Love and Sexuality in Hamlet Essay

If Gertrude was Claudius? partner in crime, one would assume that he would let her in

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.

Hamlet is seen as one of the most complex literary character of all time. The relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude can be interpreted in many ways. Hamlet’s motivation for killing Claudius is not to avenge his father’s death, but because of his love for his mother Gertrude. This is where the Oedipus complex comes into play in Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

Claudius has also wed Gertrude, Hamlet's mother and queen of Denmark. The ghost accordingly accuses her of incest and adultery; she has been seduced by the serpent (cf. 1 Corinthians11:1-3). Thus King Hamlet, "by a brother's hand, of life,

Therefore, when dealing with Claudius, Hamlet's attitude is extremely complex and intricate. The concepts of death and sexuality are interchangeable in this play (Adelman 271). To the reader, it is evident that Hamlet hates his uncle, but his despise of Claudius comes more from his jealousy than from anything else. The more Hamlet criticizes Claudius, the more his

After the death of King Hamlet, Claudius marries Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude. Claudius marries Queen Gertrude for the “betterment” of the country. Claudius stated, “I am still possessed of those effects for which I did the murder: my crown, my own ambition, and my queen." (3.3) “My words rise upward, but my thoughts remain below. Words without sincerity never reach heaven. (3.3 101-102). Claudius’s motive was to become king, to become important and powerful. Hamlet was the next in line for King after his father’s death and Claudius did not want that. Hamlet is disturbed that his mother married his uncle and doesn’t mourn her husband’s death. Hamlet sees the overall picture unlike his mother. At first, Queen Gertrude doesn’t see anything wrong with marrying her brother in-law. Claudius murdered King Hamlet by pouring poison in his ear while he was sleeping. Claudius’s actions give Hamlet a reason for his

Claudius seduces Gertrude before he murders King Hamlet to be sure that she will marry him. From the way Gertrude was responding to him, Claudius knows that she will marry him. Claudius is sure his plan will work and murders King Hamlet and marries Gertrude to become the new King and Queen.

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.

On the contrary, Gertrude’s sanity never really becomes a subject of question by any character within the story, but one cannot believe she maintains a healthy state of mind if she considered marrying her husband’s brother. It does not help her case that Claudius killed her husband. She loves him undyingly in a way only a mad person could. Hamlet wonders how on earth she would willingly marry her husband’s brother only two months after his death. “A little month; or ere those shoes were old With which she followed my poor father 's body Like Niobe, all tears; — why she, even she, (O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn 'd longer!) married with mine uncle, My father 's brother; but no more like my father Than I to Hercules: within a month; Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled

In the play Hamlet, the relationships between the different characters were destroyed because of Hamlets frustrations and other characters suspicions. Hamlet and Ophelia once had a very passionate love affair. Ophelias father Polonius and brother Laertes did not agree with their relationship. Laertes told Ophelia that she could not have a relationship with Hamlet because For Hamlet and the trifling of his favour, Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, A violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, The perfume and suppliance of a minute; No more. Act I scene III 3 Laertes is implying that Hamlet is not the right age for her, and he is comparing Hamlets love of Ophelia to the violet, which flowers early in the spring, but doesnt live long. If it were not for Polonius and Laertess influence on Ophelia, and Ophelias willingness to go along with everything her father and brother tell her to do, many tragedies could have been avoided such as Hamlets insanity, and the death of most of the main characters. The relationship between Gertrude and Claudius caused many problems. Gertrudes husband King Hamlet was killed, and the reader learns that it was Claudius that killed King Hamlet in act I scene V. Two months later, Claudius and Gertrude married, and Hamlet was not happy. The marriage between Claudius and Gertrude

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

   When reading Shakespeare's Hamlet, one becomes involved with a number of relationships involving Hamlet (the tragic protagonist) and the main characters supporting the play. The characters involved include, but are not limited to, Hamlet (the ghost), former King of Denmark and deceased father to the protagonist; Horatio, friend to Hamlet; Gertrude, Queen of Denmark and mother to Hamlet; and Ophelia, daughter of Polonius and romantic interest to Hamlet. Although all of the relationships are complex, encompassing a wide range of varying emotions as the plot advances, there is a recurring theme of love threaded throughout the play. This theme of love takes on a number of faces which we may observe through the

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.