NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
OPHELIA AND GERTRUDE Hamlet is, without any reservation, one of Shakespeare's most significant plays. In this play, the women are the key characters, which help the development of the plot. Fates of both Ophelia and Gertrude intersect at the same circumstances in relation to Hamlet. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius who is the lord of Chamberlain and the Hamlets beloved girl. One of Ophelias traits, which attract attention first, is her obedience to her father. She is so obedient that after her fathers death, she went mad.
Ophelia is a simple- minded woman, who is easily influenced by the opinions and desires of other people around her. Consequently, she does not posses initiative to take her own decisions. When Polonius asks her questions pertaining Hamlets attraction toward herself, she simply avoids herself to give a straight answer: Do you believe his tenders, as you call them? -- I do not know, my lord, what I should think... In addition, readers witness the passiveness of Ophelia one more time, when King Claudius and Polonius set up a meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet, in order to discover the reason of Hamlets transformation.
Polonius uses his daughter as a bait and Ophelia obliges to her fathers desires impulsively. It could have seemed that Ophelia tries to be loyal to her family. However her actions, in fact, makes herself disloyal to her brother, to Hamlet, and finally to herself. When her brother, Laertes warns her to beware of Hamlet, she answers that she will keep it secret: Farewell, Ophelia, and remember well/What I have said to you. -- 'Tis in my memory lock'd, /And you yourself shall keep the key of it. However as soon as Laertes exits, Ophelia tells Polonius what conversation she had with Laertes: So please you, something touching the Lord Hamlet. Moreover when Ophelia speaks with Hamlet, watch by Polonius and Claudius, her disloyalty to Hamlet is proven: Where's your father? -- At home, my lord.
Yet Hamlet knew that Polonius was listening them. Other female character, Queen Gertrude reflects a complex personality throughout the play. Gertrude seems a naive woman, who lost his husband; the former king of Denmark, and distracted by her brother in law. When ghost talks to Hamlet, he says: Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast, /With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts-/O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power/So to seduce! - won to his shameful lust/The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. When queen was speaking with Hamlet at her closet, it seems that Gertrude does not know or pretends not to know why Hamlet is so angry with her and king Claudius: What have I done that thou dar " st wag thy tongue/ In noise so rude against me? However, before this scene, when she was talking with Claudius, she seems to know exactly what the problem with Hamlet is: I doubt it is no other but the main, /His father's death and our o'er hasty marriage.
Until the death of Ophelia, the reader would never know the actual feelings of Gertrude toward Ophelia. When queen speaks with Ophelia, she says: And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish/ That your good beauties be the happy cause/Of Hamlet's wildness. So shall I hope your virtues/ Will bring him to his wonted way again... In contrast, at he very beginning of act four, scene five she refuses to speak with Ophelia: I will not speak with her. Finally at the funeral of Ophelia she says: I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife; As it is mentioned before Queen Gertrude has been presented to the readers as a character of naivete. In other words, in readers mind there appeared a figure of Gertrude who seems to lose her way in her own life which is dominated and controlled by Claudius.
However in the final of the play, Gertrude drinks from the poisoned cup despite of Claudius warning pertaining the drink: Gertrude, do not drink. / I will, my lord; I pray you pardon me. This tiny detail indicates that Gertrude would take the reins in her own hands if she would have not died. All these contradictions indicate how unstable personality Queen Gertrude has. Ophelia, Gertrude and Hamlet establish the corner parts of a triangle.
Hamlets interaction with his mother affects his relationship with Ophelia and vice versa. Very early in the play, Hamlet states: Let me not think on't! Frailty, thy name is woman! -Hamlet appears to believe that all women act in the same manner as his mother. In addition, in the closet scene Hamlet shouts his mother for collapsing his ability to love: Such an act/That blurs the grace and blush of modesty; /Calls virtue hypocrite; takes off the rose/From the fair forehead of an innocent love, Hamlet curses his mother for being responsible for his inability to love Ophelia. In other words Hamlets anger and hatred toward his mother makes it tough for him to realize that Ophelia was just obeying her fathers orders, not purposefully betraying Hamlet. In conclusion, Ophelia and Gertrude are the women characters, who take an important role in the development of the plot and the play.
Ophelia, by giving the priority to his fathers and brothers desires, instead of love, she ruined the chance of affection between Hamlet and her. Gertrude who seems to have a simple and flat personality appears to have a much more complex character than it seems.
Free research essays on topics related to: polonius, ophelia, gertrude, queen gertrude, king claudius
Research essay sample on Queen Gertrude King Claudius
