Gertrude's Transformation Of Hamlet

The most significant act of betrayal is that of Gertrude-whose marriage to Claudius after two months of widow-hood has such a traumatic effect on Hamlet. He complains that a beast ‘would have mourned longer’. Right from the beginning, even before the ghost appears, Hamlet’s attitude to women in general is coloured by his mother’s disloyalty and betrayal-‘Frailty, thy name is

Claudius’s strong ambitions to become king lead him to poisoning and killing Hamlet’s father and Hamlet falling into a state of melancholy. Due to his deep sadness, Hamlet’s relationships with Ophelia and Gertrude deteriorate. In response to Gertrude marrying Claudius just shortly after his father’s death, Hamlet calls women weak because of their unwillingness to control their sexual appetites. This is shown when Hamlet says “Frailty, thy name is woman” (1, ll, 148) when he is expressing his anger on their marriage. Hamlet is confused at why his mother, who had shown so much affection to his father, would forget all her love for him so fast and marry Claudius. Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia is also damaged because, after watching his mother get married to Claudius, Hamlet thinks all women, including Ophelia, are weak and lusty. This is shown when Hamlet says “I’ve heard all about you women and your cosmetics too.

One example of Hamlet mistreating women was during the times he had various interactions with his mother. Hamlet was very rude to his mother Gertrude, as Gertrude was having an affair with his uncle Claudius while she was still married to his father, King Hamlet. Gertrude's affair angered Hamlet to the point that he wanted to punish her, but the ghost of his late father stopped him. During Hamlet's soliloquy in Act 1, when talking about how his mother moved on fairly quickly, he said a couple sentences which showed his dislike towards his mother's reaction to his father's death. Hamlet also compared Gertrude to a dog, saying that a dog would have mourned king hamlet's death longer than she did. " O God! A beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourn'd longer" (I.ii.L 150-151). Hamlet used to love his mother, but after her affair and the death of his father, he started to spite her and was very angry with her.

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.

As the play begins Hamlet states “...Frailty, thy name is woman!” which although was directed at Gertrude also highlights Hamlet’s overall feelings about women, which is that they are weak, and incapable of making rational decisions(1.2 146). Hamlet expresses his anger for his mother by stating “...O most wicked speed, to post/With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” by this he illuminates that only selfish and promiscuous women would remarry that quickly let alone to her late husband’s brother (1.2 58-59). Hamlet clearly has issues with women, and

A maternal and paternal relationship can create some of the strongests bonds that may even be called friendship. In “Hamlet” it is revealed that he was close to both his father and mother, but after her marriage to Claudius, Hamlet begins to feel bitter and displays animosity to his mother. Because of their close relationship, Hamlet feels betrayed and views her mother as a whore for remarrying so quickly. This hatred towards his mother is displayed because he once looked up towards his mother and see the remarriage as an act of betrayal. In Hamlet’s point of view, his world is corrupted and Gertrude is the centre of it.

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

Shakespeare applies the characterization of Queen Gertrude to display Hamlet's hatred towards his mother. Hamlet adored his father and was dissatisfied that his mother did not mourn over her husband long enough, leading, to the rash decision of her marriage with Claudius. Hamlet felt that his mother was such a cold women that even, "...a beast wants discourse of reason"(1.2.150), in mourning over its children than his mother did over her husband. Hamlet also commented she, "Had left flushing in her galléd eyes..."(1.2.155) and then immediately married, which gave Hamlet the impression that she did not have a care for his father who was most gracious to her that he would not allow the winds too, "visit her face too roughly"(1.2.142). Hamlet

Women, the ones who can easily be marginalized have always been the problem with one’s issues. In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the figure of women as an unacceptable foe. The women are seen as less than a person of living and more as of an object, one that can be sexually used. The continuous dominance over Ophelia and Gertrude has caused their judgment to cloud. Hamlet has easily labeled the women as weak, two-faced and a foe to men due to the unpredictable actions of women. While Ophelia continues to act as a puppet of her father and brother, Gertrude gets stuck in the same position through the use of Claudius. The cause of misogyny and harsh treatment from Hamlet reveals the sensitive and meticulous side of him, through the

