Preview

Gertrude the Mother of Evil

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
914 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gertrude the Mother of Evil
One of the most important characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet would be the mother of Hamlet himself, Gertrude. Queen Gertrude played a devious and shameful role, which left many questioning her dignity throughout the play. She led a life of wealth and royalty, but could not find happiness in either. Gertrude had to put a twist on her life by quickly abandoning the man she one loved, King Hamlet, for his soulless brother, Claudius. In order to completely understand Gertrude's mystery and you must put yourself directly inside her character. She unravels her thoughts and emotion mainly in Act 3 of the play where she begins to understand the measures Claudius took to obtain the throne. It was the night of the big play and everyone in town was excited to finally see the premiere. Claudius had just bought me a new necklace and dress, which I could not wait to show off to all the people less fortunate than myself. As Claudius and I arrived at the theater we were escorted into the best seats in the house. I sat down I could tell that all the other women were jealous of me and would do anything to be in my position. Before the play began my foolish son made a great scene in front of everyone. Hamlet began to rant about who knows what, better yet who cares. All I know is that he was making a fool out of himself along with Claudius and I. Eventually the Hamlet took his seat and the play began. It was not the play I expected, but interesting nonetheless. As the story progress the king of the play took a nap in his garden, similar to how my sweet, late Hamlet had. While the king was asleep his brother who had look up to him through their lives had snuck into the garden and released a poison into the ear of the king. The poison began to make the king breakout in blisters and rashes. Soon after the poison had entered the king he was dead. All of a sudden I was startled by the unexpected frenzy put on by Claudius. He seemed to be extremely angry about the play. I assumed

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Claudius’s words and actions in Act IV further reveal the king’s duplicity and ruthlessness. In the act’s first scene, he tells Gertrude that he had hidden Hamlet’s madness from others because “so much was our love” for the prince. Two scenes later, alone on the stage, he reveals his plan to have Hamlet killed in England. The contrast calls to mind the lesson Hamlet drew from the Ghost back in Act I, that stated, “one may smile, and smile, and be a…

    • 83 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Carolyn Heilbrun Quotes

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Carolyn Heilbrun’s view on the character of Gertrude in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet as an intelligent being is contradicted by Gertrude’s actions and words, indicating her loyalty and subsequent obedience to the king. Part of this relates to her weakness as she always has worshipful obedience of her husband, the king. She fails to have thoughts of her own, and whenever they are revealed they are immediately shot down. Through her tactless attitude and actions towards events and characters in the play, Gertrude herself proves that she is neither “clear-headed” nor “courageous.”…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Elizabethan era version of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, many characters ' actions have an effect on the audience viewing the play. In Act I Scene IV King Claudius discovers that Hamlet has killed Polonius, his chief counsellor. This enrages Claudius and he expresses anger, fear and disappointment. These actions shown by Claudius affect the audience of the Elizabethan era because it shows that a King feels AUTHORITY, HUMANITY AND INEFFICACY.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Annotated Biblography

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages

    William Shakespeare, one of the most well known authors of literature, wrote the tragic play called Hamlet. In the play Hamlet, Hamlet tries to seek revenge on his father’s murderer committed by his uncle and now King, Claudius. Old Hamlet’s ghost instructs Hamlet to seek revenge on Claudius. This further angers Hamlet who is already distraught at the fact that his mother has married Claudius. The pressure causes Hamlet to go crazy and not be able to think straight. King Claudius and the Queen send multiple spies in order to see if Hamlet is really crazy. Hamlet causes Claudius to feel guilty when Hamlet makes a play that resembles the murder of Old Hamlet. Gertrude was concerned about Hamlet’s health and during the toast accidently drinks the poisoned wine that was part of Claudius plan to kill Hamlet. As a result of the fencing match Hamlet is injured from the poisoned the tip of Laertes’ sword. Before Hamlet dies he makes Claudius drink the poisoned wine to get revenge for his father’s death. The topic of my annotated bibliography is the theatres and the audiences during the Shakespearean era. Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, captures the audience’s attention and uses the physical theater to make the play more entertaining.…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlets father was killed by his Uncle Claudius due to jealousy of the kingdom. Claudius poisoned his brother while he was sleeping in the garden. Hamlet finds out his father was murdered by meeting is ghost in the yard of the kingdom. Hamlet decides to plan out his revenge by first acting like he has gone mad because of his father’s death. He breaks his loves heart in the process but doesn’t stop his revenge. He orders for a play to be presented to the royal court, including his uncle and his mother. This play is supposed to simulate his fathers death and he wants to see how the king reacts to the play. This is where he realizes that the ghost was telling the truth. Claudius then figures out that Hamlet has been suspicious and decides to send him to England to be killed. While speaking to his mother, Hamlet hears someone spying on them and kills his loves father, Polonius. This was the beginning of the tragedy. Hamlet has a moment to kill Claudius before he leaves for England but questions himself and his actions. He then leaves only to return after finding a letter of his execution and being “attacked” by pirates. Claudius and Polonius’s son, Laertes, have come up with a plan to kill Hamlet when he arrives. They are going to challenge him in a fencing battle with poison at the end of the sword. If this plan fails, they will have poisoned wine for Hamlet to drink.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Shakespeare Major Paper

