Queen: Nothing at all, yet all that is I see. 135

This quick exchange passes by quite inconspicuously and can seem like it simply reveals a plot detail: Gertrude cannot see her husband. This allows her to still doubt the sanity of her son, and it also proves that King Hamlet still does care for her. His business is with Claudius, and he chooses to leave her

This all changes in the moment on line 133-137, when it is Gertrude who takes control in the conversation. Like in the cliché scene of modern horror movies, there is a character that can see the ghost and a character that cannot see the ghost that thinks the other is crazy. “Nothing at all, yet all that is I see” claims Gertrude. Had she simply said “Nothing at all,” this dialogue would not mean much, but because she adds “yet all that is I see,” it takes on a new importance. By claiming that she sees everything, for a moment she takes on a very confident, positive tone and in the process steals power in the conversation away from Hamlet. She does not acknowledge that she might not be seeing something to please Hamlet, and she declares that all that is, she sees. If she sees everything, and Hamlet asks if she sees something he does, then Hamlet is the one who has to defend himself and try to prove his sanity. In this way, contrary to almost all the scenes in the play, the woman is the assertive one who has control the upper hand. However, in this one moment where the woman displays her confidence, she ends up being terrib

Some topics in this essay:
King Hamlet, Marcellus Bernardo, Hamlet” IIIiv97, , Iv105-106 Hamlet, Hamlet Nor, Hamlet Hamlet, Hamlet Gertrude’s, Hamlet Queen, believes claudius, character ghost,