Hamlet and the Character of Gertrude Shakespeare’s sinful woman in the tragedy Hamlet is named Gertrude. Wife of Claudius and mother of the prince, she is not selected by the ghost for vengeance by the protagonist. Let’s consider her story in this essay. There is no doubt that Gertrude is a sinner in this play. In her book, Shakespeare’s Tragic Heroes, Lily B. Campbell describes the extent of Gertrude’s sin and of her punishment: And of the Queen’s punishment as it goes on throughout the play, there can be no doubt either. Her love for Hamlet, her grief, the woes that come so fast that one treads upon the heel of another, her consciousness of wrong-doing, her final dismay are those also of one whose soul has become alienated from God by sin.(146) Courtney Lehmann and Lisa S. Starks in "Making Mother Matter: Repression, Revision, and the Stakes of 'Reading Psychoanalysis Into’ Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet," comment on the contamination of the queen in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Hamlet, a play that centres on the crisis of the masculine subject and its "radical confrontation with the sexualized maternal body," foregrounds male anxiety about mothers, female sexuality, and hence, sexuality itself. Obsessed with the corruption of the flesh, Hamlet is pathologically fixated on questions of his own origin and destination -- questions which are activated by his irrepressible attraction to and disgust with the "contaminated" body of his mother. (1) At the outset of the drama, Hamlet’s mother is apparently disturbed by her son’s appearance in solemn black at the gathering of the court, and she requests of him: Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, And let thi... ... middle of paper ... ...htm Campbell, Lily B. Shakespeare’s Tragic Heroes. New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc, 1970. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Lectures and Notes on Shakspere and Other English Poets. London : George Bell and Sons, 1904. p. 342-368. http://ds.dial.pipex.com/thomas_larque/ham1-col.htm Jorgensen, Paul A. “Hamlet.” William Shakespeare: the Tragedies. Boston: Twayne Publ., 1985. N. pag. http://www.freehomepages.com/hamlet/other/jorg-hamlet.html Lehmann, Courtney and Lisa S. Starks. "Making Mother Matter: Repression, Revision, and the Stakes of 'Reading Psychoanalysis Into' Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet." Early Modern Literary Studies 6.1 (May, 2000): 2.1-24 . Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.
In "Man and Wife Is One Flesh": Hamlet and the Confrontation with the Maternal Body, Janet Adelman argues that the motivating force behind the plot action in Hamlet is the collapse of boundaries between relationships of individuals, sexes, and divisions of public (state) and private (love) life. The primary cause of the breakdown results from the bodily contamination spread through overt sexuality, specifically maternal sexuality. Janet Adelman asserts her feminism into the sexist view of psychoanalysis to define the contamination as that power of women that men fear.
Goldman, Michael. "Hamlet and Our Problems." Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Hamlet. Ed. David Scott Kaston. New York City: Prentice Hall International. 1995. 43-55
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 ...
Hamlet possesses an uncomfortable obsession with his mother’s sexuality. For this reason, Hamlet’s soliloquies provide most of the audience’s information about Gertrude’s sexual activities. In his first soliloquy, Hamlet refers to the relationship between Gertrude and Claudius when he exclaims, “Within a month…She married. O, most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (I, ii, 153-157). In saying this, Hamlet displays how hastily Gertrude has abandoned the late King Hamlet, Hamlet’s father, such that she has already married Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle. In addition, Hamlet acknowledges that Gertrude and Claudius have quickly developed a very sexual relationship. Despite the very recent death of her husband, Gertrude is unable to control her sexual desires, and she remarries less than two months after King Hamlet’s funeral.
Due to self-depreciating attitudes and beliefs, the individual tends to have a low internal self-esteem. The individual perceives the physical and cultural characteristics identified
Compared to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Almereyda’s adaptation creates a new reading and highlights various elements more directly through a change in the characterization of Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother. The movie advances her position as a woman, making her a commanding and prominent figure throughout. This new reading of Gertrude from the movie reflects the changes in societal views regarding women, due to varying time periods, progressing the position of Gertrude as a woman, and exploiting ideas of incest, misogyny, and
Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is a complex and ambiguous public exploration of key human experiences surrounding the aspects of revenge, betrayal and corruption. The Elizabethan play is focused centrally on the ghost’s reoccurring appearance as a symbol of death and disruption to the chain of being in the state of Denmark. The imagery of death and uncertainty has a direct impact on Hamlet’s state of mind as he struggles to search for the truth on his quest for revenge as he switches between his two incompatible values of his Christian codes of honour and humanist beliefs which come into direct conflict. The deterioration of the diseased state is aligned with his detached relationship with all women as a result of Gertrude’s betrayal to King Hamlet which makes Hamlet question his very existence and the need to restore the natural order of kings. Hamlet has endured the test of time as it still identifies with a modern audience through the dramatized issues concerning every human’s critical self and is a representation of their own experience of the bewildering human condition, as Hamlet struggles to pursuit justice as a result of an unwise desire for revenge.
