Gertrude: The Most Mysterious Character In Shakespeare's Hamlet

Soon after Hamlet discovers his father 's death was not of natural causes, but in fact he was poisoned by his own brother, Claudius; he begins to act as if he has been taken by insanity. During this time, his insanity was nearly indistinguishable. During his "acting" he even claimed he wasn 't in love with Ophelia, he told her, "Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once.

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks” (3.2.254). This quote is significant because this is Queen Gertrude’s reaction to the play “Mousetrap” that is based on her own story. Gertrude is astonished by the play queen’s insincerity to her husband. Gertrude thinks that the play queen may never marry again due to her undying love for her late husband. However, she does, just like Queen Gertrude marries a second time to Claudius. Throughout Act 3, Hamlet tries to make Queen Gertrude understand the horrible sin she has committed by marrying Claudius.

I believe that Gertrude is clever. Many people understood the phrase "adulterate beast" and thought of it as proof that Gertrude was Claudius’s lover before Hamlet 's father had died. It will actually make the Queen an abhorrent character in a further level than what Shakespeare had intended, also the rest of the play doesn’t this particular adultery. Claudius according to King Hamlet’s (Ghost) has definitely contaminated his beloved queen, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that Claudius did it before Hamlet 's father has died.

Thus showing how she is trying to help both her love ones by distrusting one and lying to the other. Throughout the play she is known as an ignorant character because she is not aware of anything that is happening. She is not aware that King Hamlet’s murder was by his own brother Claudius, even when all of Denmark was already suspicious of Claudius. Another situation that she is unaware of is when Claudius and Laertes make plans to put poison into Hamlet’s goblet, which ends up killing her. Overall her ignorant trait causes her death.

Their relationship does not represent nature, Shakespeare grossly exaggerated his masculinity towards women. Many of Shakespeare 's characters in Macbeth are so confused that it almost makes you think that he was not certain of anything. He had troubled relationships with women, his wife, for instance, definitely had a great impact on his writing. Yet, Macbeth is a play about

This is encapsulated in Hamlet exclaims, “frailty, thy name is woman!” about his mother’s hasty marriage to her deceased husband’s brother (Shakespeare 1.2.150). In this quote, Hamlet is dismissing all women as weak-willed like he believes Gertrude to be, which affects his interactions with Ophelia also. Hamlet is cruel to her because of this anger he has towards women in general, so when pretending to be mad, he goes “full force in the misogynist rage” when telling her he used to love her, but now she should go to a nunnery (Traub 192). Ophelia can be seen as weak in this scene because she protests little against Hamlet and only hopes that his insanity will end.

By this point, Ophelia has lost her father and Hamlet. It becomes clear she is questioning her choices at this point and deeply regrets certain actions taken. Allison A. Chapman, in her article titled “Ophelia’s ‘Old Lauds”: Madness and Hagiography in Hamlet,” discusses Ophelia’s spiral to demise. Chapman points out that “trying to submit to her father and to be a good potential wife for Hamlet has brought her nothing” except “shattering grief and madness” (Chapman 123). Looking back, Ophelia remarks, “how should I your true-love know/

(He wants his daughter to marry demetrius who he knows better than Lysander). Causing him to be very strict and wants things to go his way. Egeus is then becoming angry with his daughter because of her disobeying actions in wanting to marry Lysander instead of Demetrius; Quote:” As she is mine, I may dispose of her which shall either be to this gentleman or to her death” (Act 1 scene 1 Lines 41-45) But in the end he becomes agreeable and allowed Hermia to love Lysander, But here’s the thing if the Fairies did not get involved Egeus would have went ahead and executed His own daughter for her disobedience.

Duncan, Banquo, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth are key exhibits of what not to do when face to face with evil. On one hand, the Macbeths invite supernatural powers into their lives; whereas, characters like Duncan and Banquo do not seek out evil, yet they do not do anything to prevent it. Regardless of the justification, they all allow their lives to rot with evil. In the end, they all receive the gift of being set free, for it is “Better to be dead, to be nothing, than to base one’s joy upon destruction” (Frame, 48).

Like most plays, they each have a protagonist with a so-called ‘fatal flaw,’ a lapse in character that leads to conflict within the story. For Much Ado About Nothing, the protagonist Claudio is gullible, and believes the lie that his love is unfaithful to him. In King Lear, Lear is prideful, and takes his daughter’s refusal to pour praise onto him as a personal affront. Another similarity between the two shows would be the use of misconception to further the plot. Lear believes that his daughter does not care for him and so takes away her inheritance, while Claudio believes that his betrothed has been unfaithful and so shames her on their wedding day.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a revenge calamity which concentrates on his wish and effort to solve his father’s murder. Throughout the course of the play, the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia could be described as a rollercoaster. Although Ophelia is not in every single scene in Hamlet, her impact on the play is highly noted. One way a reader could interpret her presence is because of how tragic her experiences in life is. She experiences the misfortune of love and security, but in order for her death to be truly tragic, she has to come to terms with the realization of her powerlessness without the men in her life.