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Gertrude at Fault?

 

            
            
             Hamlet wants to kill Claudius throughout the play. Claudius is the guiltiest character in the play. Old "Claude" did murder his brother (the king of Denmark) and marry his wife (Gertrude) shortly after. Gertrude isn't all squeaky-clean herself, though; she tries to put on that mask. Gertrude died accidentally in the end, I think Shakespeare wanted to show that Gertrude was at fault and was guilty of betraying her loyalty to her husband King Hamlet.
             Is Gertrude guiltless? That's a good question. Hamlet evidently thought so in the bedroom scene when he gave her a nice talking to. He took his anger a little too far, and that was when the ghost appeared. The ghost gave Ham specific directions to leave her alone; "leave her to heaven" were his words. Hamlet was very disturbed by Gertrude's hasty marriage to Claude. Another action, or lack of, that might've been fuel for Hamlet's fire was how Gertrude did not mourn for slain husband. She did this all with disregard on how her own son would react to such a scandalous act that is frowned upon in their society, an act which Hamlet even describes "incestuous". So is Gertrude guiltless, I wouldn't bet on it. .
             Does Gertrude have virtue? She doesn't seem to have much in the play. She did show some compassion for Ophelia during her madness, and spoke of her death during one of the most poetic parts of the play. "Frailty thy name is woman", Hamlet's words about the weak state of his mother, By that I mean that she is powerless, she seems to have a man present with her at all times. She is the kind of woman that has been relying on a man all her life. Where would she be if she hadn't married? Well, she wouldn't be in royalty. Gertrude is weak and thinks of herself before anyone else.
             Gertrude died at the end of the play, the irony of that is the ghost said "leave her to heaven" and that's exactly what happened. If she hadn't died and the ghost did not tell Hamlet to leave her alone, I think Hamlet would've taken care of her.


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