Hamlet’s attachment to his mother was quickly made evident within the first act of the famous tragedy. Hamlet, who sulks around wearing black clothing to mourn the death of his father, first speaks in the play to insult his stepfather. He voices his distaste at his new relationship with his uncle by criticizing that they are, “A little more than kin and less than kind” (I.ii.65). He believes that it is unnatural for his uncle to also be his father, and eagerly jumps at an opportunity to offend Claudius. However, Hamlet acts entirely different towards his mother, despite his poor attitude....
Self esteem is the affective or emotional aspect of self and generally refers to how we feel about or how we value ourselves, also known as one’s worth. Educators, parents, business and government leaders agree that we need to develop individuals with healthy or high self-esteem characterized by tolerance and respect for others, individuals who accept responsibility for their actions, have integrity, take pride in their accomplishments, who are self-motivated, willing to take risks, capable of handling criticism, loving and lovable, seek the challenge and stimulation of worthwhile and demanding goals, and take command and control of their lives. In other words, we need to help foster the development of people who have healthy or authentic self-esteem because they trust their own being to be life affirming, constructive, responsible and trustworthy. Some have referred to self-esteem as merely “feeling good” or having positive feelings about oneself.
In the Tripartite Model there are three processes to develop self-esteem: being, becoming and acquiring (Weiss 22). In the being stage, the individual is taught to see themselves as an essence of the universe, part of humanity or an aspect of nature. The self-esteem arrived at through the ‘being’ stage is innate to humankind. The individual is taught the value of existence as they build self-esteem based upon their sense of being and living in the world (Weiss 22). The second stage, becoming, focuses on the development of qualities that are intrinsic to the individual and relates primarily to the development of one’s inner core (Weiss 22). The individual is taught to value themselves based upon their unique qualities and abilities. In the final stage, acquiring, the individual learns to value all of the other features that contribute to their self-esteem such as skills, accomplishments, positions, worldly goods, and appearance. The Tripartite Model seeks to build a full and complex sense of self-esteem for the individual as the model focuses on teaching the individual to have a more balanced self-esteem that is not solely based on their skills and
Low self-esteem affects individual’s success. If the person is pessimistic and believe in external locus of control, then they think their life is totally controlled by other people. They totally depend on others because they believe that they themselves cannot change their life. They believe in luck rather than their hard work. So, people who have low self-esteem, who rely too heavily on validation from external sources can easily lose control over their lives and never get success in their life.
An individual can be motivated in so many ways, at times it can help the person in a positive way and sometimes it can be negative. One of the most important topics of motivations comes within us and involves our self-esteem. It reflects emotions and the way people seem themselves. Self-esteem is the mirror of one’s soul, what moves people as individuals and might allow them to proceed and better themselves. Another way to help with motivation is to seek professional help, talk to others and make the necessary changes to feel accepted.
Low levels of self-esteem carry distinctive behaviors and views that can be pervasive and detrimental to someone's overall quality of life. A sufferer of low self-esteem tends to believe he has little value as a person, and these feelings can often lead to social difficulties while high levels of self-esteem are frequently seen as ideal goals for anyone seeking to improve his self-image. A person with high self-esteem tends to learn from past failures without dwelling on them, to connect well with others, and to confidently believe in his own opinions. A healthy level of self-esteem can help significantly in creating a positive outlook on life.
Self-esteem is critical evaluation of ones self, resulting in negative or positive thoughts about oneself (Decker, 2010; Kaya & Saçkes, 2004). The way an individual see’s themselves is imprortant in regards to how they behave and the daily decisions they make (Hamarta, 2004). With regards to adolelescents, self esteem is of particular importance, influencing every day decisions that can have a life long impact (Person & Year, 2007). Self esteem can be defined on the basis of the way one sees themselves. In this view of self esteem, there must be a reference point with which the individual compares themelves to although the view of themselves may be positive or negative with respect to that particular reference ppoint. In positive self-esteem the individual is satisified with the way he or she is and thus views themselves favorably with respect to that particular reference point. In contrast, in negative self-esteem, the individual fails to meet this ideal point of reference of how they should be externally (Decker, 2010).
People with low self-esteem will be threatened by a person’s social status, whether it is of high status or low status, and will want to stick within a group of people that are within the same status. High status people could take advantage of low status people, and low status people could ruin the reputation of high status people. “People seek opportunities (and the groups that provide them) to verify their identities and avoid situations (and groups) where self-verification is problematic (Cast,