How Does Hamlet Present Gertrude's Relationship

Gertrude never seems to get in the middle of Hamlet and Claudius' disputes, so many tend to assume that she is involved in King Hamlet's murder. However, there is an abundance of in-text evidence that suggests she is very innocent and oblivious to Claudius' plots throughout the play. Most of this evidence supporting that Gertrude has nothing to do with King Hamlet's sudden death. From the start, Gertrude comes off as a very clueless and almost blind character to the things happening around her. She mourns for the death of the man she loved, but with her country in mind does what she thinks is best. Sadly, while doing so, she involves herself in a dispute that turns deadly.

Though her death arouses pity, Gertrude is not solely a victim of Hamlet. Gertrude betrays Hamlet and his late father by marrying Claudius as the new king. Though she does not know that he is responsible for her first husband’s death, Gertrude still remarries just a month after the King’s death- and to her brother no less! It is fairly presumable that she and Claudius were engaged in an extramarital affair and Hamlet is not blind to this. Set to take action, Hamlet “set[s] [his mother] up a glass, where [she] may see the inmost parts of [herself]” (44). He proceeds to accuse Gertrude of know about Claudius's plot against his father and berate her with the exposition of her own sins. Even after she tells Hamlet his words have “turn’st [her]

There was an unbreakable bond between mother and son that was completely destroyed when a mother married her husband’s brother. Gertrude and Hamlet are not as close as it seems. Hamlet’s feelings had changed towards his mother after she betrayed his father. Hamlet shows his true colors for his mother when he says,

Hamlet's rant to persuade her that Claudius is a bad man and the murderer of his father depicts his disrespect to his mother. For instance, he tells her, "You go not till I set you up a glass / Where you may see the inmost part of you." (III.iv.20-21) He is threatening his own mother! Later, he addresses her as "thou wretched, rash, intruding fool" (III.iv.32) Even though Gertrude's lust for Claudius aggravates him, Hamlet fails to show even the most fundamental respect to his superior. The relationship is full of disloyalty and distrust from Gertrude's part. First, she appeases, "Be thou assured... I have no life to breathe what thou hast said to me." (III.iv.201-203) It is assumed that she will listen to Hamlet and stay away from Claudius. However, in the next act, she displays her true loyalty to her husband, telling him that Hamlet is "in this brainish apprehension kills / The unseen good old man." (IV.I.12-13) This is partially contributed by her observations of her son talking to a ghost that she doesn't see. Polonius' death causes her to think Hamlet is dangerous, further driving the two apart. Her distrust to her son harms him by further solidifying Claudius' plan to execute him in England because the king sees him as a threat to the throne who is capable of killing. In the end, Hamlet and Gertrude's relationship take a bittersweet ending.

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.

He also thinks it is appalling that she would marry Claudius and stay with him after he had killed the king. Gertrude is torn between being loyal to her husband and to Hamlet. She wants to please both of them even though neither of them can stand one another. Gertrude being a woman in this time period really doesn’t have much of a say-so which makes her easily influenced by the men in her life. When Gertrude and Hamlet’s relationship becomes rocky she does not understand what she had done to make him so upset. When Hamlet finally gains the courage to confront her after the play she states, “O Hamlet, speak no more: Thou turn'st my very eyes into my soul, And there I see such black and grained spots As will not leave their tinct...O speak to me no more; these words like daggars enter my ears; No more, sweet Hamlet!” She truly believed that she did nothing wrong and when Hamlet began to point out all of the shallow things she had done to him and her former husband she couldn’t handle it. Even though Hamlet acts out so harshly towards his mother she still protects and defends him because of her love and devotion towards

Gertrude was Hamlet’s mother. She was a selfish and evil woman. She cheated on Hamlet’s father with Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle. She married Claudius a month after her husband’s death.

When the sword fighting begins they hope that there is blood drawn so that the poison will go into Hamlet and kill him. He tries to poison him during the dual. He begins to confess his love for Ophelia to him, but in the meantime, Gertrude drinks the poison and dies. Laertes then wounds Hamlet, but the idea of poisoning him does not work. Laertes then stabs himself with his sword that is soaked in poisoned. When Laertes tells Hamlet that Claudius is the reason for the queen’s death, he then stabs himself to death with the poison that came off of the blade. Hamlet then immediately dies along with Claudius. Horatio will then fulfill his wishes and tell Hamlet’s

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

Initially the reader can understand Hamlet’s anger with Gertrude when she marries his uncle. “O, most wicked speed, to post / with such dexterity to incestuous sheets,” says Hamlet in disgust towards his mother’s marriage (1.2.161-12). Gertrude did marry the king’s brother quickly after his death, so any resentment Hamlet feels towards his mother is justified. The reader sympathizes even more with the character when Hamlet says of the union, “It is not, nor it cannot come to good. / But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue” (1.2.163-164). It appears that Hamlet is attempting to be respectful towards his mother, so it’s easy to appreciate his character in the beginning.

Shakespeare applies characterization of Queen Gertrude to display Hamlet's feeling of betrayal and anger towards her. Hamlet adored his father and was dissatisfied that his mother appeared as if she was not in the similar depressive state that Hamlet was in. Hamlet began to feel the betrayal because two months after her husband’s death, her and Claudius decide to get married. Hamlet believed his mother

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.

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

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

Through Hamlet’s soliloquies, he insults his mother more than he praises her. As it is found in his first soliloquy, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (1.2.146). He calls her weak because he believes that she has married too soon, showing that she may have also been attracted to Claudius before his father’s death. Hamlet is also ashamed of his mother, not only for marrying too soon, but for not being loyal to one man and husband