Midterm Essay According to Benstock, “Central to Marxism and Marxist literary criticism was and is the following ‘materialist insight: consciousness, without which such things as art cannot be produced, is not the source of social forms and economic conditions. It is, rather, their most important product” (Benstock 362). Hamlet is a play that has a more conservative themes and it focuses on predestination as well as people’s place in society. Though Hamlet himself is focused on breaking his set destiny, he believes that the lower class has no choice but to be unintelligent and that they have choice but to meet their destiny. “To split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise” (Hamlet 3.2. 11-13). Hamlet does not hide his true feelings about the penniless and thinks they can not strive to understand …show more content…
She puts aside her grieving to make sure she still holds power, because she does not want to lose her high place in society that she worked hard to upheld. “She married. O, most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestousous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to good” (Hamlet 1. 2. 161-164). Throughout the play, Hamlet obsesses over his mother’s lack of grieving. He does not understand her need to stay in power. Gertrude knows that as a woman she would not have any power as the widow of the dead king. The only way for her to not take a world-changing step back is to remarry the new king as quickly as possible. This play for power showed her intelligence as well as her greediness for high society life. Gertrude strives to never lose her queenly status even if it means committing an unbiblical sin such as marrying her brother-in-law. Status and power are main themes in Hamlet and Gertrude shows her true colors as she clamors for power after the late King Hamlet’s
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.
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.
In the play, Hamlet is described as an intelligent, emotional, and grief-stricken protagonist but he is consumed by his own thoughts which make him a highly-indecisive individual; Hamlet’s inability to act on his father’s murder, his mother’s hasty remarriage, and his uncle assuming of the throne are all evidence that Hamlet does not know what is going on in his own life. Perhaps Hamlet wants to place the blame on someone else after he wreaks vengeance on King Claudius, or capture the attention of certain characters so that he may find out exactly what has gone “rotten in Denmark” (Act 1, Scene 5, Line 90). Throughout the play Hamlet is deeply hurt by his mother’s decision to remarry his uncle. As Hamlet says, “Frailty thy name is woman”, her actions cause Hamlet to curse women all together (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 146).
One of the primary inquiries that arises from Shakespeare’s famous work,Hamlet, is whether the protagonist is truly insane or whether he is just pretending to be so. Unlike some of Shakespeare’s other work such as Macbeth where the “discerning eye” can determine whether the character is actually insane or not and where the madness was born, Shakespeare leaves Hamlet’s madness up to interpretation. In the play, Hamlet’s madness can be viewed as rational or viewed as completely crazy. Hamlet’s madness is shown through his rash decisions, mood swings, and his “nutty as a fruitcake” speeches. The method behind his madness can be reasoned through the fact that in his madness he is protected by the king, he makes fools of king and everyone around him, and he gets plenty of time to plot his revenge against Claudius for the murder of his father.
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 ...
After the death of Old Hamlet and Gertrude’s remarriage to Claudius, Hamlet feels extremely angry and bitter. “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world!” (1.2.133-134). Due to the death of his father, he is already in a state of despair and the lack of sympathy that his mother has towards his sorrow does not aid him in recovering from this stage of grief. “Good Hamlet, cast thy knighted colour off, / And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark” (1.2.68-69). Hamlet is struggling to accept the fashion in which Gertrude is responding to the death of Old Hamlet; she seems quite content with her new life with Claudius, which is a difficult concept for him to accept as after the d...
...for the speech Hamlet gives about his old family jester Yorik. During that speech Hamlet begins to question the social class system, and the outcomes it yields. He begins by questioning how people with so much power, and influence in the world end up in a hole under the ground “Isn’t it possible to imagine that the noble ashes of Alexander the Great could end up plugging a hole in a barrel?” (V, 1,179). He mentions the names of people at the top of the hierarchy system such as Caesar and Alexander the great. He beings to wonder why people who once ruled, and conquered the world, end up as ashes on the ground? “Oh, that that earth, which kept the world in awe, Should patch a wall t' expel the winter’s flaw! But soft, but soft a while” (V,1, 195). Shakespeare poses the question of why we separate into classes at all, when after we die, we are subject to the same fate.
