Gertrude’s Influence on Hamlet’s Revenge

In this essay I will analyze how Hamlet’s revenge-plot is the basis of the whole story and Gertrude is at the centerfold. Her actions have had blatant disregard for her son, driving him to be a scheming, malevolent, sexist being. This mixed with his Oedipus Complex, as well as religious and governmental views drives Hamlet to commit disastrous acts, harming all in his way, as he is harmed himself, leaving him seeing himself as illegitimate and disgusted with his mother.

Gertrude is an influential character whose significance is sometimes overlooked when analyzing Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Some scholars believe that Gertrudes intentions are unclear during the play because of the ambiguity within her dialogue, and mystery behind her inner monologue due to the absence of any soliloquies (Tubb Para. 2). They believe that she has no real intention that can be deciphered with her involvement of King Hamlet’s murder and feelings towards Hamlet and Claudius. This lack of insight into her character has left other Shakespearians to conclude that her sexuality in only contextualized via the judgment of the men around her, therefore misrepresenting her as a “intemperately lustful and self-indulgent individual” when she actually never had a chance in the first place (Tubb Para. 5). This contextualization via the male figures in the play would not be shocking, as sexism has been historically rampant in early plays and pieces of literature. However, others argue that Gretrude “functions primarily in the play as the embodiment of Hamlet’s desires and fears,” (Rose 401).  As his mother, Gertrude is a reflection of Hamlet, as Hamlet is a reflection of her.

Additionally, Levin reminds Shakespearians that it is important that we consider Hamlet as an unreliable narrator when it comes to his views of Gertrude (318). He continues by saying that Gertrude was never presented as being a lustful being within the actual dialogue and words in the play, and that it is Hamlet's own mind that “drives him to get revenge with the false premise of his mother being driven by lust; her libido (is) constructed for us by two men who have grievances against her” (Levin 322). Therefore, the audience is left with an unreliable analysis of Gertrude because the play is centralized around Hamlet. It has also been seen that Gertrude's marriage is the “cause of the corruption and decay in Denmark,” and it is vital to Hamlet’s need for revenge (Anderson para1). One common thread seen among research is that Gertude is a driving factor in Hamlet's need for revenge. I believe that Gertrude is prominent in the creation of the revenge plot in Hamlet, fueling Hamlet’s disgust and anger, making him self-righteous and vengeful within the context of moral outrage regarding his uncle's marriage to his mother. 

Hamlet is obsessed with Gertrudes sexuality with his constant mentioning of her in a sexual light, with various mentions of incest and disloyalty to his late father. Hamlet's distress and disgust is shown from the beginning of the play starting in Act 1. His use of the word “incest” is a prominent and reoccuring theme regarding his disgust and desire for revenge. He states that Gertrude married quickly and “with such dexterity to incestual sheets,” (Shakespeare 1.2 162). Readers are introduced to his character with anger and shock for such an odd union. This emotional projection and various outbursts due to his definition of incest infiltrating his family leads readers to conclude that the Hamlet is a prime example for the Oedipus Complex, offering an explanation as to why his revenge is so strong.

The Oedipus complex is the theory that boys are sexually attracted to their mothers during childhood, however, consummation is never achieved, because fathers prevent the sexual relationship from going further (French 32). This leads boys to then identify with their fathers since they are filling the role they want to be in, learning how to sexually desire other women instead of their mothers, and to repress their incestuous feelings. With his mother having a second marriage, “her son was forced to see her in action not only an (as) astounding shallowness of feeling but an eruption of coarse sensuality” (Jones 142). With his uncle now becoming his “father” the presence of something seemingly incestuous makes repressing these thoughts even harder, and projected even stronger. Therefore, his incestual feelings that have been buried since birth are coming to light, flickering on with jealous, sexually driven rage towards his uncle, fueling Hamlet’s revenge.

Hamlet's repressed feelings that exist according to Oedipus, are already being released with the death of his father and remarriage, but the Ghost of King Hamlet’s confession on how he died, sparks courage in Hamlet, prompting him into action. Hamlet says “hast me know’t, that with wings as swift / As meditation or the thoughts of love, / May sweep my revenge,” (Shakespeare, 1.5 35-37). For the rest of this exchange Hamlet is in shock with special direction towards Gertrude. He is “stunned by the effect of the internal conflict, thus re-awakened which from now on never ceases” from the beginning to the end of the play (Jones 143). The Ghost acted as a catalyst to bring to fruition his buried feelings, that would have come out eventually, but now are expedited faster and put into action due to the Ghosts mention of Gertrudes sexual deviency paired with Claudius’ murderous, incestual prowess.

With this potential Oedipus-like awakening, or general moral outrage at this “incestuous marriage” his feelings continue, in Hamlet’s first soliloquy, showing his repulsion towards his mother. He says, 

“Would have mourned longer!) married with my/ 

uncle,/ 

My father’s brother, but no more like my father/

Than I Hercules, within a month/ 

Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears/ 

had left her flushing in her galled eyes/ 

She married,” (Shakespeare 1.5 155-160).

