Gertrude character sketch. i will be happy if i get answer

1 ANSWERS

1. amomipais82
   

   Hi,
   I make it a practice never to do anyone's homework for them.  It doesn't help you and it doesn't help your teacher evaluate whether you have read and understood the play.  But I'm happy to try to help you with specific questions of interpretation and understanding...
   
   HAMLET is my favorite play, and I love Gertrude as well.  In fact I'm doing my MA dissertation, in part, on how Gertrude and Ophelia are interpreted on stage by various directors and actors, including me.
   
   You are on the right track, Danielle.  As your teacher suggested in her question, there is no wrong answer to this question.  Shakespeare leaves many ambiguities in HAMLET and each reader, scholar, critic, director and actor has their own ideas about who Gertrude really is and what her motivations are.  So you are free to decide what YOU think Gertrude's character is.  The only requirement is that you be able to justify your opinion with evidence from the text.
   
   Since your teacher wants to know what YOU think about Gertrude, my opinion (which may be very different from yours) really won't help you.  You don't want to copy what I say, because if you don't believe it you won't be able to justify it.  
   
   Your teacher has given you some good hints as to the possible interpretations of Gertrude's character.  What do you think about her?  Look at her relationship with Claudius - does she seem to have her own opinions or does she follow what he says?  Does she stand up against him?  Does she stand up to Hamlet?  What about her actions in marrying Claudius so soon after her husband's death?  What does that say about her?  Do you think she had anything to do with the murder or do you think she was innocent of it?  What about how she acts with Ophelia both early in the play and during Ophelia's mad scene?  Is she sympathetic or not?  
   
   One thing to keep in mind is, although Gertrude does not have a huge number of lines in the show, she is an important part of it.  And it's not always just her actions that indicate her character; it may be what you think her reasons for acting that way are.  For instance, at Ophelia's funeral she indicates that she "hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife."  But why did she say that?  Early in the play she indicated sympathy for Ophelia, but in Ophelia's mad scene, she didn't even want to see her.  Is that the way she would treat a young girl she thought might be her daughter-in-law?  Did she mean what she said?  Did she say it because it was expected of her?  Did she really miss Ophelia?  Shakespeare doesn't make her motivations truly clear.  He leaves it to the actors to choose how to play it and the audience/reader to decide what they think.
   
   I have some thoughts about Gertrude, although they don't necessarily agree with what most people think.  But there's no point in me giving you reference lines since they may not agree with what YOU think.  But here are some good scenes to look for hints to Gertrude's character:
   
   Look at Act I, scene 2 for how Gertrude reacts to the interaction between Claudius and Hamlet.
   
   Look at the beginning of Act 2, scene 2, for how Gertrude acts with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and with Polonius.  Also how she interacts with Claudius.  
   
   Look at the beginning of Act 3, scene 1.  When Claudius tells Gertrude to leave, she says she will obey him.  What does this say about her?  Is it because she is weak and will leave the action to him, or is it because she is not needed there, or maybe doesn't want to see Hamlet and Ophelia together?  
   
   Look at Act III, scene 4 - the "closet" scene.  Look at what Hamlet says about Gertrude and how she reacts to his accusations.
   
   Look at Act IV, scene 5 - Ophelia's mad scene - and how Gertrude acts with Ophelia.

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