Gertrude Stein

Hamlet does not believe she ever loved the late King Hamlet by stating, “O’ most wicked speed, to post [she] / With such dexterity [went to the] incestuous sheets!” (1.2.56–57). He thinks Gertrude betrays his biological father with the little to nonexistent grief she displays over King Hamlet’s death. Her actions not only causes anger in Hamlet, but also instills a of sense disillusionment with women. Hamlet tries to gauge her reaction with…

weakness, critics fail to acknowledge Gertrude as a knowledgeably concise character. In Bloom’s Shakespeare Through the Ages, Bloom highlights the vitality in examining “the lines Shakespeare has chosen” to gain an understanding of the intelligent mind that is Gertrude (321). The Queen, while indisputably lacking lines in the play, speaks with extraordinary succinctness: “If she is not profound, she is certainly never silly” (Bloom 321). From the onset of the play, Gertrude is described as…

used to highlight Hamlet’s remorse. Hamlet’s regret for killing Polonius when Gertrude says, “To draw apart the body he hath kill’d: / O 'er whom his very madness, like some ore / Among a mineral of metals base, / Shows itself pure; He weeps for what is done” (4.1.24-27). Upon learning that it was actually Polonius who Hamlet has stabbed, Hamlet feels threatened. He immediately gets defensive, proclaiming to Gertrude that Polonius was a fool for spying on their conversation and that he got what…

“Well, you need the villain. If you don 't have a villain, the good guy can stay home.” Christoph Waltz was exactly right in saying that without a villain there cannot be a hero. However, without Claudius being labeled as the villain when he murdered Old Hamlet, the emergence of Hamlet as the protagonist would never had occurred. Shakespeare was instrumental in depicting Claudius as the clear antagonist and villain. Throughout the play, Claudius is portrayed as manipulative, lustful for power,…

Gender inequality is a prevalent matter in Hamlet. In a play with many characters, only two females are named, Hamlet’s mother and his love interest. Both Gertrude and Ophelia are seen as fragile, compliant women that are tools of manipulation used by the dominant men in their lives. During the Shakespearean time, the ideal female was youthful, beautiful, and maintained her purity. Compliant women accepted and fulfilled the requirements and blooms in the environment given to her from her…

characters, including his mother Gertrude. However, the most critical and major error occurred in the play when Hamlet, while having a conversation with Gertrude about her husband, accidently killed Polonius, who was hiding behind the tapestry. In the play, when Polonius was killed, Hamlet…

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most honoured and well known pieces of literature that has been studied by many. There is a depth to Hamlet which has caused so many different ways to view and argue the characters and the overthinking in which the book revolves around. The storyline of Hamlet follows a vein of over thinking that begins with the betrayal of his Uncle Claudius when he secretly murders Hamlet’s father – the King of Denmark- then marries Hamlet’s mother and becomes king himself. As…

No human is perfect; the balance of willpower and necessary self-indulgence is such a fine one that even the most perfect of people occasionally make mistakes. True, the most noble of us have more finely tuned the system of giving up the wants and retaining the needs, but isn’t it said that the highest have the furthest to fall? Aristotle once said that bravery was most valuable when it is strength against wants but least valuable when it is strength against enemies. Throughout literature, many…

characterized the role of women in the play just as society would have during that time, less valuable and insignificant. The leading ladies in Hamlet, Gertrude and Ophelia, are seen as less valuable than men and insignificant because of their dependence on male authorities, obedience, and are easily manipulated by others throughout the play. First of all, Gertrude and Ophelia are less significant in the play because of their heavy dependence on male authorities in their lives. For example,…

system where men are in authority over women in all aspects of society. In the play Hamlet, women are portrayed as weak and inferior through the dysfunctional relationships between father daughter, Polonius and Ophelia, the royal family, Claudius and Gertrude, and Hamlet and Ophelia; objects that assist or hinder the actions of men and lack positive roles in the play. From Act I scene 3 we see Polonius as a caring father who is looking out for his daughter by objecting to her dating prince…