This outrage laments Gertrude as someone who does not know the borders of the self, originating in her fertile and deadly degenerative body (Kumamoto 51). There is a special emphasis on the speed at which she was married that Hamlet partners with lust, further exploring his Oedipus complex. The inclusion of Gertrude in such an emotional soliloquy, that has been highly regarded as Hamlet’s wish to death, shows the tragic impact that she has on her son, driving him to feel suicidal as a result of her and Claudious’ actions.

Furthermore, after killing Polonius, the scene that follows in Gertrude’s room speaks volumes to the torment that Hamlet feels about his own mother. At the end of Act 3 Scene 4, Hamlet regards his mom in a detailed response about her having sex with his uncle. Hamlet explicatively says that 

“Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed /

Pinch wanton on your cheek, call you his mouse /

And let him for a pair of reechy kisses, /

Or paddling on your neck with this damn’d fingers /

Make you ravel all this matter out,” (Shakespeare 204-208).

To Hamlet “the thought of her misconduct expresses itself in an almost physical disgust which is so” characteristic of manifested, repressed, intense sexual feelings (Jones 145). With Hamlet speaking of his mother’s sexual conquests spoken with such fervor, readers / viewers can be left uncomfortable, revealing Hamlet’s Oedipus Complex. Within his dialogue, there are jealous undertones with the amount of detail he goes into when talking about Claudius having sex with his mother; jealousy is a match that lights the fire of revenge. 

Hamlet views his mothers body with disgust, mentioning her physical being frequently. Kumamoto says how this might be due to an addition of unwelcome knowledge that she “in effect helps to subvert and convert his fathers paternal order by willingly subordinating herself to a new symbolic order…though a defiled form of marriage,” (52). Hamlet says “Ha! Have you eyes? / You cannot call it love, for at your age / The heyday in the blood is tame, it’s humble” (Shakespeare 3.4 77-79). With his mentioning of her old age, he says how his mother is too old to have sexual feelings, thus the marriage to Claudius is even more immoral. This defiling of nature and his father pairs to make his vengeful attitudes stronger.

Even by the end of the play his desire for revenge is insatiable. Gertrudes importance to the play comes to life in her suicide. During Act 5, of Claudius, Hamlet says that 

“He that hath kill’d my king and whored my mother, /

Popp’d in between the election and my hopes, /

Thrown out his angle for my proper life,” (Shakespeare 5.2 72-74).

This instant at the end of the play has special emphasis on his mother, thus showing her as a main element in this revenge tragedy that was consistently proven through to the end of the play (Anderson Para 2). Therefore, with this importance in committing suicide in front of Hamlet with the wine meant to kill him, Gertrude acts on her dramatic potential that was present throughout the play that was clouded with her own self-victimization and ambiguity. She specifically calls out to Hamlet, saying, “No, no, the drink, the drink! O, my dear Hamlet! / The drink, the drink! I am poisoned,” (Shakespeare 5.2 340-341). In saying this, she outs Claudius as the killer, who poisoned the drink, in a  passive way, which is characteristic to her personality throughout the play (Tubb 2017). This act of betraying her brother-in-law-turned-husband centers the audiences back to her being, primarily, Hamlet’s mother, emphasizing the negative impact that she had on her son.

 Within Hamlet’s own psyche, his place in the world and self-image has been deteriorated. Gertrude is able to maintain the integrity of the queen-mother, while Hamlet is falling apart, trying to find his new place in the world, especially with the mentions of his new titles pressed on him by Claudius (Kumamoto 52). For example, when Claudius refers to Hamlet as “my cousin Hamlet, my son” (Shakespeare, 1.2 66), his internal wires are crossed, as well as his own idea of his place in the world. Nature is being altered in Hamlets eye with the familial murder, and insectual-tendancies of Gertrude and Claudius. The complexity of his relations with all these characters through a 20-year-old’s eyes is confusing, driving his revenge through the lens of altered self-image.

In Hamlet’s first soliloquy he announces an extended metaphor that shows his attitudes towards his mother, leading him to have disgust in the world. He says."'tis an unweeded garden, / That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature / Possess it merely" (Shakespeare 1.2 139-141). With the mention of nature, readers may take that as a positive, but in Shakespeare's time nature was anything but tranquil. To the audience in the 1600s, “nature was brutal, uncomfortable, and dangerous. Like other parts of life, it needed to be controlled by human intervention,” which is why Hamlet comparing Gertrude to an unweeded garden is saying that she needs to be controlled (Rabbit Para. 2-3). Seeing his mother and the outside world as an unweeded garden is key to understanding his mentality when he approaches murdering Claudius. 

In addition to Hamlet's mentality within his psyche and negative ideas of self-worth, Hamlet adamant describing Gertrude as an incestual person is backed up in the light of religious outrage. As a baseline for Hamlet’s religion and proof that he is religious, he is a “believer and through his faith tries to control his behavior, balancing his feelings of rage with his religious beliefs,”(Alsaif 134). This is proven when he says “The spirit that I have seen / may be the devil: and the devil hath power,” when speaking of The Ghost (Shakespeare, 1.2. 627-628). He also does not commit suicide because he is afraid of not going to Heaven, and when he has an opportunity to murder Claudius but refrains. Hamlet says “Am I then revenged / to take  him in the purging of his soul, / when he is fit and seasoned for his passage? / No,” (Shakespeare 3.4 89-92). He decided that his revenge and justice for his father would not be avenged if he murdered Clauius when praying, because Claudius’ soul would go to Heaven, which would  be unfulfilling. Hamlet, insteads, plans to murder him when he is “drunk asleep or in rage,” (Shakespeare 3.4 94). Therefore this encounter with his internal monologue vocalized gives a religious baseline for readers to understand Hamlet’s religious identity.

Furthermore, when it comes to the religious context at the time and how it impacts Hamlet’s self-image, according to Levital prohibition only a widow without a child is allowed to remarry, thus the union of Claudius and Gertrude is not permitted. This distinction “insults the living prince (Hamlet) by ignoring his birth,” (Rosenbatt 351). As a result of this confusion, Hamlet wishes that Gertrude was never his mother by saying “you are the queen, your husband’s brother’s wife; / And – would it were not so! – you are my mother,” (Shakespeare 3.4 20-22).With that, King Hamlet's Life, crown, and queen are taken by Claudius, who has violated every token of his brother's identity,” and now Hamlet is seen as “illegitimate” (Rosenblatt 356). Thus, with hindsight Hamlet wishes that Gertude was never his mother in the first place; this religiously driven outrage is prominent with his revenge starting with his mother. 

As a result of Hamlet’s religious outrage towards this unorthodox “incestuous” marriage his view of women has changed drastically, which is reflected in his and Ophelia’s relationship. Before discussing the nature of Claudius’ and Gertrude’s relationship with the Ghost, Hamlet tries to give Ophelia gifts and develops a relationship with her, but after this meeting Hamlet changes his opinion of her because he changes his opinion of all women, starting with his mother (Alsaif 133). Hamlet infamously lashes out at Ophelia, saying, 

“Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a /

breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent /

honest; but yet I could accuse me of such things /

that it were better my mother had not borne me,” (Shakespeare, 3.1. 121-124). 

The mention of his mother at the end brings forward these hateful feelings mingled with revenge. It may be that “his mother’s betrayal of his father, evidenced by her marriage to Claudius, has made him lose trust in women in general,”; he could have even decided to be celibate due to his negative association with sex brought upon by Gertrude (Alsaif 133). Hamlets relationship with women and sex has changed negatively, adding more pessimistic feelings, internal turmoil, extracting more desire for revenge. How he treats Ophelia emphasizes this.

Furthermore, Hamlet's unnatural villainy is also fueled by the political corruption that would be present with the union of Claudius and Gertrude. He believes that they, as a couple, will be the destruction of Denmark. This is firstly present in the Ghosts exclamation that “let the royal bed of Denmark be / a couch for luxury and damned incest” (Shakespeare 1.5 82-83). Hamlet idolizes the ghost, as it is the ghost of his dead father, and takes his words and plea for revenge for fact, cascading into the entire play. Hamlet also mentions that Claudius and Gertrude having sex will make Denmarks order corrupt. He, rather graphically, says to his mother in Act 3 Scene 4, “Nay, but to live / In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, / Stewed in corruption, honeying and making love / Over the nasty sty!” (Shakespeare).

The connection between political corruption and marriage is also shown in Act I, scene 4 with Marceluus saying that there is something “rotten” in Denmark (67). This shows the connection  to the Elizabethan idea that the “health of the nation is connected to the legitimacy and purity of the throne (Anderson Para. 6). The idea of corruption and not having a solid foundation for Denmark harms Hamlet, driving home the point of disgust towards Gertrude in a way that a son should not feel to his mother. The moral outrage of corruption mixed with the lust-ridden ideals surrounding their “incestual” marriage prompts Hamlet to exact revenge for more than just himself.

Hamlet’s revenge-plot is the basis of the whole story and Gertrude is at the centerfold. Her actions have had blatant disregard for her son, driving him to be a scheming, malevolent, sexist being. This mixed with his Oedipus Complex, as well as religious and governmental views drives Hamlet to commit disastrous acts, harming all in his way, as he is harmed himself, leaving him seeing himself as illegitimate and disgusted with his mother.

Access the full essay here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZrymhfDx0CdqGH-MmLyLq3eDjavv2n6JDImHVH3ttCk/edit?usp=sharing

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