Custom Essay: Shakespeares Hamlet and the Character of Gertrude

Hamlet and the Character of Gertrude      Ã‚  Ã‚   Bryan N. S. Gooch in "Review of The Shapes of Revenge: Victimization, Vengeance, and Vindictiveness in Shakespeare," presents as a victim Gertrude’s closest woman friend in Shakespeare’s Hamlet:    Harry Keyishian rightly recognizes that distinction between various manifestations of revenge is crucial in coming to terms not only with many of Shakespeare’s characters -- and some were notable and clearly nasty avengers of perceived yet unsubstantiated wrong -- but also with his social and moral milieu. . . . Moreover, the author clearly presents in Chapter I, "Victimization and Revenge: Renaissance Voices," a useful survey of the problem, drawing from books on the passions and moving on to consider not only the power of the revenger but the powerlessness of victims, e.g., the Duchess of Gloucester, Ophelia. . . . (1).    If Ophelia is a victim, certainly Gertrude is likewise, having died from imbibing the poisonous drink intended for Hamlet by Claudius and Laertes. This essay intends to explore this aspect and many other aspects of   the character of Gertrude.    At the outset of the tragedy Hamlet appears dressed in solemn black. His mother, Gertrude, is apparently disturbed by this and requests of him:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Do not for ever with thy vailed lids   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Seek for thy noble father in the dust:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Passing through nature to eternity. (1.2)    The queen obviously considers her son’s dejection to result from his father’s demise. Angela Pitt considers Gertrude â€Å"a kindly, slow-w... ...Psychoanalysis Into' Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet." Early Modern Literary Studies 6.1 (May, 2000): 2.1-24   http://purl.oclc.org/emls/06-1/lehmhaml.htm Pitt, Angela. â€Å"Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Rpt from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html Smith, Rebecca. â€Å"Gertrude: Scheming Adulteress or Loving Mother?† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from Hamlet: A User’s Guide. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996. Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. â€Å"Shakespeare.† Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.