Hamlet Family Relationships

When family relationships are thought of they are thought as people showing love toward one another and everyone getting along. However, in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the relationships between family members are not like common family relationships. Whether a family member is trying to trying to kill one another or they are taking complete control over the other, the relationships in Hamlet will leave the reader questioning them until the end. Although in the beginning of Hamlet the relationships between family members can be questioned, it is clear at the end of the play how each family member feels about the other. In the play, Hamlet wants to seek revenge and kill his father’s brother who his married to his mother while his mother

In the beginning Gertrude has the audience to believe that she loves her son because she can tell that his emotions are changing. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet she says, “And I beseech you instantly to visit My too much changed son.” (2.2.34). Her noticing of his change shows how she pays attention to her son and she cares about his feelings. However, at the end of the play she has different emotions toward Hamlet because she now wants to send him to England. Hamlet loves his mother dearly in the beginning of the play. In Sova’s article “Hamlet” she explains how Hamlet’s ghost father tells him to leave his mother alone, “leave her to heav’n.” Hamlet obeying his father’s orders leads readers to believe that he loves his mother even if she did marry his father’s brother. However at the end of the play his mind is overtaken by the thought of his mother’s sexual actions with Claudius and he is not able to think. In “Love in Hamlet” Rosenberg explains that “his confusion over his mother’s involvement with Claudius raises for Hamlet the question of whether all women are innately whores.” At this point Hamlet no longer cares about his mother, he only cares about her relations with his father’s brother Claudius. Although the relationship between Hamlet and his mother is uncertain in some parts of the play, by the end it is clear how they both feel about each

Hamlet does not like Claudius because he found out from his father’s ghost that Claudius killed his father and he is now married to his mother. Claudius also does not like Hamlet and watches his emotions during the entire play to try and figure out if he is actually going mad or only acting to try and get attention. During the scenes between Claudius and Hamlet they are full of corruption and fear. For instance, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Claudius states, “But we will ship him hence; and this vile deed We must, with all our majesty and skill,” (4.1.80). Claudius is telling Gertrude that Hamlet should be sent to England, him wanting to send Hamlet to England shows that he fears for Hamlet finding out that he killed his father and Hamlet wanting to seek revenge. Claudius’s feelings toward Hamlet are completely certain but at the same time so are Hamlet’s toward Claudius. In Boyce’s Shakespeare A to Z he says how “The central issue of the play is the conflict between Hamlet’s desire for vengeance against the King” (337). Hamlet wanting to seek revenge for his father’s death shows that he respected his father and will do anything to get Claudius out of the picture. Although in the end neither Claudius or Hamlet actually state that they do not like each other, it is extremely clear that they do not when they both come up with schemes to kill the