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hamlet and gertrude relationship analysis
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According to “Hamlet” a speech stated by Hamlet “Frailty, thy name is woman!”( Act 1, Scene 2, line 146). And in this case the term ‘Frailty’ defines as weakness or a fault resulting from moral weakness. Every single creature in the earth was created with weakness. So, it is natural to have weakness among human characters. On the other hand, it is not something immoral or reprehensible to have weakness in one’s character. No individual can deny the fact that they have weakness because it will make them separate from others. In order to define a person, it is important to judge them by their entire character, not by their weakness. Just like the famous English phrase says ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ it will be wrong to delineate individual just because they have weakness on something. Nevertheless, it is true that the weakness we hold in our character may force us to do many wicked and shameful activities regardless of our true intention. The play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, superbly demonstrates the logic by the character of Gertrude that it does not matter even if a person has powerful authority, the fidelity that the person may have still can induce him/her to do many kinds of sinful acts. Within this play, Gertrude’s silence is the weakness which characterizes her inability to express her own judgments.
Hamlet’s s mother, Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark married her brother in law, Claudius, after her husband, the previous King, Elder Hamlet, was murdered by Claudius. In reality, many people might consider Queen Gertrude as a blatant, characterless and a licentious woman because of her incestuous marriage to Claudius. If we analyze Gertrude’s character we should spring up with the idea that due to her husband’s sudde...
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...by wickedness. William Shakespeare demonstrated this theory throughout the entire play. We noticed that because of Claudius’s evil plan it affected Gertrude to commit an unrighteous act which made Hamlet more revengeful to kill his father’s murderer. It did not only affect Hamlet and his mother, it also affected Claudius because Claudius ended up falling into his own evil trap. It is visible from the play that no matter how ethical our character is, there are so many evil traps in our way which still can make us do sinful works unless we are very thoughtful about our actions. In conclusion, we must always be careful about what we do, think about the outcome of our action in order to upgrade our moral character.
Works Cited
• Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet”. Responding to Literature (5th edition) ed. Judith A. Stanford. New York: McGraw- Hill, 2006. 244- 357
The significance of the players exceeds the sole purpose of entertainment, as each possesses the power to unveil the "occulted guilt" (3.2.75) and conscience of the King. Hamlet assumes the responsibility to advise these players with precise and adequate direction so that a "whirlwind of passion" (6) may not effectively separate Claudius from personally identifying with the play. Hamlet's enthusiastic approach toward direction may be so that he encourages the players to "suit the action to the word, the word to the/ action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not/ the modesty of nature" (16-18). However, this exercise of caution may justify Hamlet's too often delayed attempt toward the action of avenging his father's murder. His direction confines him to the overflow of words as he experiences imprisonment within the truth of his own identity.
Shakespeare, William. The Three-Text Hamlet. Eds. Paul Bertram and Bernice Kliman. New York: AMS Press, 1991.
Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. Tenth. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. 1024-1129. Print.
Claudius is seen in Hamlets eyes as a horrible person because he convicted murder and incest. Claudius had killed the king of Denmark, Old Hamlet, to obtain the position of the throne. He had been jealous of Old Hamlet’s wife Gertrude and wanted to marry her for her power. Although, such an act would be called incest and considered unnatural he did not care, all he had cared about was the power that he would be stealing from Hamlet and Old Hamlet, Gertrude’s son and husband (R). When Hamlet had talked to his f...
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. 7th ed.Ed Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Upper Saddle River, N.J. Prentice Hall, 2004. 1307-1406
Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Unabridged William Shakespeare. William George Clark and William Aldis Wright, ed. Running Press. 1989.
The mindset of the unequal genders in the past is thought to have influenced the way playwright William Shakespeare portrayed females in his plays. Shakespeare exemplified this in his revenge tragedy Hamlet, written in 1601 with one of the most significant characters, Gertrude. She is central to the plot due to her relationship with the main character, Hamlet, being his mother. However, not only is she the mother to the tragic hero Hamlet, she is also widow to his laid father, King Hamlet Senior, and also newly wed to Hamlets uncle, Claudius. In this tragic play, we witness not only the downfall of women of the play in general, but specifically the falling out of Gertrude as a mother to Hamlet, as a wife to the new King Claudius, and as a woman herself.
Mack, Maynard. "The World of Hamlet." Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Rev. ed. Ed. Leonard F. Dean. New York: Oxford University P., 1967.
To begin, Gertrude is presented in differing manners throughout Hamlet the play versus Hamlet (2000) the film. In Shakespeare’s play, she originally is cast as a woman who has power due to her husband, but sits as a trophy wife. Craving power, safety, and comfort, she depends on men for her position and control. Seeming to have poor judgment, she never expresses self-reflection throughout the play and just seems to be a bit oblivious to everything, ultimately resulting in her death as an unaware victim of a game she ensnared herself
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square-Pocket, 1992. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. C. Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York: Norton, 2005. Print.
Shakespeare, William, Marilyn Eisenstat, and Ken Roy. Hamlet. 2nd ed. Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2003. Print.
The position of Gertrude’s character in the play raises numerous questions about her involvement with her former husband’s murder, along with her reasoning for marrying Claudius. Failing to question Claudius’ intentions with her son, Hamlet, Gertrude includes herself in the corruption. She is present at various meetings discussing her son’s whereabouts and plots to spy on him (83). Though she is conscious of the corruption in the court, she does not seek to resolve the matters. But rather, she involves herself in the conflict and schemes. Claudius’ ways definitely influence her judgment, which is seen when she allows Polonius to spy on her private conversation with Hamlet (169). Furthermore, when confronted by Hamlet, she admits, “Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul, And there I see such black and grainèd spots, As will not leave their tinct” (175). Her response to Hamlet’s raging interrogative and accusatory speech insinuates that she too has in some fashion contributed to the corruption in Denmark, though the specific circumstance is never revealed. Shakespeare’s portrayal of Gertrude shows a woman who is more concerned about self-preservation and remaining in power so much so that she involves herself with the plots of a man, who murdered her
In the beginning of the story, Hamlet’s character was struggling with the sudden marriage of his mother, Gertrude, to his uncle, Claudius, a month after his father is death. For a young man, it’s hard to believe that he understood why his mother quickly married Claudius especially since, Claudius is his uncle. Later he learned that his father’s ghost was sighted. Intuitively, he knew there had to be some kind of “foul play.” At this point, Hamlet is a university student; his morals and way of thinking are defined by books and what was taught to him. This is seen when he speaks about the flaws of men, setting a bad reputation for all, and the man’s flaws causing their “downfall.”(a.1, sc.4, l.)
Throughout this process, his relationship with his uncle Claudius and mother Gertrude worsen. Hamlet and Claudius’ tainted relationship successively intensifies through their planned plots to kill one another. The relationship between Hamlet and his mother Gertrude worsen due to her shameful acts, and her disregard towards her son in his times of need. If it had not been for this corruption between the family, Denmark would’ve continued to be ruled by an honourable and truthful family. Instead, the kingdom of Denmark became rife with dishonesty, eventually leading to the death of Hamlet and Claudius, the ultimate