Looking at Act 3 Scene 4 of 'Hamlet' by William Shakespeare. This scene has been seen by some critics as crucial to their reading of the play. This essay is a close examination of this scene as a starting point of the nature of the relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude, its dramatic presentation and its significance in the play as a whole.
Act 3 Scene 4, so called the closet scene, is the first time we see Hamlet and Gertrude together alone. In this scene Hamlet releases his anger and frustration at his mother for the sinful deed she has committed i.e. her marriage to her brother-in-law and the murderer. We can see that Gertrude is unaware of her husband's murder when she says `As kill a King?' and it is the first time she confronts her own behavior. There is a conflict between the two; Hamlet gives powerful replies
`Mother you have my father much offended'
`Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue'
This shows that Hamlet means more to her that her husband. When the Queen dies after drinking from the poisoned cup Hamlet gets enraged and stabs the king but before he dies we learn that although Gertrude is on Hamlet's side in the end, he has still not forgiven her for her remarriage to Claudius but is grieved of her death.
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