on the same stage as Hamlet (fourth level) but she is quick to drop to the first stage as her mental health spirals down into the ground. At the end of the novel she is on the first stage as she only has simple necessities and not all of them at that (sex), and then she dies. I believe that her brother Laertes is part of the fourth stage at the beginning of the novel but this gradually begins to change as the play progresses. He is slowly making his way to the fifth stage but throughout the play ends up moving down to the first stage like his sister. He lost his family as well as his security of family, his respect from others, his friendship and his morality. This bumping him down into the first stage, until he dies (which is shortly after he reaches this stage).