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Today I will be talking about whether Queen Gertrude knew about King Hamlet’s murder in the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare in 1603. Gertrude is an intriguing and mysterious character portrayed as caring deeply about her son. Although she seems to be a minor character, her contribution to the play is great in the plot. There are many debates about her knowledge of King Hamlet’s murder, due to the lack of evidence. This makes the conclusion of Gertrude’s innocence difficult to draw, even to the characters of the play. Usually, Gertrude is viewed as innocent and unaware of events happening around her.
Due to the lack of proof of Gertrude’s knowledge, the scholars studying Hamlet are not the only ones unable to conclude, but also the characters in the play. During the play’s course, Hamlet begins to come to the sense that Gertrude might know about King Hamlet’s murder. He uses the play The Murder of Gonzago (Act 3, Scene 2) to try to detect Gertrude’s guilt. This produces no reaction from Gertrude that might give any signs of her knowing of King Hamlet’s murder. Upon seei...
These questions prove that Gertrude is much more complex than the reader thinks initially. However, her character in the play is an enigma, shallow in depth. Gertrude seems to put on a facade of ignorance. She must protect her own interests.
Hamlet is a menagerie of confusion, and documents a bloody struggle to gain power in Denmark. Though certain characters, such as Hamlet or Claudius, are more involved in said struggle, lesser characters could have potentially play a vital role in the perpetuation of the action of the play, mainly the murder of King Hamlet. Large amounts of speculation surround this death, as little concrete evidence exists to shed light on the true identity of the killer. Said confusion allows one to explore the roles potentially played by various characters in this virulent homicide, especially those of more obscure characters, such as Queen Gertrude. Due to the confusion surrounding
Hamlet's behavior is often explained using Freud's theory of sexual behavior; however the symptoms of bipolar disease explain Hamlet's behavior. Bipolar disease is defined as: "This disease causes symptoms like mood swings with periods of both depression and mania. They have consequent changes in thinking and behavior. Bipolar means the sharing of two poles, or high and low, having to do with mood."(2)
With Gertrude, Hamlet would also like to express his anger towards her, as well as possibly kill her or make her go insane, without arising suspicion in others that he is not insane. In addition, he would like to confront Gertrude with the grounds of Claudius' crime, without her thinking that he actually believes in them, so that she might somehow think about them and realize that Claudius is guilty. Now, she will no longer love Claudius and she will not believe that Hamlet thinks that Claudius is guilty. If she believes this, she might pass on this fact to others, leading to Hamlet's downfall. Also, Hamlet does not want to confront Gertrude with the crime in a sane condition, which then will be forcing her to make a difficult choice between Hamlet and Claudius, with disastrous psychological results for Hamlet if she chooses against him.
Act 3 Scene 4, so called the closet scene, is the first time we see Hamlet and Gertrude together alone. In this scene Hamlet releases his anger and frustration at his mother for the sinful deed she has committed i.e. her marriage to her brother-in-law and the murderer. We can see that Gertrude is unaware of her husband's murder when she says `As kill a King?' and it is the first time she confronts her own behavior. There is a conflict between the two; Hamlet gives powerful replies
Unsurprisingly, Branagh’s version of the scene in Gertrude’s closet contains many differences as well. Even in this scene so wrought with family peril, the focus of Branagh’s Hamlet remains on the theme of revenge. From the moment Hamlet arrives in Gertrude’s chamber there is a screaming match. Gertrude is indignant and insulted, rather than hurt and scared as in Doran’s portrayal. Even when Hamlet becomes more violent and physical with her, she still appears to be strong and a nearly even adversary. The killing of Polonius occurs in a similar fashion, except he is hidden behind a curtain rather than a mirror and Hamlet kills him with a dagger instead of a gun. This time period difference is vital in the playing out of this murder, because the “revenge” that takes place is much more personal with a dagger than with a gun. Hamlet is able to commit the murder from farther away with a gun, creating a less hands-on image of murder and revenge. During Hamlet’s line regarding revealing Gertrude’s innermost part, instead of simply referencing a mirror, the audience sees Hamlet try to forcefully undress her. Where in Doran’s film this disrobing was entirely figurative, Branagh takes it more literally in the scene’s staging. For most of the scene, Hamlet and Gertrude are leaning towards each other as if it is a heated argument, rather than Hamlet
Hamlet’s relationship with his mother Gertrude is one of mostly rage, hatred, and possibly jealousy that could have been from loving her in a romantic sense. Hamlet finds out that Gertrude marries his father’s brother soon after his father’s death and goes in a fury. He yells at her and he calls her an incestuous beast. Whether or not this is from hatred for Claudius, Gertrude, or even out of jealousy are all cases that can be very well argued. The fluctuating emotions that Hamlet shows throughout is what makes the play so easy to relate to as a human and also what makes the possibility of there being multiple interpretations on how he really feels. Gertrude is also a strange character in that it seems as
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 ...
