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Representation of women in Shakespeare
Hamlet and gertrude relationship analysis
Hamlet and gertrude relationship analysis
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Hamlet is one of the most famous plays of all time. In it, there are many complex characters. From the vengeful Hamlet to the evil King Claudius to the fragile Ophelia, many very intriguing people exist in the play. One often overlooked and very interesting character is Queen Gertrude. Gertrude shows to have many different desires that often contradict each other, and that is what ultimately leads to her death. A fascinating part of Gertrude, however, is that she is, at the same time, both a very caring mother and an adulteress.
Gertrude’s character flaws come from her quest for power. While married to King Hamlet it can be assumed that Gertrude was a good woman. It is never mentioned that she had any part to play in his murder, and this makes sense because she was already in a position of power and had no need to change that. However, once that position of power was threatened, she began her wrong-doing. Marrying your brother in law was viewed as incest,
Hamlet: She married, most wicked speed, to post
With suck dexterity to incestuous sheets! (1.2.156-157)
but she
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did not mind because that was the only way to retain her power. She was willing to do bad things in order to retain, what she thought was, her rightful place. Even though Gertrude had these character flaws, she was still a very caring mother.
She never intended on hurting Hamlet through any of her actions. Considering she had no hand in the murder of King Hamlet, the situation that she and her son were in was not her fault. Gertrude could have also married Claudius in order to help Hamlet. Yes, she was on a quest for power but the well-being of Hamlet could have also played a large role in her decision. Sometimes rulers kill those who threaten their throne and, even though she was not aware of what Claudius was capable of, she could have been worried that her son might be in danger. Even as she betrays her son’s trust by telling Claudius about her and Hamlet’s exchange in Act III, Scene IV, she is doing out of concern for his safety. While she is very concerned with her position as queen, Gertrude never loses sight of her position as Hamlet’s
mother. Gertrude balances the qualities of caring mother and power hungry adulteress until the very end. As she takes the drink of the poisoned wine, Gertrude is still trying to maintain her role as a devoted wife to Claudius. Queen: I will, my lord, I pray you pardon me. (5.2.260) Immediately after, though, she also showcases how her motherly duty to Hamlet when she tries to clean his face during his duel with Laertes. Queen: Come, let me wipe thy face. (5.2.262) She is able to balance both of these positions, and she does, right up until the moment she dies. Even though Gertrude’s two roles seemed to oppose each other, she played them both rather well. She held her position of power through adultery while maintaining a motherly care over her son Hamlet. Gertrude managed to both of these things up to the best of her ability, right up until the very end.
Shakespeare specifically leaves out key details about her character. Was she in an affair with Claudius before the murder? Did she know Claudius was the one to kill King Hamlet? Did she plot against him? These questions prove that Gertrude is much more complex than the reader initially thinks.
Gertrude’s blindness to the whole situation is sickening. How she marries the brother of her former husband right after he kills him and never knows the truth is beyond me. She never cared about how her son felt before or after she married Claudius. She didn’t even wait very long after her husband died to get married again ( I; ii; 180-181. "Thrift, thrift, Horatio. The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables".). Therefore she is either a very slow, naïve woman or a very evil, coldhearted one. For someone to side with a person even after their own son has told them that the person they’re with has murdered their former lover is absolute lunacy ( III; iv; 29-30. "A bloody deed- almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry his brother".). Not knowing the truth in the first place is one thing, but turning your back on your own flesh and blood is another. Therefore without his mother on his side, Hamlet has lost all the family in his life that could have helped him get through his terrible time and he sinks lower than ever before.
First of all, it is illegal to re-marry during the year following, a widow must mourn the loss of their husband for a year. Having been a widow for just over a month Gertrude is already engaged in a relationship with . Claudius, Hamlet’s Uncle and King Hamlet’s brother. This is inacceptable according to Hhamlet and his religion. It was incest and they didn’t even wait a bit before getting together. Consequently, while Hamlet kept increasing his anger, so did his desire for revenge against his father’s murder and the initiative tot really mad and mad him wants to kill Claudius even more and made him speak with his mother in hopes of talking in order to get some sense into her. Gertrude but she refuses to understand a word of what he said when he spoke of
Gertrude is the epitome of weakness to Hamlet because of her foolish act of remarrying, which Hamlet views as a betrayal. It all can be traced back to the murder of his father. This grief Hamlet has worsens his relationship with Gertrude, which makes him feel as though she is letting the murder of her first husband go without mourning. In conversation with the ghost of his father, Hamlet declares, “O most pernicious woman!
Hamlet possesses an uncomfortable obsession with his mother’s sexuality. For this reason, Hamlet’s soliloquies provide most of the audience’s information about Gertrude’s sexual activities. In his first soliloquy, Hamlet refers to the relationship between Gertrude and Claudius when he exclaims, “Within a month…She married. O, most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (I, ii, 153-157). In saying this, Hamlet displays how hastily Gertrude has abandoned the late King Hamlet, Hamlet’s father, such that she has already married Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle. In addition, Hamlet acknowledges that Gertrude and Claudius have quickly developed a very sexual relationship. Despite the very recent death of her husband, Gertrude is unable to control her sexual desires, and she remarries less than two months after King Hamlet’s funeral.
