Psychology According to Shakespeare

William Shakespeare has undergone psychological analyses ever since Freud diagnosed Hamlet with an Oedipus complex. But now, two psychologists propose to turn the tables by telling how Shakespeare himself understood human behavior and the innermost workings of the human mind.

Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo is emeritus professor of psychology at Stanford University, where he gained a high profile and wide name recognition, especially for his Stanford Prison Experiment and his more recent book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. Dr. Zimbardo has served as president of the American Psychological Association.

Dr. Robert L. Johnson’s Ph.D. is in psychology from the University of Oregon and has twenty-eight years of teaching psychology at the college level. Dr. Johnson is a fellow of the Western Psychological Association, and he founded an interdisciplinary summer institute for college teachers, known as The Pacific Northwest Great Teachers Seminar, which he led for two decades. He has given presentations on Shakespeare's psychology at regional and national psychological conventions.