Essay Considering Gertrude of Shakespeare's Hamlet

He expresses this thought with his first soliloquy: O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! (I.ii 156-157) Gertrude is seen as a loving mother, yet she can't tell how her own son is feeling towards the entire situation. She also tells Hamlet that "it is common for all men to die", however this person that has died isn't a "common" man but he is Hamlet's own father. So it is completely justified to grieve like Hamlet did. She also shows no awareness to how the sudden death of his father is tormenting Hamlet on the inside, so she isn't going to think deeply about King Hamlet's death or put any thought into what Hamlet is thinking.

This may be one of the reasons why Hamlet was first attracted to Ophelia and now the reason why Hamlet rejects Ophelia. By disposition, Gertrude turns to the positive side of life and can’t bear to face pain. The pain she felt after her adultery with Claudius may have been what motivated Claudius to murder her husband. When the conditions were right for her to marry her lover, she was most happy and wished for the difficulties of the past be forgotten. The only thing left to make Gertrude unhappy is Hamlet’s refusal to forget the death of his father or to forgive her for remarrying so quickly.

Gertrude marrying her husband's brother is incestuous, and this bestirs feelings of bitterness in Hamlet. However, sinc... ... middle of paper ... ...mark. Unable to speak freely before Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, Hamlet exaggerates his emotional turmoil so that these two women will soften their attitudes towards him and listen to him. Not only does Hamlet wish to win back the hearts of Gertrude and Ophelia, these two women also serve to verify Hamlet's supposed madness to the other characters. Furthermore, Hamlet must hide his rationality and cunning from his peers and from King Claudius so that he may proceed with his revenge plan.

The assignment said not in the first paragraph, i.e., the paper was to be about how foils affect the meaning of this play.] Foils are minor characters created in a play to help the audience understand a major character better by giving the major character someone to talk to and compare them to. Ophelia can be considered a foil to Hamlet because she helps us see the different attitudes Hamlet has toward certain things. Hamlet, after finding out that his father was murdered, starts acting crazy and giving Ophelia mixed signals about his love for her. Ophelia believes Hamlet loves her but,  because of her father’s wishes, constantly turns him down and denies that she feels the same way.

However, it seems she says this to appease Hamlet as though her future actions do not show that she is remorseful. Hamlet is angry with his mother before he encounters the ghost and discover that Claudius poisoned his brother, King Hamleet. Once Hamlet is aware of foul play, Claudius and Gertrude seem like parasites compared to his God of a father. He is not certain whether his mother played a part of her new husband’s plot. The purpose of the confron... ... middle of paper ... ...eems unable to think for herself.

Before this moment, the irony in this scene is that Gertrude actually offers the wine to her son to help and encourage him! But she finally has to admit to herself that Claudius is guilty of murdering old Hamlet and of trying to murder Hamlet. When she warns Hamlet not to drink the wine, she again is showing compassion for her son and her wish to protect him from

When Gertrude tries to protect Hamlet from Claudius in act IV, scene 1, when describing to Claudius about Hamlet 's killing of Polonius, Gertrude covers up Hamlets indifferent attitude by saying that he cried afterwards: “ Shows itself pure. He weeps for what is done” (IV.I.28). She knows that Hamlet did not show sorrow but as a mother, she wants to describe him in way that will make things easier for him. However, this does not change the conflict towards Gertrude and Hamlet. Hamlet is still enraged with vengeance and Gertrude’s nurturing act does not help the situation:“The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body.

Ophelia obeys what her father has told her to do because she does not want him to get angry with her. No, my good lord; but, as you did command, I did repel his letters and denied His access to me (II, I, 109-111) Hamlet loved his father the way that any child does. A part of him and his life was taken from him when he heard of his father’s death. Instead of spending time with her son like she should have been, Gertrude was spending more time with her quickly married husband, Claudius. This quick marriage to Claudius made Hamlet wonder if his father had just died, or if he was murdered.

He kept wondering how his mother can do this to him and Hamlet plots revenge against the King; the king is also plotting revenge against Hamlet. Hamlet is saddened by his father’s death, but what saddened him even more was that his mother would do such thing like betray his father. However, the death of her father was the primary reason why she went mad. She didn’t go mad because of anything else. She was deeply saddened by her father’s death because he was the only one she looked up to and whom she say as her shining light, so to speak, but now that light has gone away and she saw no point in continuing on with life.

This is meant to stop the advancement upon the kingdom. Hamlet says sarcastic remarks to himself, but Claudius can hear him. Claudius tells Hamlet that he should get over his father’s death and it is unmanly to weep. When Hamlet does speak to his mother,