Is Haider about incest? - Page 2

The relationship between Hamlet and his mother is open to interpretation. He shares a very close bond with his mother making him torn between vengeance for his father and his mother. He is obsessive and possessive about her creating strife between him and his uncle. He is also mentally unstable. All these factors combined make Hamlet's relationship with his mother unconventional compared to most mother-son relationships.

During Shakespeare's era it wasn't considered incestuous. The focus was Hamlet's insanity and delusions. Hamlet was compared to the Greek tragic hero Orestes who found himself in a similar conundrum.

It was not until Sigmund Freud that Hamlet was diagnosed with Oedipus Complex. Freud deduced that Hamlet's subconscious is subtly sexually obsessed with her and that is why he is jealous of his uncle and unable to avenge his father. Many psychiatrists post Freud have challenged Freud's theories as oversexualization. Not all complexes and obsessions need to have sexual base.

So Hamlet and consequently Haider can be seen in various lights. Even if you chose the Oedipus Complex it is not outright incest as we may think it to be. Hamlet never consciously lusts for his mother. The Oedipus complex is a subconscious thought that people are not actually aware of. There is no reciprocal emotion or complex from his mother at all. In fact she uses her son's devotion to her to manipulate him at times. Something we see many moms do, especially in saas bahu drams.

Tabu plays Shahid's own mother in the movie...the Oedipus is not in your face!...done in a subtle manner..there is no sexual relationship shown..so no...Haider is not about incest!...

Not necessarily, its really about perspective.

Tabu is playing his real mother... and the movie is not about incest... there are oedipal undertones to the relationship that is all... It definitely is not about incest... and there is no incest perse shown there...

Having studied Hamlet in detail during MA studies including the various interpretations, I remember my teacher telling us that Hamlet considers his mother's marriage to his uncle to be incestuous.

Originally posted by: NailClipper

I didn't watch the movie yet. But didn't Masand say Tabu agreed to do this movie only when Vishal made her Shahid's stepmom? So, it's not incest.. it's not oedipal either.

she is not her step mom but Tabu did say that she was more like a lover to Shahid than his mom 😉

Short answer No. Long answer it is even in Hamlet and in Haider handled beautifully with respect to Indian sensibilities.

How is being possessive of mother incest? 😕