My aim in this essay is to compare the representation of the central figure of John Updike’s Gertrude and Claudius, Gertrude, with two Hamlet films, Zeffirelli’s one and Branagh’s one. First of all, we will deal with the plot of the story of Gertrude and Claudius.
First of all, we will deal with the main plot of John Updike’s Gertrude and Claudius. The King of Denmark marries his daughter to Horwendil the Jute, although this marriage is not a question of love but a question of politics. Horwendil becomes King, when her father dies. She bears him a son, Amleth/Hamlet. She tries to love her husband and her son, but at forty-seven, Gertrude is seduced into a passionate affair by the King 's brother, Feng/Claudius. The King discovers the affair and confronts Claudius conspires with Corambus/Polonius to murder the King. After killing him, Claudius and Gertrude marry. Claudius wants Hamlet at Elsinore, but Gertrude thinks him a danger to her husband. Claudius prevails. The story ends, as Hamlet agrees to remain at the castle.
With this we can see
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We did not know that Gertrude was sixteen years old when her father Rorik, King of Denmark, betrothed her to Horwendil, for example. We can see her in the film with the age of forty seven, when she marries Claudius after King Hamlet’s death. In addition, she has long, copper-colored hair and a small gap between her two front teeth, things that in the film are not shown: ‘Had her beauty a flaw, it was a small gap between her front teeth, as if too broad a smile had once pulled the space forever open’², although Gertrude has long blonde hair and perfect well located teeth in both of the films. Besides, in the book we can read that ‘Gerutha 's gray-green eyes flashed like poplar leaves before a storm’³, Gertrude has gray-green eyes in both films, or at least they are
Immediately after her husband’s murder, Gertrude marries his brother in order to maintain her status as Queen of Denmark. If she were truly in love with King Hamlet, and was not with him to gain some sort of societal power, she would not have attempted to maintain said power by immediately marrying Claudius. Though one can argue that she married Claudius to appease the public, as her late husband was beloved by the populous, this claim simply does not hold up when one considers the hunger for power that plagues every character in Hamlet. Additionally, Gertrude’s attitudes regarding Hamlet’s grief arouse suspicion as to her true motives. As she tells him, “…/Do not forever with thy vailed lids/” (I.ii. 69-71.) She later continues, ”Seek for thy noble father in the dust/Thou know 'st 'tis common; all that lives must die,/Passing through nature to eternity” (I.ii. 72-74.) Though this can be written off as a mother simply being worried for her son’s well being, it seems as if there is some sort of deeper meaning to these words. As long as Hamlet is in mourning, the people of Denmark will hold the late King Hamlet in their memory, and may start to get suspicious as to why Gertrude “moved on” so quickly. Furthermore, her attempts to squander Hamlet’s grief are an obvious effort to conceal her true motives from the citizens of Denmark, and to maintain her current position of power. Through her
First of all, it is illegal to re-marry during the year following, a widow must mourn the loss of their husband for a year. Having been a widow for just over a month Gertrude is already engaged in a relationship with . Claudius, Hamlet’s Uncle and King Hamlet’s brother. This is inacceptable according to Hhamlet and his religion. It was incest and they didn’t even wait a bit before getting together. Consequently, while Hamlet kept increasing his anger, so did his desire for revenge against his father’s murder and the initiative tot really mad and mad him wants to kill Claudius even more and made him speak with his mother in hopes of talking in order to get some sense into her. Gertrude but she refuses to understand a word of what he said when he spoke of
The book Hamlet focuses on Prince Hamlet who is depressed. He was told to go home to Denmark from his school in Germany to be present at his father 's funeral but was shocked to find his mother Gertrude already remarried to his Uncle Claudius, the dead king 's brother. To Hamlet, the marriage is "foul incest." Worse still, Claudius has had himself crowned King despite the fact that Hamlet was his father 's heir to the throne. Various major characters such as Ophelia, King Claudius, Polonius, Prince Hamlet, Laertes, Horatio, and Gertrude, Ghost of Hamlet’s father, Fortinbras, Yorick, Guildenstern, and Rosencrants featured in the book but in this essay, I would be critically analyzing just one major character, “King Claudius”. I would analyze
