The excerpt from the novel And The Birds Rained Down explains how Gertrude was sent into a psychiatric hospital at the age of sixteen by her father due to the reasoning of “insanity”. Throughout the story, it explains how her brothers son, Bruno, is trying to get her out of the hell that is considered the psychiatric hospital. Her actions and the way she approached things were too, normal, so to speak. Even though she was treated like trash by her own family, she still has life in her, and she continues to live. It seems as if even though she is in a place that is considered by many people a place to be feared, for the mentally ill, sick, crazy people, she still has a lively young spirit. She enjoyed living, she wanted to live, that was her
...ailments concludes in the book Jeanette comes to terms with the belief of some people enjoying life a different way. While learning how to dance between turbulence and order from a very young age their lives took a drastic toll from their father’s affliction. Their nomadic life could have continued in its blissful and whimsical state so long as balance was maintained between the order and turbulence. However, with a mental ailment on the mother’s behalf which rendered her incapable of stability the father’s addiction was the weight holding the family in their downward spiral. Without this chosen means of escape by Rex a different life would have befallen the children of the Wall’s family and while it would never have been ideal or picturesque they would have been able to continue in a happy and whimsical manner.
When events cause someone pain it can result in going insane, blurring the line between real and imaginary. In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” the narrator goes through a series of emotionally painful events, which blurred his line between real and imaginary. The speaker believes a raven is out to get him, when it's simply an animal. The interaction between the two caused him to produce an overwhelming amount of emotional pain for himself ; this leads into the speaker’s own misery and demise.
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.
Immediately after her husband’s murder, Gertrude marries his brother in order to maintain her status as Queen of Denmark. If she were truly in love with King Hamlet, and was not with him to gain some sort of societal power, she would not have attempted to maintain said power by immediately marrying Claudius. Though one can argue that she married Claudius to appease the public, as her late husband was beloved by the populous, this claim simply does not hold up when one considers the hunger for power that plagues every character in Hamlet. Additionally, Gertrude’s attitudes regarding Hamlet’s grief arouse suspicion as to her true motives. As she tells him, “…/Do not forever with thy vailed lids/” (I.ii. 69-71.) She later continues, ”Seek for thy noble father in the dust/Thou know 'st 'tis common; all that lives must die,/Passing through nature to eternity” (I.ii. 72-74.) Though this can be written off as a mother simply being worried for her son’s well being, it seems as if there is some sort of deeper meaning to these words. As long as Hamlet is in mourning, the people of Denmark will hold the late King Hamlet in their memory, and may start to get suspicious as to why Gertrude “moved on” so quickly. Furthermore, her attempts to squander Hamlet’s grief are an obvious effort to conceal her true motives from the citizens of Denmark, and to maintain her current position of power. Through her
Critics interpret Gertrude in a number of different ways; however, they tend to judge her by her silences or by wh...
...f the bad that is going on in her real life, so she would have a happy place to live. With the collapse of her happy place her defense was gone and she had no protection from her insanity anymore. This caused all of her blocked out thoughts to swarm her mind and turn her completely insane. When the doctor found her, he tried to go in and help her. When the doctor finally got in he fainted because he had made so many positive changes with her and was utterly distressed when he found out that it was all for naught. This woman had made a safety net within her mind so that she would not have to deal with the reality of being in an insane asylum, but in the end everything failed and it seems that what she had been protecting herself from finally conquered her. She was then forced to succumb to her breakdown and realize that she was in the insane asylum for the long run.
As Gertrude explains Hamlet’s actions to Claudius, she describes how within his madness she could see his former sanity; “O'er whom his very madness, like some ore Among a mineral of metals base, Shows itself pure. He weeps for what is done.”(Pg.197) Gertrude explains how even after this heinous act, Hamlet shows he still possesses some sanity as he “weeps for what is done.” In doing so, Gertrude attempts to portray Hamlet in the best way possible, showing even at his worst she still loves him as any mother would. In addition, Gertrude conceals information from Claudius in this telling of events, as she does not inform him Hamlet believed it was him hiding behind the curtain, not Polonius. The concealment of this crucial detail is an evident attempt by Gertrude to protect her dear son, as should she have told Claudius that this murder was not an act of sheer insanity, but an attempt at his own life, the King would surely have been far more severe towards Hamlet. While Gertrude did tell Claudius about what happened when she said she wouldnt, this concealment of information and portrayal of her son show her loyalty to Hamlet.This continued devotion to Hamlet again contrasts Hamlet’s own horrific description of Gertrude, and again exemplifies her maternal devotion to
> clearly not at all the case. The events within the text of this account
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.
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
Gertrude, like many others who have come to Johannseburg, or who were even born there, were brought to a world where corruption is the key to living. This is the only way to make a decent life and so they stoop to the lowest levels possible, cheating and prostitution. And just like the rest Gertrude can't be saved from what has become. Even though Kumalo tries to save her and the city of Johannesburg from what it has become it is known that once they have become what they have it's impossible to change them back.
A mother’s duty is to keep her child safe from the arms of evil whenever she can, but how can this task be completed if she is blind to the engulfing evil around? A mother is there to protect her child and stand by them in times of need, however, this obligation may be impossible to fulfill when a child loses their sanity. As evil consumes their child and the danger is turned on them, many mothers would step back and step up against these terrible deeds, but Gertrude has proven not to be like most mothers. Instead of reaching out to stop Hamlet’s rampage, she uses a blanket of love and faith to mask his violence. As Hamlet spirals downwards, Gertrude’s loving faith is stabbed by his violence, but she soon recovers as justification
This time he suggests that she Touches the neck of a recently hung man with her arm as this may cure it. Months later Gertrude goes to Casterbridge but it is too late and so she has to wait for the next hanging, which is not for several months.
While Hamlet is speaking to Gertrude she tells him “O Hamlet, speak no more!” (pg 175) and “These words like daggers enter in my ear” (pg 177). They both really stress just how powerful speech is. When Gertrude says these things to Hamlet it is like telling him not to be who he is because speech is like everything for Hamlet. Speech is the way Hamlet expresses himself and it also is a huge part of why people see him as crazy. These words are making Gertrude feel a little crazy just as it happened to Ophelia after the news of Polonius ' death and Hamlet supposedly “acting” crazy. No one knows for sure if Hamlet is actually insane but the way he phrases his sentences cause people to believe he is insane. At times when Hamlet is speaking about his belief that Claudius killed his father Gertrude may want to believe that he is crazy. She has convinced herself that Hamlet is crazy in order to make herself feel better. She may feel like a terrible person for marrying Claudius if this was true and so she does not want to believe it. Although Gertrude does not show much grief when she heard about Hamlet’s opinion on Claudius it may be because she is having a hard time accepting
Throughout the novel, we gain a good understanding of what the character of Walter Morel is like, in certain parts, we can 100% empathise with Gertrude and understand her struggle and strife, yet there are moments in the text, when I for one, see Walter is the vulnerable, mis-understood character he really is. I believe he is the one, not Gertrude, who deserves the readers sympathy.