Due to Hamlet’s psychological state, he felt confused and betrayed by his mother. His mother marrying his dead father’s brother opened gates to his madness. To Hamlet’s mind, women represent frailty; they are weak and regard them as an embodiment of weakness. He referred to his mother as a morally and spiritually weak woman as her incestuous inconstancy drove her to remarry immediately after her husband’s death and that she committed a sin. The most notable frailty of Gertrude seems to be that, whether by nature or nurture, she cannot exist without men. He recorded saying that Gertrude, “a little month or ere those shoes were old, with which she followed mo poor father’s body” (1.2.147-148). She needs a man as her guide to her perception

Gertrude provoked the start of her son’s anger towards women, “Hamlet’s sexual disgust at Gertrude and women in general can be read both in oedipal terms and in terms of cuckoldry without conflict. In both contexts, Hamlet as son shares his father’s sense of shame at having been sexually betrayed by a woman he loved” (Faber 134). The marriage of Claudius and Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, was perceived inappropriate by Hamlet; he thought not enough time had passed, and it was unethical for his mother to marry his uncle. Gertrude corrupted Hamlet’s perspective on women, forcing his views of women to be permanently distorted into hatred and

Hamlet’s terrible relationship with women is clearly seen all throughout the play. But the relationship between Hamlet and his mother Gertrude is one of mostly anger and resentment. Hamlet is angry at his mom for remarrying so quickly and not taking the proper time to heal over his father’s death which causes a huge amount of resentment. After his father’s death he stated, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” in regards to his mother’s emotional state. When Gertrude was married to King Hamlet, it seemed as though they really loved each other and Hamlet looked up to that but after the king's death and how quick she changed, Hamlet can’t help but feel that she betrayed not only him and his father but also their marriage and how sacred it was supposed to be. When she married Claudius, she ruined the relationship between her and her son and seems to continually choose Claudius over her own son. When Hamlet confronts his mother about the murder of his father, he scolds her for the marriage to his uncle saying she is only in it because of the sex.

Hamlet is a Despondency bitter young man who has abhorrence for his uncle and very disgusted about his mother's sexuality. Throughout the play Hamlet is very hesitant and indecisive about killing his uncle father Claudius who takes the throne from Hamlet and kills his father and win his mother’s love and affection. I think when Hamlet witness his mother has moved on with another man and stopped mourning about his father’s death, this is where his attitude towards women begin to change. Hamlet went from respecting women to utterly disrespecting women for their status in society. In the play he utterly disrespects his mom by saying awful mean things that make her realize her poor actions make her an awful careless person which makes her feel awful in the end. Ophelia on the other hand, he has no respect for her and makes very rude remarks that make her very emotional. Hamlet always has a tendency not to feel sorry every time he hurts a female but when it comes to the male characters he seems to be apologetic and obedient to whoever he has hurt. Therefore, Hamlet is a very important character to the play because without him you would not be able to understand an average male perspective in Shakespeare time and how many view women back then.

Hamlet’s sexual deviancy is a defining characteristic of Hamlet, and is an often talked about topic when discussing the play. Hamlet is engrossed in people’s sex lives, whether it is his mother, Gertrude, or his ex-girlfriend, Ophelia. Hamlet’s general distrust and disgust with women makes him a misogynist. Hamlet seems mad that his mother, Gertrude, moved on so quickly to Claudius seeing as it had only been two months since her first husband, Hamlet Sr. died. This seems like a logical response, however Hamlet keeps bringing it up. So much so, that his father’s ghost even says "Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive / Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven." (1.5.9) Hamlet shows sign of jealousy toward Claudius as if he is the one who wants to be with his mother, because of this Hamlet

From the beginning of the play, Hamlet views woman in a very negative way. It began when his mother remarried to Claudius, his uncle, only a month after his father had passed. He completely disagreed with the decision, he believed that what his mother did was a sin. He knew that his father deserved more than a month of mourning by his mom remarrying so soon, with his uncle! After his father’s ghost appears, he tells him not to worry about his mom but to get revenge for his death. Hamlet’s inability to forget about his mom’s sins, like his father asked of him, eventually affect how he treats other woman involved in his life.