Act 3 Scene 4 of William Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Recommended: How Hamlet views his mother, Gertrude's relationship with his uncle Claudius, as incendiary

Act 3 Scene 4 of William Shakespeare's Hamlet

It is tempting to condemn Gertrude as evil, but it is probably more

sensible to consider her as weak and inconstant. But when have tragedy

plays ever been sensible? Like many of Shakespeare's women it is

argued that their characters are somewhat "sketched in" rather than

drawn in with detail like for example, Hamlet's. The way Shakespeare

has "sketched in" Gertrude's character leads an awful lot down to the

way she is played on the stage. When reading the play Gertrude's

character is enigmatic. This leads a lot down to personal

interpretation upon reading the play. We also have to take the culture

of that period in time into consideration when examining Gertrude's

character. Act 3 scene 4 emphasises this showing us two separate

arguments for the portrayal of Gertrude's character.

An interpretation that I would like to explore is Gertrude as an evil

character in the play. There are several significant points that

illuminate the evil side to her character. A lot of people consider

Gertrude as frail and weak, highlighted by Hamlet's heartfelt line. "Frailty,

thy name is woman" but there are several tell tale signs to draw her

character towards the centrally evil figure in Hamlet. The most

obvious being her incestuous marriage to Claudius. Surely she must

take into consideration the consequences of her actions and therefore

this shows us Gertrude's ice-cold nature. Even going as far as wanting

to marry to stay in a position of power? Once Gertrude has tasted the

lavish life of a queen is it possible that she can go back to not

being a royal? The marriage shows us that she is completely ...

... middle of paper ...

...etween two "mighty opposites". Upon looking at this

secondary criticism it shows us another dimension of argument for

Gertrude's innocence as a character.

Gertrude's character is very equivocal in that she can be interpreted

in many ways, and there be strong arguments for both sides. Gertrude's

character is strongly influenced by her stage portrayal. I think

Shakespeare did this intentionally to keep a certain ambiguity about

the character. We know so far that Gertrude is capable of deceiving

people and being sensual but also she puts up pretence that she is

completely innocent and frail. Is Gertrude capable of deceiving

Hamlet? Are her intentions with Claudius for her own gain? In

conclusion I think that Gertrude isn't innocent and weak nor is she

central to the evil but she is deceiving and illusory in her actions.

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