Shakespeares Hamlet and Gertrude: Love or Hate? :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Hamlet and Gertrude Love or Hate       Imagine it, while extraneous at college you receive word that your beloved fatherwho had seemed in trusty health only a short while ago has died departure yourmother and yourself. This situation would be enough to bring keen economic crisis toeven the strongest of persons simply for Hamlet, the fictional prince of Denmark inShakespeares play of the same name, this is non his imagination but cruelreality.  Not only has his father passed but, as if to mock the very memory ofthe former king, Gertrude, Hamlets mother and queen, has married once more withintwo months. This shock is further compounded by the occurrence the her new husband isnone other than her former brother-in-law, Claudius.         Unable to pass to the university due to his over whelming despair,Hamlet is trapped by his loving parents and not allowed to leave Denmark untilcertified well. It is at this time he re ceives word from his lifter Horatio thatthe spirit of his father has returned and walks the night. During theElizabethan period of English literature, man and temperament were thought to belinked as part of a great chain of being. To Hamlet, the fact that his fatherhad returned showed that this chain had been disrupted by some evil in the worldof man. That he had returned as a nicety could mean only one thing, his death wasnot an accident. The ghost beseeches Hamlet to avenge him but warns him, taintnot thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught . . . leave herto heaven.         This statement by the ghost was left open enough for Hamlet to develop legion(predicate) questions about his mothers actual involvement in his fathers death. Atfirst, Hamlets rage is restrict to his uncle Claudius but quickly and violentlyshifts towards his mother, dwelling upon the horrible thought that she strengthhave been involved. Oh most pernicious women He screams, O baddie, villain,smiling, damned villain Hamlet speaks as though he has temporarily forgottenhis foretell to his father and has become mentally ill with anger. The insanity throughanger is a reoccurring motif throughout the play. After Hamlet has simmered downto the point where he is again lucid, he vows to his friend Horatio that he willtake punish upon Claudius, and he will do so by acting insane until the time isright.         Its clear by what the ghost has said that Claudius is guilty of murder,but what  about Gertrude? She clearly disgusts Hamlet due to her hasty marriage.