In theory women during the Elizabethan Age had no power in their homes. In royal families the women are the breeders, they had the responsibility to keep the royal bloodline flowing by having male children to keep the male dominance. “A woman whose job is to represent the family, is doing the traditionally female job of being wife or mother.” (Billig) Gertrude’s role in the play had fairly little significance, besides that she was a mother and wife. She showed no reasons as to why she was in such a rush to remarry after her husband, King Hamlet’s death.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet, shows strong prejudice against woman especially with such characters of Ophelia and Gertrude. Shakespeare created an interesting character with Gertrude; he created a character that sits in the middle of all the conflict and appears to not partake in much of it. However Gertrude does seem intent in defusing it at every possible chance she receives. Gertrude is a central figure in the play. She appears a great deal but doesn’t say much – implying mystery and creating an interesting uncertainty in the audience. Hamlet spends a lot of time dwelling on her marriage to Claudius and Shakespeare leaves many questions unanswered with Gertrude such as did she have an affair with Claudius behind old hamlets back? Why does she drink the poisoned wine that is intended for her son? Does she know it is poisoned? Gertrude is the mother of Hamlet and although they do not have a typical mother son relationship she does love him. Queen Gertrude is often interpreted by many as an adulterate, incestuous woman. Catherine Belsey states that typical interpretations of Hamlet maintain: ‘Gertrude a slut; and Shakespeare a patriarchal bard’ (Belsey,1997:34). Gertrude’s actions throughout the play could be read to show her to be a very passive character, far from a strong independent woman. This is shown with her obedience to Claudius, three times during the play, Gertrude is told to leave and each times she complies without hesitation. In Act 1, scene 2 Claudius says to Gertrude, ‘Madam, come’ (122). Then again, Act 3, scene 1, Claudius says to her, ‘Sweet Gertrude, leave us .’ (28), she complies with ; ‘I shall obey you’ (37). And finally, in Act 4, scene 1, Claudius say, ‘O Gertrude, come away!’ (28). This obedience that Gertrude ...
Different adaptations of William Shakespeare’s works have taken various forms. Through the creative license that artists, directors, and actors take, diverse incarnations of his classic works continue to arise. Gregory Doran’s Hamlet and Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet bring William Shakespeare’s work by the same title to the screen. These two film adaptations take different approaches in presenting the turmoil of Hamlet. From the diverging takes on atmosphere to the characterization of the characters themselves, the many possible readings of Hamlet create the ability for the modification of the presentation and the meaning of the play itself. Doran presents David Tenant as Hamlet in a dark, eerie, and minimal setting; his direction highlighting the
During class we have reviewed many versions of the play Hamlet. The two movie versions that I chose to compare on the play Hamlet are the David Tennant version and the Kenneth Branagh version. I chose these two versions because these were the two that most interested me. I believe that some scenes from each movie were better than the other, but overall I liked these two versions just as equally. The three main scenes that stood out to me that I will be comparing are ‘Ophelia’s Mad Scene’, the ‘Hamlet Kills Polonius’ scene, and Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ scene.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows a unique mother and son relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet. Stemming from the death of King Hamlet, Hamlet’s depiction of his mother signals a heinous relationship amongst the two. Hamlets and Gertrude relationship looks complicated, but Gertrude still considers Hamlet as her son. After the marriage of Gertrude and Claudius, her affection towards Hamlet is not encountered, excluding for when she questioned his dark demeanor, “Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark” (I, II, 68-69). Initially in the plot, Hamlet realizes that his mother is completely oblivious and naïve to her relationship with King Hamlet. Her questioning Hamlet’s character indicates that she
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 four months since the death of his biological father, yet she is already remarried to Claudius. He feels his father is being betrayed from her lack of mourning. She tells her son to "cast thy nighted color off" (I.ii.68) and "all that lives must die" (I.ii.72). Clearly, she isn't grieving over her late husband's death and instead puts forth an optimistic attitude to her new husband and life. Gertrude's concern with Hamlet's odd behaviour after his encounter with Ophelia in act II scene i also shows the strain in their relationship. For example, she agrees with Claudius' words that "of Hamlet's transformation" (II.ii.5) and suggests Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy and find out the underlying cause of her son's problems. In addition to that, she consents Polonius to hide behind the tapestry in act III scene iv without Hamlet knowing. These two decisions suggest their inability to communicate. Instead, spying is required for Gertrude to find out about her son's inner mentality. The mother and ...
