The Original Question in the Drama Hamlet - Essay Example

Newhamlet Order#: 443016 Topic: Essay for Hamlet-Character Analysis Introduction: The first concern of a woman is her individual security. This is true of Gertrude. Her second concern is about Hamlet, her son. Her actions are directed for her being placed in the best possible surroundings and life-situations. Just as a lotus has many petals, the love of her heart has several recipients, depending upon her obligatory relationships and the call of her heart. Her feelings need to be understood through many angles. Let us try to understand the following quotations to judge her first important decision after her husband’s death, which is the biggest crisis as well as challenge in the life of any woman. Cynthia Gravlee writes, “ Hamlet’s Gertrude ia vindicated by Rebecca Smith(“A Heart Cleft in Twain: The Dilemma of Shakespeare’s Gertrude”), who proves that while Gertrude is generally assumed to be conniving and lascivious, her words and actions really delineate her as a “compliant, loving, unimaginative woman whose only concern is pleasing others….”(1981,p.120) One point incidentally. A woman, when she enters into wedlock, possesses the supreme confidence, that she will be able to mould her man according to her choices. Her expectations in this regard may or may not come true. Gertrude has similar faith. With this backgrounder information one needs to understand and judge the personality of Gertrude. Gertrude is more to be pitied rather than condemned as vicissitudes in her life are beyond her control. Can two walk together, except they are agreed? In the case in point, the two are mother and son. Hamlet is her antithesis, but nothing wrong in it. Hamlet is a scholar and a philosopher, with an inquisitive mind to find out the deeper meaning of life. In contrast, Gertrude is as worldly. She is proud of the charm of her body and the secular pleasures of her life. She likes to be pampered. She sees her paradise in soft pillows, warm baths, fine clothes and trinkets. Hamlet is internally devastated by her action in marrying his uncle. That too within a short time of his father’s death! The Ghost intervenes to give more disturbing information about her, which upsets Hamlet thoroughly. The death of Gertrude’s husband is a fact. The question that is often posed by the critics is why she marries in a hurry. Hurry from whose point of view? With the death of Hamlet’s father, her Christian marriage vow comes to an end. She is the queen, accustomed to live with supreme comforts of life. She is eager to restore and secure her position. If Claudius marries some other woman, she will not get the same care, comforts, attention and perquisites she enjoys as a queen. That is the reason for her hurry and she acts in good faith and her approach is practical. If she is the adulteress, she can continue her relationship with Claudius clandestinely. Moreover, there is no evidence anywhere in the play that Claudius is pressurizing her for early marriage. Initially, Hamlet is guided by the version of the ghost as for the relationship between Gertrude and Claudius. The ghost says, “Aye, that incestuous, that adulterate beast; With witchcraft of his wits, with traitorous gifts, (Oh wicked wit, and gifts that have the power So to seduce,) won to his shameful lust The will of my most seeming virtuous Queen; Oh, Hamlet, what falling off was there From me, whose love was of that dignity? That it went hand-in-hand, even with the vow I made to her in marriage, and to decline Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor.” (1.5) The version of the ghost is a matter of interpretation. Contaminated Gertrude; but when? After the marriage, he is entitled to the bodily and sexual pleasure being offered by Gertrude. Her marriage to Claudius, and the plot of Claudius to kill the King, should not be linked together. A reader has to proceed like a careful lawyer, analyze the situation threadbare, and judge the whole issue on the basis of evidence. Emotion has no role to play here. Gertrude is visualizing a situation, after marriage, that Hamlet and Claudius will stay united. That would have been ideal. But, by nurture, Hamlet and Claudius are poles apart; and Hamlet is at the receiving end of grief. Claudius has not lost anything and gained on all counts. The kingdom, the throne, and a wife like Gertrude. The only option before Gertrude is to apportion her love between Hamlet and Claudius and live in a house divided and prevent if possible, the house being destroyed. She now adores and loves her husband and son at their respective levels. She has no other option, except to walk on the razor’s edge and hope for the situation to improve. Similar is the hope of Gertrude. She is perhaps hoping that with the passage of time, Hamlet will mellow down, and his attitude towards his uncle may soften. In an effort to get at the truth, Hamlet speaks very rudely to his mother, but even in that situation of utmost provocation Gertrude maintains her calm. Hamlet’s famous condemnation about women indicates what venomous feelings he has for women in general. “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (1.2) Hamlet reprimands his mother thus: “Such an act 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 As false as dicers oaths; O, such a deed, As from the body of contraction plucks The very soul, and sweet religion makes A rhapsody of words.”