Gertrude's Implications Of Femininity In Hamlet By William Shakespeare

     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.”

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

Hamlet puts off avenging his father’s death because of his severe Oedipus complex. Hamlet did not kill Claudius until his mother had already died. This is a sign that Hamlet did not want to hurt his mother because of the sexual feelings he had for her. Hamlet felt that killing Claudius would hurt his mother too much, and he could not do that to her. Hamlet wants to save Gertrude form Claudius because of his feelings for her, his incestual feelings, not maternal ones. Subconsciously the queen knows the effect she has on her son. Gertrude tries to play off that fact that’s she knows about Hamlet’s feeling several times in the play. Gertrude is very fond of her son and wants to protect him however she can. This can be seen in the play, many times even up to when Gertrude is about to die. She tries to save Hamlet from drinking the poison himself. She also decided not to tell Claudius that Hamlet knows what Claudius has done.

Gertrude knew about the plan to kill the King. Claudius wanted to become King, but the only way that could happen, the current King, would have to be dead. Hamlet’s family and everyone else were very religious. Marrying within the family was very frowned upon, especially in royal families. Because Gertrude was very religious, she would never marry incestuously. For Claudius to become the new King, he would have to marry the Queen, Gertrude. The quick marriage to Gertrude after the Kings death shows that Gertrude was really cheating on her husband before he was murdered.

Gertrude appears oblivious to the fact that Claudius killed King Hamlet to take over the crown and to have her. Her decision to marry her deceased husband’s brother had a lot of people questioning her sanity also. “The funeral baked meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables” (Shakespeare 17). Gertrude had gotten married so quick after the funeral of King Hamlet that the food from the funeral catered for the wedding. During the play that Hamlet produced to show people what Claudius had done, she was blind to the fact that it was actually Claudius that he was talking about. Due to Hamlet knowing the truth, Claudius has been trying to kill him.

In addition, Gertrude goes through a moment where she is figuratively blind when making a judgment. When Hamlet told her about how King Hamlet was killed she didn’t believe it. He says she has been blind this whole time to it and even though Claudius appears innocent he is not. Gertrude married soon after King Hamlet’s death because her love and loneliness blinded her. This led to her to make incestuous actions. Hamlet is annoyed with his mother and how naive she is to his father’s death:

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:

Hamlet felt like his mother did not care for his deceased father enough. I think it was very disrespectful in all ways for Gertrude to even marry her late husband's brother. I feel that Gertrude and Claudius should have had more respect for the deceased and if they were to get married more than a month after the man’s death. In today’s society people would give Gertrude and Claudius ugly looks and talk about how nasty it is that they got together. People in today’s society would pity Hamlet to have to deal with his situation.

The qualities Gertrude draws from Hamlet, however, lead her more towards destruction than love in her marriage. Hamlet's characteristics which she adopts - a timidity and weakness - allow her to be not merely corrupted by Claudius, but clearly also controlled. While she undoubtedly shared in a level of mutual love with Hamlet's father

Gertrude remarries nearly a week since her husband’s death; this causes Hamlet much concern about the loyalty and fidelity of females as he questions, “O, most wicked speed to post/ With such dexterity to incestuous sheets” (1.2.161-162). However, Gertrude does not see her as actions as iniquitous; she pleads Hamlet to “let eye look like a friend on Denmark,” (1.2.69) she wants Hamlet to discard his loathing of Claudius. Following the murder of his father, Hamlet’s relationship with Gertrude is portrayed as odious; Hamlet presumes Gertrude to be a true felon in the death of his father. Communicating with the his father’s ghost, Hamlet says, “O most pernicious woman!/ O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!” (1.5.112-113). Hamlet accuses Gertrude of “kill a king and marry with his brother;” (3.4.35) Hamlet associates Gertrude with the murder of his father and through this, he exemplifies his true disdain for Gertrude. Hamlet’s assertion that Gertrude had a role in the killing of his father sets a portrayal of Gertrude throughout the course of he play. Consequently, Gertrude’s complex representation renders her indecipherable; the reader only understands Gertrude’s character through Hamlet’s depiction of

A few characters in this play give insight on Gertrude that point in the direction of her being shallow and evil. One example is late in the first act when Hamlet cries “O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, dammed villain!” This is when, deep in thought, Hamlet realizes that his mother could have possibly taken part in his father’s death and he thinks she’s evil. In Hamlet’s head, everything makes sense now because it is now understandable how she got over the death so quickly. This is the first time that Hamlet realizes his mother’s true character. This is a very imperative notion about Gertrude’s personality because for her very own son to think a validation like this is extreme. Often times a man will love and defend his mother until the day he dies, while Hamlet, on the other hand, is thinking of her playing a role in his father’s death. When the ghost speaks of Gertrude’s speedy marriage, it provides more evidence of her shallowness. The King’s ghost says that she is “seeming virtuous”. He is basically saying that while she looks holy and righteous, she isn’t. The new King offered her something (or many things) that she wanted, and she took the bait and married him. She didn’t care that her husband had just died, or how her son would react to this

Despite the fact that Gertrude has very little role and few lines in the play still she is central to the action of the play. Prince Hamlet hatred and disgust for her mother as she marries Claudius, is one of the main important reflections of the play. This is because in times of Shakespeare, marrying husband's brother after husband's death was considered as a sin and act of being disloyal with the husband. Secondly, Prince Hamlet also considered Claudius inferior to his father, the late King Hamlet, in all aspects of life.

      We first realize in Act I, Scene 2 that poor judgment is her major character flaw. As the mother of a grieving son, Gertrude should have been more sensitive to Hamlet's feelings. Instead, less than two months after King Hamlet's death, Gertrude remarries Claudius, her dead husband's own brother. Gertrude should have realized how humiliated Hamlet would feel as a

Queen Gertrude is the mother to Hamlet, widow to the late King, and new wife to King Claudius as shown within the first act of Hamlet. Following her marriage to King Claudius, her relationship with her son Hamlet becomes strained. Queen Gertrude symbolizes much of what is considered to be a negative aspect of womanhood. To Hamlet, Queen Gertrude is a failure of a woman. Through his dialogue, it is presented that Hamlet desires a woman and mother to be concerned for her family and place tradition above all else. When Hamlet’s mother makes a decision outside of that realm and marries King Claudius, Hamlet strives to berate her for her choices. Through

It is tempting to condemn Gertrude as evil, but it is probably more sensible to consider her as weak and inconstant. Hamlet's heartfelt line "Frailty, thy name is woman" sums up his view of her actions early in the play. Like many of Shakespeare's women characters, she is "sketched in" rather than drawn in detail. We know that she has a deep affection for her son, which is commented on by Claudius in Act 4 "The Queen, his mother, lives almost by his looks." and we may assume that she has not gone to Claudius's bed unwillingly, although there is a lack of evidence that she returns the King's obsession with her.