Female Characters In Prince Hamlet

It is undeniable that the two women in Hamlet played a significant role in terms of affecting the character of Prince Hamlet, the conflict and the outcome of the play. Gertrude, Prince Hamlet’s mother, and Ophelia, Prince Hamlet’s lover, are the only two female characters in the play; however, they are able to have a tremendous impact on the life of Prince Hamlet. My paper will focus more on Gertrude and reflect her influence on Prince Hamlet’s character. Gertrude is the exact opposite of her son Prince Hamlet. Prince Hamlet is an educated and intelligent person and he spends the rest of his life trying to solve the toughest problems in society. He is able to stay away from all those nonsensical things that people have become fond of doing. …show more content…
However, this is also that part of the character of Gertrude that is typically misunderstood. Some experts think that Gertrude was already in a relationship with Claudius even prior to the death of King Hamlet. However, this was not really indicated in the play and merely a product of the wrong understanding of Gertrude’s character. Nevertheless, it does not take away the fact that Prince Hamlet got angry of her for marrying his uncle Claudius in such a short span of time after his father died. He felt disrespected by this decision of her mother so this triggered a conflict between Gertrude and Prince …show more content…
Even if her marriage to Claudius is unethical and unacceptable to many, she knows that she is the queen of King Claudius so she has to be committed to him also. Thus, it can be said that Gertrude is capable of demonstrating supreme love. She tried to safeguard Claudius from his enemies and she showed that she was concerned about the welfare of Ophelia and Polonius. Gertrude was worried about Hamlet in the fight even if she was not aware that it was a trap. It is her unique capability to engage in acts of goodness that saves her from being considered as an antagonist in the play. The males in her life are able to understand her lack of intelligence and desire for senseless things that make her happy since they think of her as somebody innocent and will not plan something bad on somebody. Nevertheless, it is unfortunate that Gertrude died by committing suicide inadvertently after she got tempted to drink in the beautiful cup. In the end, it was her innocence and immaturity that killed her. There is no doubt that Gertrude is the most misunderstood character in the play Hamlet. It is easy for anybody to categorize her as a villain or antagonist in the play especially if they are able to read the initial parts of the play. However, upon deeper analysis, it can be said Gertrude is really a good person with a good heart especially after what