Shakespeare's Hamlet - The Character of Gertrude

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Hamlet – the Character of Gertrude

Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, presents ten male characters for every one female character. The only prominent female characters are two: Ophelia, Laertes’ sister and Polonius’ daughter; and Gertrude, the queen and wife of Claudius and mother of Hamlet. This essay will explore the character, role, and importance of Gertrude.

Prince Hamlet initially appears in the play dressed in solemn black. His mother, Gertrude, is apparently disturbed by this and requests of him:

Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off,

And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark.

Do not for ever with thy vailed lids

Seek for thy noble father in the dust:

Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die,

Passing through nature to eternity. (1.2)

The queen obviously considers her son’s dejection to result from his father’s demise. She joins in with the king in requesting Hamlet’s stay in Elsinore rather than returning to Wittenberg to study. Respectfully the son replies, “I shall in all my best obey you, madam.” So at the outset the audience notes a decidedly good relationship between Gertrude and those about her in the drama, even though Hamlet’s “suit of mourning has been a visible and public protest against the royal marriage, a protest in which he is completely alone, and in which he has hurt his mother” (Burton “Hamlet”). Hamlet’s first soliloquy expresses his anger at the quickness of his mother’s marriage to Claudius, and its incestuousness since it is between family: “Frailty, thy name is woman! . . . .”

When the ghost talks privately to Hamlet, he learns not only about the murder of his father, but also about th...

... middle of paper ...

...the climax approaches, Osric invites Hamlet to a rapier contest with Laertes. During the match Gertrude drinks from the cup poisoned by the king to kill Hamlet. As she dies, she speaks, “The drink, the drink! I am poisoned,” which words motivate Laertes to confess that the king is behind the treachery. Thus he dies by Hamlet’s hand. Then Hamlet and Laertes die, wounded by the poisoned sword meant for Hamlet. Thus, once again, Gertrude is pivotal, is crucial for plot development.

WORKS CITED

Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999.

Burton, Philip. “Hamlet.” In The Sole Voice. New York: The Dial Press, 1970. http://www.freehomepages.com/hamlet/other/burton-hamlet.htm No pag.

Jorgensen, Paul A. “Hamlet.” http://www.freehomepages.com/hamlet/other/jorg-hamlet.htm No pag.

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