Towards the end of the play, Hamlet becomes enraged and accuses his mother for marrying his uncle in such a short time after his father’s death. The incestuous relationship suggest that his mother might have been involved in her husband’s murder, which is more reason to kill Claudius. Gertrude is a loving figure that is unable to understand Hamlet’s delicate state. Her way of solving problems is by isolating those that confront her, instead of analyzing her own mistakes and owning up to them. When Hamlet walks into his mother’s bedroom, he kills Polonius who is hiding behind the arras, and compares the murder to his mother’s guilt. “A bloody deed! Almost as bad, good mother, / As kill a king, and marry with his brother” (3.4.28-29). The queen cannot handle and truth and tells Hamlet to stop speaking. “O Hamlet, speak no more: / Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul, / And there I see such black and grained spots / As will not leave their tinct” (3.4.89-92). It’s a similar reaction of guilt, like Claudius who didn’t want to continue seeing the murder play because he didn’t want to accept the reality of his crime. In another instance, the queen decides to send Hamlet to England to prevent another death. Here, her solution is cowardly and says a lot about her character. She is inclined to go for the easy way out, rather than finding a solution to the huge mess she’s caused. In this scene, the reader can apply Gertrude as the antithesis to Hamlet. Unlike Hamlet who considered ethical and an innocent young man, Gertrude is described as traitor, wicked woman, and an adulterate. Her lust and external pleasures have impacted her family greatly and those she governs over. She is a shallow woman who does not see the consequences of her decisions. Even though she is at the highest level of authority, she seems to lack the most important qualities of a royal ruler: integrity and
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
In Gertrude’s choice to marry so soon after her husband’s death she transgresses the patriarchal bound of femininity. She refuses to remain in passive grief and obedient devotion to his memory. Gertrude’s sin was her inaction. She was willing to accept Claudius and didn’t think twice of rejecting him. In Hamlet’s eyes his father was the very d...
Gertrude is the Queen of Denmark and has experienced significant life changes in the last few months. She buried her husband and has remarried her brother-in-law. This rapid transition to a new marriage does not bode well for her son, Hamlet. Hamlet discusses his distaste for this situation and reflects on this as he tries to overcome the grief of losing his father. Of course it does not sit well with grieving Hamlet that his mother's new marriage has created a lust-filled environment, and that Gertrude has portrayed herself as a very sexual character.
Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” is a subtle reflection on the political and religious atmosphere of the early 1600’s and late 1500’s, that was dominated with conversation of the successor to the throne of England, and their religious denomination. Hamlet was written with the intention of mimicking the political world and all its machinations from treachery, duties to family, religion and country. Hamlet, begins with armies being mobilized to the threat of an invasion from Norway, helmed by Fortinbras, like the rumors that the eventual successor James VI would need to take the throne by force. Soon after, this we have Hamlet and his father’s ghost, they converse on the details of his untimely death at the hands of his brother Claudius. In this
The perfection of Hamlet’s character has been called in question - perhaps by those who do not understand it. The character of Hamlet stands by itself. It is not a character marked by strength of will or even of passion, but by refinement of thought and sentiment. Hamlet is as little of the hero as a man can be. He is a young and princely novice, full of high enthusiasm and quick sensibility - the sport of circumstances, questioning with fortune and refining on his own feelings, and forced from his natural disposition by the strangeness of his situation.
How Gertrude can marry the brother, and murderer of her deceased husband beats me! How she got re-married so quickly after the death, and without even consulting with her son Hamlet just proves how much of an ugly person she really is. "Thrift, thrift, Horatio. The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables."( I;ii; 180-181). What beats me is how even after Hamlet told his mother that Claudius was responsible for his fathers death, she still decided to stay with him. Which is absolute proof of how self centred she is, and how much her son means to her. "A bloody deed almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry his brother."( III;iv;29-30). Hamlet, now having no blood family left to lean on, finds himself feeling very alone. But cannot see his downfall coming.
William Shakespeare is known for his dark, romantic theatrical productions, and an example of Shakespeare’s world renowned work is the play Hamlet. In this play there are a variety of characters that contribute to the play’s plot and tones. For example, Polonius, Osric, and the Gravedigger include comedic relief to certain tones in the plot whereas Claudius, Laertes, and Fortinbras provide a sense of dark, sinister deceit within the plot. The main character, Hamlet, contributes to the play in a distinct way because he is portrayed in two different ways. The first way he is portrayed he is seen as the heir to the throne who is full of sorrow for his father’s death and distaste for his mother’s quick remarriage. Yet, Hamlet takes it upon himself