William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is one of the most influential plays of all time. It has been retold numerous times in multiple genres due its popularity. Set in Denmark, the kingdom mourns the death of King Hamlet. Prince Hamlet returns from school to find his mother, Gertrude, marrying his uncle, Claudius. The ghost of Hamlet’s father reveals that he was murdered by Claudius. Hamlet feels the need to avenge his father’s death. Ophelia overcome with grief at the death of her father, Polonius, kills herself and Gertrude’s death by the poisoned cup of Claudius. Shakespeare uses Gertrude and Ophelia to exemplify the themes of grief, betrayal, and compassion.
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. In order for her to completely bury the past, she must convince Hamlet to accept her new marriage and forget his father’s death.
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...
William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, is a ghost story, a detective story and a revenge story all within one plot. Throughout the play, qualities of all three types of stories are displayed. The ghost story consists of Hamlet Senior and the circumstances surrounding his untimely demise at the hands of the present King, Claudius. He is being tortured in hell until his death is properly avenged. The detective aspect of Hamlet is brought about by Hamlet trying to figure out whether or not his fathers ghost was real and also to what, if any extent, his mother the "virtuous" Queen Gertrude was involved with the murder of his Father. Both Hamlet and Laertes, bring yet another aspect to this most versatile play, by seeking revenge for their fathers death, each in their own way. By viewing the play as either one or all of these different aspects we learn to have different perspectives on the play.
Hamlet’s sense of betrayal by Gertrude, although briefly taking him off course, ultimately infuriates and intensifies his urge for revenge. Because of Gertrude’s refusal to acknowledge her sins, Hamlet becomes even more personally motivated to kill Claudius for revenge. Queen Gertrude, though ignorant, has a huge impact on the play because her betrayal and abandonment motivates Hamlet to get revenge. When writing Hamlet, Shakespeare created a complex play that relies on the roles of two important women to aid the progression of the plot. Although Queen Gertrude and Ophelia rarely speak, they function as a way for the men to become informed about Hamlet’s mental state and motives for madness.
In this scene, Hamlet argues with his mother, Gertrude. He belittles her, and insults her “incestuous” relationship with Claudius. Hamlet accuses his mother of helping Claudius kill his father. Hamlet even tells his mother that “(would it were not so) you are my mother” (3.4.21.). Basically, Hamlet tells his mother that he wishes that she wasn’t his mother. During this scene, Hamlet is actually contemplating whether or not he is to kill his mother. While Hamlet has no concrete proof that Gertrude actually had any place in the plot to kill Hamlet Senior, he believes that her relationship, and loyalty, to Claudius is proof enough. Then, however, the ghost intervenes and informs Hamlet of his mothers’ innocence. The passion behind Hamlet in this scene is his resentment of his mothers’ marriage to Claudius, and his belief that his mother had a part in the murder of Hamlet Senior. This caused him to be enraged at his mother, and even wish for her death. However, if Hamlet thought logically, he could have discussed Claudius’ crime with his mother and determined whether or not she was guilty for himself, instead of relying solely on the