Shakespeares Hamlet - Comparing Ophelia and Gertrude :: comparison compare contrast essays

Hamlet Ophelia and Gertrude Ophelia and Gertrude. Two different women who seem to be trapped in thesame circumstances in relation to Hamlet. Gertrude, Hamlets mother and the Queen of Denmark. She is marital tothe present exponent, Claudius, who is suspected by Hamlet to have killed his father, queen regnant Hamlet, who alike happens to be Claudiuss brother. Gerturde has somehowended up in the plot of King Hamlets death and in the eyes of her son, seems tobe a monster and an adjutant bird to an adulterating deed. Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius who is the Kings trusted councilorand is later killed in the play and he forbids his daughter to see Hamletbecause of the possibility that he beseech her cry and her virginity. She trulyloves Hamlet and is devastated when he shuns her and pretends to be mad. Hamlets treatment towards these two women shapes and brings breeding totheir characters and eventually bring s an end to their characters as well. Gertrude is a considerate and lov ing mother. The kind that guards after her son done thick and through thin and loves unconditionally. Hamlet had suspectedher of aiding in the killing of King Hamlet. That exit be discussed later. Her character is the one character in the play that I believe does notdevelop but rather stays homogeneous to the scene in which she is introduced(Act I,scene II). She is shown to be a quiet, stand by your man type individual whois easily influenced. This is my belief because in the secondly scene of the play, Hamlet isshown to be crushed by his mothers hasty re spousal. If marriage within thefamily was common in the days of Shakespeare, then this is understandable, but,in any other case, this would be considered an act of betrayal that wasobviously brought on by some outside pressure, probably from Claudius. There is, however, a slight remove in her personality that is not quitenoticeable. At the end of the play, the King and Laertes(Poloniuss son) haveplotted to kill Hamlet for reas ons that are irrelevant to my point. wiz part ofthe plot was to have Hamlet drink out of a poisoned cup. It so happens that, insome confusion, the Queen ends up with the cup in her hand. Even after theKings warnings not to drink from the cup(she is unaware of the plot), she does.She does in have a go at it defiance of her husbands wishes. I have interpreted thisin this way because of the business line the Queen speaks before she drinks from the cup.