(3.4) Gertrude is indeed a unique figure. She enjoys the love of Hamlet, his father and Claudius. This must be due to the qualities of her head and heart and soft disposition, even when she is rebuked, for no fault of hers. Her love for her son is unconditional, like a true mother. When her son gets extremely annoyed with her, she fails to understand why he is so furious. She requests him to be reasonable and calm. The conversation between the mother and the son shapes thus: “O Hamlet, speak no more: Gertrude: Oh, Hamlet, speak no more; Thou turnst my very eyes into my soul, And there I see such black and grieved spots As will leave there, their tinct. Hamlet: Nay, but to live In the rank sweat of an inseamed bed Stewed in corruption, honeying, and making love Over the nasty sty. Gertrude: Oh, speak to me no more! These words like daggers enter in my ears; No more, sweet Hamlet.”(3.4) The harsh insinuations from her son, whom she loves deeply, are too much for her to bear. Yet she remains calm. Claudius is aware of the limitations of his trust of Gertrude. He never gives her the hint of the plot of murder of her husband. He is aware perhaps that she will never be an accomplice for such a ghastly act. To that extent Hamlet also trusts Gertrude. That Gertrude is not a composed personality is not in dispute. Her answers to the questions are not based on truth, but they are just time-servers. She does not have the long-term perspectives of her answers and never thinks about their possible repercussions. With the cover of lies she just wishes to protect her interests. But she does not mean harm to others. She is, at times, over-protective about Hamlet, and this attitude of a mother can be justified. While breaking the news of Hamlet killing Polonius, she tells Claudius that Hamlet deeply regrets his action. Hamlet has no regrets for his action, but Gertrude provides the cover of protective umbrella on his head, by carefully choosing her words. Mother’s affection is oozing out of her. Nowhere in the play, Gertrude tries to outsmart anyone, or behaves cunningly. She is placed in a tight situation between two individuals who are bitterly opposed to each other and they happen to be her husband and son. Judged impartially, her marriage to Claudius cannot be termed as wrong even by moral standards. As already stated above, she is a woman who is accustomed to royal standards of life. She is the Queen of Denmark and under no circumstances she wishes to give up that position. With the death of her husband, insecurity seizes her, and by marrying Claudius, she has acted in her best interests, as the King is her ultimate protector. She has made a difficult choice, but having made it, duty demands that she love and remain loyal to Claudius. She is not pre-meditating her actions and does not intend to pit one against the other. She is trying to love all, and hopes for an amicable settlement to the issues. When she finally drinks from the poisoned goblet, she carries the deep sympathy of the readers, as no one expects her to meet the tragic end. Her confronting son: The charge against Gertrude, that she scarcely mourned her husband’s death. People at large may conclude thus, but who understands her internal mourning? Her marriage to Claudius, is the practical approach to lessen her individual sorrow, and not for the sake of increasing her happiness. Her love for Hamlet is ever on the increase, throughout the play. The first entry of Gertrude is in Act I Scene 2. She is making sincere efforts to cheer Hamlet over the loss of his father. She wants to see her fatherless child in a happy mood, and in real terms, the loss of Hamlet’s father is more affecting to Gertrude than to Hamlet. She intensely desires that he stay at home rather than go back to school in Wittenberg. Carefully scrutinize her role in the following situations. They reveal her total affection for her son, and how intensely she intervenes and cares for his welfare, wishes him well in every important turn of events in his life. Such responses can emerge from an affectionate mother’s heart only. In the II Act, she supports the idea of King Claudius of sending Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as escorts to bolster the spirits of her son. She understands Hamlet’s strong objection for her marrying Claudius in post-haste after her husband’s death, and that she considers as the reason for Hamlet’s madness than Ophelia’s rejecting his love.