    • 2842 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet himself is a difficult character to figure out. With his elegant intensity and reckless but cautious attitude, he is able to keep his readers entertained as the play progresses. Through his irrational decisions, emotional madness and admirable qualities, Hamlet becomes a character with whom readers will continuously empathize. Our first impression of Hamlet sets the tone for the entire play. We are brought to one of the beginning scenes where Hamlet is…

    • 2842 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, documents one character's continual development. From a hesitant youth to a ruthless revenge-seeker, there are three major turning points that propose the start of Hamlet's wicked evolution. In dealing with his father's passing, Hamlet's grief burdens him to be overwrought with emotion and causes him to contemplate the irrational, even murder. The Players' scene, Prayer scene and Closet scene all present possible key turning points for this change. Although Hamlet's sanity remains questionable throughout the play, these three scenes suggest possible points in which Hamlet becomes particularly vicious. Beginning with the vision of his father's ghost relaying the notion of his own murder by Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, Hamlet's mind becomes increasingly flooded with impulsions.…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tragic Flaws In Hamlet

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gertrude is oblivious to many facts and ideas that are presented to her whether it is her avoidance of the truth behind her new marriage or the reality of Hamlet’s madness. In multiple instances, there are facts that practically fall into the Queen’s lap that would lead her to understand but she refuses to accept their existence. In one specific moment of this tragedy,…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gertrude is over protective after Hamlet loses his father and she demonstrates it by telling the King to make him stay at the Kingdom and not sending him back to school…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jealously and guilt are common motives for a course of action. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the murder of the king and Claudius’ prompt rise to the throne are obvious examples of envy. But, the play’s illustration of guilt is much more subtle and is revealed through the struggle Claudius experiences with his feelings that result from a repercussion of his actions. Claudius claims that Hamlet is mad, even though he does not believe so, to cause a diversion from the brutal truth. This idea is proven through his soliloquy and attempted prayer when he exclaims “my stronger guilt defeats my strong intent.”…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    William Blake

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Everyone in Denmark thinks King Hamlet died by a snake bite ,but the audience knows HamletIs aware of his father’s real cause of death.|Hamlet|I feel sympathy|He found out the murderer of his father and he must have felt sad and mad.|Prince Hamlet saw the ghost of his father, the old king of Denmark, and was told by him that Claudius, his uncle, murdered him by poisoning him to death. He started to have feelings of hatred towards Claudius ,to the point, he began to plot against Claudius’s life. |…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gender Roles In Hamlet

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages

    She has wealth, but it is not her own. She has power, but only by means of her husband. Gertrude is completely dependent on Claudius for external reasons. She is not only dependent on him for money and power, but for love, affection, and human interaction. In several cases, Claudius uses Gertrude for a personal gain. It is apparent that his marriage to Gertrude is in itself a greedy action. Claudius killed his brother and married his widow, which allowed him to gain the Danish crown. Claudius not only killed Gertrude’s husband, but he also fooled her and wooed her, so he could misappropriate the throne from it’s rightful owner, Hamlet Jr. Claudius also uses Gertrude as a middleman between himself and Hamlet. He pushes Gertrude into uncomfortable situations where she must confront her son about his actions or his intentions to take action. For example in Act III Scene IV, Claudius wills Gertrude into talking with Hamlet and allowing Polonius to listen in on their conversation from behind the arras. Here, Claudius has placed Gertrude in a tippy and undoubtedly uncomfortable position, just so he can gain some insight into Hamlet’s intentions. In this scene, Gertrude is verbally abused by her only son, who then kills Polonius. Therefore, Claudius has emotionally compromised Gertrude for the gain of some knowledge of Hamlet’s love life with Ophelia and his intentions with Claudius, that may or may not be…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    scene II). She is shown to be a quiet, "stand by your man" type individual who…

    • 2060 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout Hamlet, many characters develop showing their change of mind and emotions. Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark and Hamlet's mother, is an exception. Throughout the entire play she thinks only of herself. Even when she tries to think of or help others, her final decision revolves around her life and how the situation will affect her. Gertrude's selfishness is displayed in her marriage to Claudius, her forcing Hamlet to accept Claudius as his father, and her betrayal of Hamlet to Claudius after Hamlet sees his father's ghost.…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He has been told to avenge his father, and yet, this man is unable to do so. Hamlet has been unable to devise a plan in which he can trap Claudius and exact the revenge required by the phantom King Hamlet. He, Hamlet, a prince and son to a dead, disgraced father cannot sum up the energy to exact revenge, but a mere common player can stand before a group and blanch, weep, and go hoarse all for the sake of entertainment. Hamlet thinks it “monstrous” that this is so.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays