Gertrude: Character Analysis

- Gertrude marries her dead husband's brother, King Claudius.

- It is really an act of betrayal to her husband's memory.
- She is obviously a central figure in the play —Hamlet spends a whole lot of time dwelling
on her incestuous marriage to Claudius —but we know practically nothing about her
motivations or feelings.
- Was she having an affair with Claudius before the death of Old Hamlet?
- Does Gertrude know that Claudius killed her former husband?
- Why does she drink the poisoned wine her husband has prepared for her son?
- Does she know it's poisoned? Or, is she just really thirsty? Did she love Claudius? Did
she marry Claudius so as to maintain her status in society?
- If she drinks poison on purpose, then she's the self-sacrificing mother Hamlet has
always wanted her to be.
- That she is "the imperial jointress" to the throne of Denmark indicating that she wields
some power and suggests that Claudius' decision to marry her had political implications.
- Yet Hamlet indicts all women by calling her fickle — "frailty, thy name is woman." We
see through Hamlet the picture of a woman who one day lived obediently and in the
shadow of one king to whom she was devoted.
- The most haunting questions about Gertrude's character revolve around whether she
knows that Claudius is a criminal.
- She exhibits apparent sincerity in her concern for Hamlet, and yet, even after Hamlet
has told her what he knows about Claudius, even after he has shared his fears of the trip
to England, even after Hamlet has clearly proven that something is rotten in the state of
Denmark, she never opposes Claudius to protect Hamlet.
- That Gertrude deliberately drank the poison to prevent Hamlet's death is proof of
motherly love.
- Though Claudius professes love and admiration for Gertrude, he never confides to
anyone the extent of their relationship.
- Gertrude also never declares any kind of emotion for Claudius, either positive or
negatively.
- King Hamlet‟s death and Gertrude‟s wedding to Claudius happen immediately prior to
the opening of the play. These two events are the cause of Hamlet‟s distress and disgust
- However, Shakespeare deliberately leaves the extent of Gertrude‟s involvement with
Claudius unclear.
- Unlike her male counterparts, Gertrude does not have any soliloquies and is therefore
denied the opportunity to present her inner thoughts and feelings to the audience.
- For these reasons, the true nature of her character and motivation is ambiguous.
- The Ghost cites Gertrude‟s lust as the cause of her swift marriage to his brother .
Gertrude‟s sexual relationship with Claudius defines her character for both Hamlets, and
taints a perception of her as a lustful and self-indulgent individual.
- Gertrude‟s role has traditionally been seen as passive, yet upon closer analysis, her
speech proves to be direct, insightful and innuendo-free.

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 - Her instruction to Polonius to „speak more matter with less art‟ identifies Polonius as a
pretentious, rambling old fool while at the same time asserting her authority and
intelligence
- She instinctively perceives the true cause of Hamlet‟s madness and doesn‟t mince
words when she explains to Claudius that it is their marriage union and his father‟s death
which has upset her son.
- Despite Gertrude‟s gift for making shrewd observations she appears content not to act
upon them, and instead submits to the schemes of her husband and his counselors in
the first half of the play: „I shall obey you‟ (3.1.38).
- The knowledge that her first husband, King Hamlet, was murdered by Claudius causes
Gertrude to experience a moral awakening and shows the shame that she now feels.
- Though her character can be seen as passive for the first part of the play, it is in Act 5,
Scene 2 She willfully disobeys Claudius by drinking the poisoned wine. She dies with
cries of „the drink! the drink! I am poisoned‟ (5.2.264), and in so doing identifies Claudius
as her killer.
- This, then, gives Hamlet the clarity of purpose, and the means and motive for revenge,
which he has soliloquized over and struggled with throughout the play.
- She performs an extraordinary act that gives Hamlet motive and cue for killing the King‟
- Hamlets‟ view of her mother is that she is as shallow and lustful, and shapes its
remaining moments.
- That Gertrude is a passive character who never makes herself clear‟.
- Gertrude is seemingly oblivious to the political and murderous maneuverings
surrounding her.
- In the final Act she is ignorant of her husband‟s plot to poison her son, and her death is
merely one of the many that populate the play and provide a backdrop to Hamlet and
Claudius‟s rivalry.
- “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (I.ii.146) Gertrude does seem morally frail. She never
exhibits the ability to think critically about her situation, but seems merely to move
instinctively toward seemingly safe choices.
- At times it seems that her grace and charm are her only characteristics, and her reliance
on men appears to be her sole way of capitalizing on her abilities.

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