Gertrude Betrayal In Hamlet

Annotated Bibliography Thesis: Gertrude was involved in the murder of Hamlet’s father, and was planning his death with Claudius. Heilbrun, Carolyn. “The Character of Hamlet’s Mother.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 2, 1957, pp. 201–06.

Her most profound act of indecency is her refusal to mourn the death of her husband, dismissing Hamlet’s grief and instead enjoying her marriage with her brother-in-law, Claudius. Gertrude demonstrates acts of moral corruption as she fails to recognize Hamlet's sorrow over his father’s death and does not support her son while he is going through a difficult phase. In addition, Gertrude's actions were sexually corrupted, evidenced by her marriage to her brother-in-law. Hamlet defines the nature of their improper marriage by saying, “[w]ithin a month, / [e]re yet the salt of most unrighteous tears /

Queen Gertrude is the Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, the widow of Old Hamlet and the wife of Claudius, brother of her dead husband. Gertrude is ignorant and a woman who means no harm but because of her actions it contributes greatly to the terrible events that occur throughout the play. In this play there’s many conflicts, one of the first conflicts was when Gertrude married King Claudius two months after Old Hamlet’s death. Gertrude is ignorant because she’s not aware of anything happening. For example she’s not aware that King Hamlet’s murder was by his own brother Claudius, even though they were some hints out there to show that it was King Claudius who killed Old Hamlet.

Also, Hamlet displays his anguish at the Queen for dishonouring his dead father since “Almost as bad, good mother, as killing a king and marrying his brother” (Shakespeare, pg. 121). In this statement, Hamlet expresses how, through the marriage to her husband’s murderer, Gertrude is a symbol of dishonor and damaging her relationship with the prince. Hamlet is disgusted by Gertrude’s actions and recognizes her not as his mother but the queen and wife of Claudius, the murderer. The respect revered by children to their mother is not evident between Hamlet and Gertrude. In Gertrude’s death scene, Hamlet screams to his mother “Wretched Queen, adieu!”

King Hamlet loved Gertrude with all his heart that he “might not beteem the winds of heaven visit her face too roughly” this represents true unforgettable love. Hamlet is exasperated about his mother’s hasty marriage that he claims a “beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer”. Gertrude’s hasty marriage with Claudius seems to Hamlet as done with “wicked speed to post with such dexterity to incestous sheets” showing Hamlet is disgusted with this relationship and aggressively disapproves to this action. Further into the play Act 3 Scene 2, Hamlet is having a conservation with Ophelia when he mentions “look you how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died within two hours” showing anger towards the happiness of his mother. Throughout the play Hamlet uncovers horrible deeds his uncle has committed, which were “Remorseless, Treacherous, lecherous”.

What made it even worse was his mom, Gertrude, ended up marrying Claudius shortly after King Hamlet's death. After the king is murdered, Hamlet saw his father’s “ghost” which told him that Claudius was in fact the one that killed him and that he wanted Hamlet to seek revenge for him by killing Claudius, but not to punish his mother for remarrying. The ghost said to Hamlet, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. Murder most foul, as in the best it is, / But this most foul, strange, and unnatural” and Hamlet replied, “Haste me to know 't, that I, with wings as swift / As

With regards to the loss of his father, Hamlet lost his sense of self-worth/value. He began to question life and whether it was specifically for him as a result of his mother marrying his uncle, Claudius, in a month's time after her husband’s death. Through the visitation of Old King Hamlet’s ghost, Hamlet was able to find purpose in life which, destroy his core issue of an insecure/unstable sense. Likewise, Hamlet had the ability to control his psyche in order for his antic disposition to work; this all lead for his quest to murder Claudius to be successful. After the encounter with the Old King’s ghost, Hamlet says, “The time is out of joint.

Gertrude’s betrayal of her son was caused by Claudius, as he comforted her after her husband’s unfortunate demise, and later married her, this was betrayal to Hamlet because he had a very high opinion of his father and thought very little of his uncle, Hamlet said “-married with my uncle, / My father’s brother, but no more like my father / Then I to Hercules; within a month” [I, ii, 151-153] showing that he believes that his mother betrayed him and his father’s memory by marrying his uncle, it also

Gertrude is Hamlet’s mother and the Queen of Denmark. When King Hamlet is murdered by Claudius, she didn 't seem to daunt her and shortly thereafter got married to Hamlet 's Uncle Claudius. This gives a suspense in this point of the play because it makes the audience think about if Gertrude had anything to do with the murder of her husband or if she helped plan the murder with Claudius. When Gertrude married the person that killed her husband, Hamlet takes it personal and she basically loses her son because he 's so upset with her.

Within a month, ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears had left the flushing in her galled eyes, she married” (1.2.145-156). Gertrude only cares about her own desires, not her son’s. Therefore, Hamlet’s anger over his mother’s betrayal makes him not trust women. Hamlet loses

A Victim of Villainy Shakespeare’s Hamlet portrays Gertrude as a victim trying to make sense of what is going on around her. She has no clue about what is true and is getting exposed because of it. Because Gertrude becomes blinded, she is also easily taken advantage of by others which makes her vulnerable to other people’s plans such as Claudius’. Although Gertrude seems to be a villain, she turns into a victim that leads to her demise.

Throughout the conversation and various parts of the play, Hamlet expresses his disgust for his mother 's actions. He insults her by comparing his father to Hyperion and Claudius to a satyr. He tells Gertrude not to sin by sleeping with him and tells her she is nothing but lustful for marrying a man like Claudius when he says, “That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,/ Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose/ From the fair forehead of an innocent love/ And sets a blister there, makes marriage vows/

In act one Gertrude marries her dead husband 's brother Claudius, Hamlet is not very happy that his mother did this. Hamlet feels very betrayed by his own mother because she remarried so quickly. He feels as if this is an unforgivable

During the Elizabethan period, the role of women in society was very different from what it is today. According to the system of patriarchal society that dictated that women were inferior to men, they had to obey the male figures in their lives. The woman was seen as the weaker sex either physically or emotionally which meant that it was entirely dependent on her husband if married and members of his family if single. Moreover, in the Elizabethan theater, women were not allowed to play because of this hierarchy. Therefore, they were replaced by men disguised as women.

In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the themes vary from conditional and unconditional love, deception, honour, power and ambition and lastly poison. But the most significant theme is loyalty and betrayal. This theme ties all the other themes together. The theme loyalty and betrayal both have major effects on each other. Through the different actions of characters and what they say to one another, is where the audience discovers whether or not they are loyal or disloyal.