The position of Gertrude’s character in the play raises numerous questions about her involvement with her former husband’s murder, along with her reasoning for marrying Claudius. Failing to question Claudius’ intentions with her son, Hamlet, Gertrude includes herself in the corruption. She is present at various meetings discussing her son’s whereabouts and plots to spy on him (83). Though she is conscious of the corruption in the court, she does not seek to resolve the matters. But rather, she involves herself in the conflict and schemes. Claudius’ ways definitely influence her judgment, which is seen when she allows Polonius to spy on her private conversation with Hamlet (169). Furthermore, when confronted by Hamlet, she admits, “Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul, And there I see such black and grainèd spots, As will not leave their tinct” (175). Her response to Hamlet’s raging interrogative and accusatory speech insinuates that she too has in some fashion contributed to the corruption in Denmark, though the specific circumstance is never revealed. Shakespeare’s portrayal of Gertrude shows a woman who is more concerned about self-preservation and remaining in power so much so that she involves herself with the plots of a man, who murdered her
Claudius is the king of Denmark, who is a very powerful and assertive man. He is the type of person that will do anything to get what he wants and everything in his power to stay king. He will do what it takes to get his way, even if that means betraying the person he is supposed to be committed to and love, his wife Gertrude. Gertrude is the mother of Hamlet, who she deeply cares for and loves. She is convinced that Claudius does as well. In order for Claudius to stay as king he must keep Gertrude happy and pleased. He accomplishes this by pretending to love Hamlet in front of Gertrude when in reality he wants to kill Hamlet. Claudius faces the truth that his secret got out and Hamlet knows he killed King Hamlet. Not wanting to ruin his reputation and of course stay king he plans to have Hamlet killed. He lets Gertrude believe...
Nature versus nurture is a common sociological theory that has the ability to be used on anyone. Nature means the way someone was born or their genes, and nurture is someone’s environment. People argue which affects a person more. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there have been numerous arguments saying that his uncle Claudius is actually his father due to their similarities. With the argument of nature versus nurture one can argue that they act so much alike because Hamlet’s environment growing up was being around Claudius. By looking at both Hamlet and Claudius’; inaction/action, plots to murder one another, their diction, their relationships with Gertrude, the way they treat women and their advisors, it proves that Claudius is not Hamlet’s father.
To begin, Gertrude is presented in differing manners throughout Hamlet the play versus Hamlet (2000) the film. In Shakespeare’s play, she originally is cast as a woman who has power due to her husband, but sits as a trophy wife. Craving power, safety, and comfort, she depends on men for her position and control. Seeming to have poor judgment, she never expresses self-reflection throughout the play and just seems to be a bit oblivious to everything, ultimately resulting in her death as an unaware victim of a game she ensnared herself
Throughout this process, his relationship with his uncle Claudius and mother Gertrude worsen. Hamlet and Claudius’ tainted relationship successively intensifies through their planned plots to kill one another. The relationship between Hamlet and his mother Gertrude worsen due to her shameful acts, and her disregard towards her son in his times of need. If it had not been for this corruption between the family, Denmark would’ve continued to be ruled by an honourable and truthful family. Instead, the kingdom of Denmark became rife with dishonesty, eventually leading to the death of Hamlet and Claudius, the ultimate
Gertrude influenced Hamlet significantly throughout the course of the play. Hamlet was very angered by his mother's remarriage. A few months after his father's death, Gertrude married Claudius, Hamlet's uncle. He was driven mad when his father's ghost appeared to him and revealed that Claudius was responsible for the death of Old Hamlet. Hamlet even termed the marriage as incest. Hamlet's fury is displayed when he throws his mother on the bed and says, "Frailty, thy name is woman" (Act #. Scene #. Line #). This shows his extent of anger because he makes a generalization that all women are weak. As a result of his mother's actions, Hamlet strives to seek revenge against Claudius for the death of his father. In order to marry Gertrude, Claudius kills his brother. Therefore, Gertrude is the driving factor for the whole setup of the play.