A person, when in any situation against their free choice, will continue to prolong their suffering as long as they can in order to keep what power or resources they have. Though they will continually try to manipulate and test their boundaries by any means necessary to evaluate where they stand and or to hopefully find a way out of their overall situation in its entirety. This exact case can be applied to numerous people and characters, but is exemplified perfectly by the character Gertrude from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Gertrude is commonly categorized by assumptions that criticize her nature and actions, but doing so puts the reader in a mindset that incapacitates the ability for that reader to truly understand the depth and grace of Gertrude
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This misunderstanding often occurring due to a misreading of the ghost telling Hamlet what had taken place prior to the start of the play. Starting with the ghost’s, Hamlet’s father’s, flow of mentioning things, the ghost does express a distaste for Gertrude, but he distinctly does not mention her in the same string of thought when telling of how his murder played out. In the previous section the ghost does talk negatively about Gertrude, but he moves on from that thought and transitions to a new one that details the murder, that transitional topic bridge being, “And prey on garbage. But soft, methinks…” (Shakespeare 60). There is a transition of thought here; separating Gertrude from the actual killing, with that previously mentioned misinterpretation occurring here, due to the fact that people automatically associate Gertrude to the crime due to the proximity of these two subjects, an idea that was elaborated on in Levin’s article. Thus, due to this common misreading, many people interpret Gertrude as being a part of the murder in general, with them perceiving her as a sneaky character, driven by lust and weakness, playing a role in her husband’s death even if only by contributing as a conspirator. This thought is incorrect though, as proved by the fact that the ghost had detailed every part of the murder, details that he couldn’t have known, without him having an …show more content…
She possesses the most powerful attributes, but is unable to completely express them due to the situation she is in. She wants to act and has the power to do so, but she is stopped by the society and its limitations. This is likely why she would remarry so quickly after the death, not because of some master plot, but instead that she was afraid of losing her position in society and life in general, so she would marry Claudius to preserve that position, insuring her and Hamlet’s future. Thus, she is just trying to scavenge a future to the best of her abilities out of a circumstance that is far out of her hands to control easily. Gertrude is fully aware of her actions throughout the play, and she is aware of the effect her decisions are having on everyone, especially Hamlet, as seen early on when she predicts what is bugging Hamlet so much, she states, “doubt it is no other but the main— His father’s death and our oe’r hasty marriage” (Shakespeare 86). Thus, proving she is fully aware of her actions and is only trying to limit the damage of what is to occur later while simultaneously testing her capability and power to so what she is capable of (Levin), such strategic moves showing the true strength and power of her mind and how her supposed, tragic flaw of desiring a husband, is actually just an interpretation of her actions without thinking of the Gertrude’s
This misunderstanding often occurring due to a misreading of the ghost telling Hamlet what had taken place prior to the start of the play. Starting with the ghost’s, Hamlet’s father’s, flow of mentioning things, the ghost does express a distaste for Gertrude, but he distinctly does not mention her in the same string of thought when telling of how his murder played out. In the previous section the ghost does talk negatively about Gertrude, but he moves on from that thought and transitions to a new one that details the murder, that transitional topic bridge being, “And prey on garbage. But soft, methinks…” (Shakespeare 60). There is a transition of thought here; separating Gertrude from the actual killing, with that previously mentioned misinterpretation occurring here, due to the fact that people automatically associate Gertrude to the crime due to the proximity of these two subjects, an idea that was elaborated on in Levin’s article. Thus, due to this common misreading, many people interpret Gertrude as being a part of the murder in general, with them perceiving her as a sneaky character, driven by lust and weakness, playing a role in her husband’s death even if only by contributing as a conspirator. This thought is incorrect though, as proved by the fact that the ghost had detailed every part of the murder, details that he couldn’t have known, without him having an …show more content…
She possesses the most powerful attributes, but is unable to completely express them due to the situation she is in. She wants to act and has the power to do so, but she is stopped by the society and its limitations. This is likely why she would remarry so quickly after the death, not because of some master plot, but instead that she was afraid of losing her position in society and life in general, so she would marry Claudius to preserve that position, insuring her and Hamlet’s future. Thus, she is just trying to scavenge a future to the best of her abilities out of a circumstance that is far out of her hands to control easily. Gertrude is fully aware of her actions throughout the play, and she is aware of the effect her decisions are having on everyone, especially Hamlet, as seen early on when she predicts what is bugging Hamlet so much, she states, “doubt it is no other but the main— His father’s death and our oe’r hasty marriage” (Shakespeare 86). Thus, proving she is fully aware of her actions and is only trying to limit the damage of what is to occur later while simultaneously testing her capability and power to so what she is capable of (Levin), such strategic moves showing the true strength and power of her mind and how her supposed, tragic flaw of desiring a husband, is actually just an interpretation of her actions without thinking of the Gertrude’s