Clearly, Hamlet’s concern for the Queen, his mother, is of genuine association to the death of King Hamlet. Within this solitary thought, Hamlet realizes the severity of his mother’s actions while also attempting to rationalize her mentality so that he may understand, and perhaps, cope with the untimely nature of the Queen’s marriage to Claudius. Understandably, Hamlet is disturbed. Gertrude causes such confusion in Hamlet that throughout the play, he constantly wonders how it could be possible that events would turn out the way they did.
... feelings and marries Claudius which really hurts Hamlet. Gertrude as a wife and mother, hurts the people most loved, her family.
Hamlet is seen as one of the most complex literary character of all time. The relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude can be interpreted in many ways. Hamlet’s motivation for killing Claudius is not to avenge his father’s death, but because of his love for his mother Gertrude. This is where the Oedipus complex comes into play in Hamlet by William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet, shows strong prejudice against woman especially with such characters of Ophelia and Gertrude. Shakespeare created an interesting character with Gertrude; he created a character that sits in the middle of all the conflict and appears to not partake in much of it. However Gertrude does seem intent in defusing it at every possible chance she receives. Gertrude is a central figure in the play. She appears a great deal but doesn’t say much – implying mystery and creating an interesting uncertainty in the audience. Hamlet spends a lot of time dwelling on her marriage to Claudius and Shakespeare leaves many questions unanswered with Gertrude such as did she have an affair with Claudius behind old hamlets back? Why does she drink the poisoned wine that is intended for her son? Does she know it is poisoned? Gertrude is the mother of Hamlet and although they do not have a typical mother son relationship she does love him. Queen Gertrude is often interpreted by many as an adulterate, incestuous woman. Catherine Belsey states that typical interpretations of Hamlet maintain: ‘Gertrude a slut; and Shakespeare a patriarchal bard’ (Belsey,1997:34). Gertrude’s actions throughout the play could be read to show her to be a very passive character, far from a strong independent woman. This is shown with her obedience to Claudius, three times during the play, Gertrude is told to leave and each times she complies without hesitation. In Act 1, scene 2 Claudius says to Gertrude, ‘Madam, come’ (122). Then again, Act 3, scene 1, Claudius says to her, ‘Sweet Gertrude, leave us .’ (28), she complies with ; ‘I shall obey you’ (37). And finally, in Act 4, scene 1, Claudius say, ‘O Gertrude, come away!’ (28). This obedience that Gertrude ...
Hamlet’s sense of betrayal by Gertrude, although briefly taking him off course, ultimately infuriates and intensifies his urge for revenge. Because of Gertrude’s refusal to acknowledge her sins, Hamlet becomes even more personally motivated to kill Claudius for revenge. Queen Gertrude, though ignorant, has a huge impact on the play because her betrayal and abandonment motivates Hamlet to get revenge. When writing Hamlet, Shakespeare created a complex play that relies on the roles of two important women to aid the progression of the plot. Although Queen Gertrude and Ophelia rarely speak, they function as a way for the men to become informed about Hamlet’s mental state and motives for madness.
Gertrude influenced Hamlet significantly throughout the course of the play. Hamlet was very angered by his mother's remarriage. A few months after his father's death, Gertrude married Claudius, Hamlet's uncle. He was driven mad when his father's ghost appeared to him and revealed that Claudius was responsible for the death of Old Hamlet. Hamlet even termed the marriage as incest. Hamlet's fury is displayed when he throws his mother on the bed and says, "Frailty, thy name is woman" (Act #. Scene #. Line #). This shows his extent of anger because he makes a generalization that all women are weak. As a result of his mother's actions, Hamlet strives to seek revenge against Claudius for the death of his father. In order to marry Gertrude, Claudius kills his brother. Therefore, Gertrude is the driving factor for the whole setup of the play.
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
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 many of his plays, especially tragedies, William Shakespeare examines the relationships people have with one another. Of these relationships, he is particularly interested in those between family members, above all, those between parents and their children. In his play Hamlet, Shakespeare examines Prince Hamlet's relationships with his dead father, mother and step-father. His relationship with Gertrude, one of the only two women in the play, provides Hamlet with a deep sense of anger and pain. Hamlet feels that Gertrude has betrayed his father by marrying with his brother. Throughout the play, he is consumed with avenging his father's death and all the mistreatment the former King had suffered and still suffers after his life is over. Gertrude adds to the dead King's tarnished memory by not mourning and instead rejoicing in her new marriage. Hamlet is thus extremely angry with Gertrude and expresses this anger towards her directly and indirectly through his words, both to himself and to other characters.
The relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude is strained at first. From the beginning of the play to act III, Hamlet is bitter with his mother. He feels this way because it has been less than four months since the death of his biological father, yet she is already remarried to Claudius. He feels his father is being betrayed from her lack of mourning. She tells her son to "cast thy nighted color off" (I.ii.68) and "all that lives must die" (I.ii.72). Clearly, she isn't grieving over her late husband's death and instead puts forth an optimistic attitude to her new husband and life. Gertrude's concern with Hamlet's odd behaviour after his encounter with Ophelia in act II scene i also shows the strain in their relationship. For example, she agrees with Claudius' words that "of Hamlet's transformation" (II.ii.5) and suggests Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy and find out the underlying cause of her son's problems. In addition to that, she consents Polonius to hide behind the tapestry in act III scene iv without Hamlet knowing. These two decisions suggest their inability to communicate. Instead, spying is required for Gertrude to find out about her son's inner mentality. The mother and ...