(as articulated by Polonius) She laments, “Gertrude: I doubt it is no other but the main: His fathers death, and our oer-hasty marriage.” (2.2) She waits with eagerness and interest the report of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about their efforts to cheer him, and how Hamlet responds. This shows her deep concern for Hamlet. She also consents to the plan of the King and Polonius to watch Hamlet, by remaining unnoticed by him, as Hamlet speaks to Ophelia and sincerely hopes that the sapling of love will heal his inner wounds. Gertrude tells Claudius about the murder of Polonius, and she is thoroughly convinced that Hamlet is mad. In the singing episode by Ophelia, her concern, affection and compassion for Hamlet is genuine, as he acts in absolute madness. Later, at Ophelia’s burial she laments, “Sweets to the sweet, farewell I hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlets wife; I thought thy bride-bed to have decked, sweet maid, And not have strewed thy grave.”(5.1) Gertrude, like an affectionate mother, always tries to give proper counseling to Hamlet in difficult situations. In his interaction with Leartes, Paul Werstine writes, “Hamlet’s tone toward Leartes changes only once—after Osric has excited and the nameless lord has given Hamlet Gertrude’s instruction to “use some gentle entertainment to Laertes.” Then Hamlet acknowledges, “She well instructs me” and treats Laertes courteously as soon as the later enters.”(1988, p.6) When Hamlet appears and has a fight with Laertes, she asks him to stop and for someone to hold him back. She pleads that Hamlet is acting thus in a fit of madness and hopes for his recovery soon. In the final scene, Gertrude comes to the aid of an exhausted Hamlet during his fight with Laertes, and wipes his brow. The King has planned to poison Hamlet and Gertrude drinks poison from the goblet, her trust, love and loyalty for Hamlet is complete and as she falls to the ground due to the effect of the poison, she wishes to save Hamlet and shouts, “No, no, the drink, the drink! O my dear Hamlet . . . The drink, the drink . . . I am poisoned!” (5.2) In effect, she does the ultimate commitment for the sake of Hamlet, by sacrificing her life. Even in her dying moments, Gertrude emerges with a sterling image. She does not confess any sin, and her last emotions were the safely of the life of Hamlet. She did a great balancing act as the queen as well as the mother of her fatherless child. She tries her best to fill the void. She is least concerned whether she would be sent to Heaven or Hell, a normal Christian concern. Gertrude has practical approach to life, and she expects Hamlet to accept destined issues stoically and not brood over them for all time to come. In transcending the past, lays the road to happiness, as recollection of the sad events will not do any good any individual. Conclusion: The original question has remained the original question till today, wherever the drama Hamlet is discussed. Whether Gertrude’s decision is right in marrying Claudius is right. The question gets the final answer through this essay. She is right, absolutely right! For the simple reason, that every individual has the right to take right decisions about one’s life and the timing is left to one’s choice. In issues like marriage, tomorrow may never come! Once a queen, Gertrude wishes to remain always a queen. She is not inclined to downgrade her status. Being the King, Claudius may get into other adventurous act. Gertrude is not willing for the entry of any other woman in the life of Claudius. The second reason is, being the queen she is in a better position to protect Hamlet. Throughout the drama Gertrude tries her utmost to keep the home front quiet and peaceful, but she faces a series of misfortunes, arriving in quick succession. She fails to alleviate the apprehensions of Hamlet. ************* Works Cited: Gravlee, Cynthia. Review (Untitled). South Atlantic Review, Vol.46, No.2 (May, 1981), pp.119-122 Published by: South Atlantic Modern Language Association Shakespeare, William: Hamlet http://www.hamletregained.com/O_L_pages_folder/Original_Lang_Pages.html Werstine, Paul.The Texual Mystery of Hamlet. Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol.39, No.1 (Spring, 1988) pp. 1-26. Published by: Folyer Shakespeare Library, in association with George Washington University Read More