Gertrude 's Tragic End Of Shakespeare 's Hamlet

Before we make any conclusion regarding the character of Gertrude, we should understand the norms of the society in which she lives in. Established order of the society is maintained through the process of socialization. Petriarchy power structure of 16th century is well represented in Hamlet and judged as a mysterious character. Gertrude in Hamlet holds the political power within the traditional power structure and also has potentially has the power to collapse within that structure. Gertrude fails to represent the moral of society as a queen of the state by marrying Claudius, but she completely believes in the standards set for women by the society. She appreciates qualities like-youth, beauty and purity- in Ophelia:

Gertrude of Hamlet                 In Hamlet, Gertrude is a woman who means no harm but whose poor judgment contributes greatly to the terrible events that occur. There are only two female characters in the play, and neither one--Gertrude or Ophelia--is assertive. But the decisions Gertrude does make eventually lead

The stark difference between Gertrude and her son Hamlet is their grieving period. Hamlet is obviously disgusted at how quickly his mother ceases her grieving of her husband. This is the first example of the life Gertrude lives. She, arguably, should be grieving extremely, but instead she has moved on. Gertrude encourages Hamlet, “Do not forever 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” (1.2.70-73). Her actions speak of a normal death on his behalf. It is natural to live and die. Hamlet is one the

Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Hamlet is described by a wide margin as very complex and appealing. Appealing facets of the characters are that many of them are flawed. However, Shakespeare developed these characters to grow dramatically or insignificantly throughout the course of the novel. Gertrude is a character that grows insignificantly throughout the novel. Gertrude’s sudden decision to marry, her maternal care toward her son, and ignoring her son Hamlet leads to her downfall. Gertrude’s failure to realize her maternal flaws causes great upset to Hamlet and affects Hamlet’s character.

     Gertrude as well is exploited by men throughout the play. Gertrude is seen as a prize to Claudius, a way for him to succeed to the thrown without having Hamlet take over. Although it is not doubted that he loves her, but he first uses her to get the kingship without question. Claudius has been wooing Gertrude even before the death of the king, which a reason for the “most wicked speed” in which they were married. (Act 1, scene 2. line 156) Gertrude is also used by Polonius, but more so she allows him to spy on her having a discussion with Hamlet. Polonius tells the Queen that Hamlet is coming to her private chambers and that she should have a discussion with him on his lately “unrestrained” acts. She replies to Polonius that she will “warrant” him, and “fear [her] not” for she is on his side. (Act 3 Scene 4 Lines 1-7) Gertrude however is not an unintelligent woman, so a reader would wonder why she would allow herself to be exploited by Claudius. Carolyn G. Heliburn agrees with Gertrude’s intelligence saying that her speeches are “not the mark of a dull and shallow woman.”

Similar to Ophelia, Gertrude experiences her son’s ill demeanor when during their conversation in her bedroom. After killing Polonius, Gertrude responds with, “O, what rash and bloody deed this is” (3.4.33), a statement which perfectly captures the crime that Hamlet committed. Again Hamlet takes

Hamlet by William Shakespeare focuses on the title character plotting vengeance against Claudius for his father's murder to capture the Danish crown. The new king is also Hamlet's uncle and now stepdad due to the marriage with his mother, Gertrude. Through a sequence of events, the protagonist eventually avenges his father, although both his mother and himself fall to a tragic fate as well. Throughout the course of the play, the relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude changes from strained to a disrespectful and mistrustful to a bittersweet ending.

