ABSTRACT
The Ghost’s first speech is used as a case study to compare guilt and shame, to anatomize the dual nature of shame—both social barrier and punishment for transgression—and the evolution of expressed negative emotions like contempt and disgust functioning as social enforcers. Altruism and revenge also turn out to be related. But Hamlet’s ability to rise above his own narcissistic injuries in Soliloquy 2 highlights the multidimensional aspect of his personality. Alice Miller’s concept of the parentified child as selfobject of the narcissistic parent—a “Prisoner of Childhood”—helps explain some of Hamlet’s shame proneness. Sliding meanings and projections as narcissistic defenses characterize the Ghost’s reaction to his own sins. And the evolution of displays of shame as a voucher for honesty in social transactions is linked to reproductive success in human social groups through inclusive fitness.