For example, each one of the Gertrudes adheres to her gender stereotype of a weak female who is inferior to men. Gertrude is obedient and allows men to control her life, which is demonstrated in the climactic scene where she talks to Hamlet. Gertrude allows Polonius to order her around, telling her how to act and she obeys him without any objections. Moreover, she allows Hamlet to abuse her by grabbing her, pushing her onto the bed, and yelling at her. In this scene, she acts like the stereotypical female and she becomes an emotional wreck as well as eventually giving in to the abuse. Additionally, in all three films, Gertrude presents herself in a queen-like manner. This is seen during the play when she acts all graceful and loving to the public’s eye. As a queen, it is her duty to play the role of a loving and caring mother and wife. Gertrude acts kind towards Hamlet by asking if he wants to sit next to her during the play. She also acts affectionately towards Claudius such that she holds his hand and kisses him. As a queen, she must also never raise her voice or show any unappealing emotions. Every time Hamlet insults Gertrude, she looks offended, but never lost control of her emotions in front of everyone. Although there are multiple similarities between the different film versions of Gertrude, there are differences as well. Such as

Gertrude says “Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not for ever with thy vailèd lids, Seek for thy noble father in the dust.Thou know 'st 'tis common; all that lives must die,Passing through nature to eternity.”(Shakespeare i.ii.70-75) This quote from the play is a conversation between Gertrude and hamlet where Gertrude is telling hamlet to accept her love and marriage with King Claudius. She also tells him to stop mourning over his dead father, and that death is inevitable and everyone has to die some day. She urges him not to wear black clothing for his father because to her it seems about high time that he got over his loss. While hamlet later on agrees that death is something everyone must go through his mother confronts him about why mourning his father’s death is something so special to him. In the course of Hamlet’s mourning the mother is still accepting over how upset he is and does not once come to conclusions about Hamlet being mentally disturbed. Gertrude’s character is portrayed as one that sways in any direction because of her incestuous act, she comes off to be a weak woman that is in a constant search for affection and

Overall, we can conclude that Gertrude is a complicated character but her most revealed characteristics are self-serving and scheming. Most of the time she doesn’t seem to truly love Hamlet but towards the end of the play we can catch glimpses of her motherly love and instincts coming out. This is apparent especially when talking to Ophelia. She loves the attention that she receives from Claudius. She takes every opportunity she can find to keep that attention fixated upon her. Many times through the play she acts very self-centered and more concerned for herself then for those around her. While we may not know if she was involved with her late husband’s murder we are told that she feels guilty by both the ghost of Old Hamlet as well as herself.

The Gertrude of Shakespeare’s Hamlet     Is Gertrude, in the Shakespearean drama Hamlet, a bore? A killer’s accomplice? The perfect queen? A dummy? This paper will answer many questions concerning Claudius’ partner on the Danish throne.

Throughout William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Shakespeare portrays Hamlet with the same types of behaviors and frustrations in humans that Sigmund Freud saw at a much later date. When the relationship between Hamlet and his mother is analyzed Freud's oedipal complex theory comes to mind. The oedipal complex is a theory created by Freud that states that "The child takes both of its parents, and more particularly one of them, as the object of its erotic wishes."(51) Because of this desire to be with the parent of the opposite sex, a rivalry is formed with the parent of the same sex. In the play, Hamlet shows great hostility toward his uncle Claudius because his mother's remarriage to him. Hamlet sees his mother's remarriage as disgusting

The Extent to Which Gertrude was the Center of Evil in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

In William Shakespeare’s tragic play Hamlet, the audience can view Gertrude as innocent or guilty of various crimes. However, Shakespeare uses Gertrude’s ignorance, symbols, and her actions to portray her as innocent. Gertrude condones spying on Hamlet and marries her husband’s murderer, but she has no idea that

When advice is given it is sometimes given as a comfort or a closure for the one who has lost a loved one. Richard Fly wrote the article Accommodating Death: The Ending of Hamlet, which states that Gertrude tries to use her words as a comfort to her son by explaining that it is simply part of life. Gertrude explains, “Thou know’st tis common: All that lives must die passing through nature to eternity” (257). Gertrude does not seem to show much sympathy for King Hamlet being dead because she thinks it is something that is supposed to happen eventually. Gertrude also hopes her words will be a comfort her son to make him feel at ease with his father’s death.