Gertrude: The Tragic Heroine of Shakespeares Hamlet Essay example -- G

Gertrude The Tragic Heroine of critical point Hamlet is perhaps English literatures most ren stimulateed play a masterwork by the greatest of both masters, Shakespeare, from its very appearance Hamlet has not ceased to delight audiences and confound spectators. The complexness of the main character, prince Hamlet, is so vast that all(a) who have attempted to decipher his character fulsomely have failed. Amidst his admit grandeur, Hamlet makes the other characters pale. As they blur into literary oblivion ascribable to the magnetism of the central character, other characters are often disregarded as champion-dimensional and are not done sufficient justice. Gertrude, victim of Hamlets sour verbal abuse, is often seen through the bitter eyes of her son and hence her true character is seldom recognized. However, Shakespeare, incapable of mediocrity, instilled in Gertrude more complexity than unanalyzable analysis might yield. He bestowed her the appearance of an unscrupulous cle aning lady, one for whom shame is a stranger and who acts guided solely by her sensual desires furthermore, she gives signs of being a frivolous queen, one who occupies her mind in simple contemplations, and for whom profound matters are inaccessible. Finally, he made her seem an insensitive set out incapable of empathy for her sons grief and oblivious to true sensibility. Nonetheless, it is Gertrudes desire for reconcilement and her need to keep off conflict that make her appear an unscrupulous woman, a frivolous milksop and an insensitive mother. Certainly the most widespread opinion regarding Gertrude is that she is an unscrupulous woman however, it is her desire for reconcilement and her need to avoid conflict that make her appear unscrupulous. With all the force of his first soliloquy... ... tragic flaw was no other than the simple desire for reconcilement and her too human need to avoid conflict. In Hamlets own words, this seems the very essence of veracity, what a piec e of work is man how baronial in reason, how infinite in faculties and yet, how solitary and uncomprehended how quick to condemn, how loath to forgive and in doing so how like a Greek God, and how, so beautifully and fallibly human. Bibliography 1. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Folger Library. Edited by Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar Washington, Washington Square Press Publication, 1958. 2. Gertrude in Hamlet http//academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/critical.htmlmichelle_g Date accessed 02/25/2003) 3. Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespeares Gertrude. Shakespeare Online. 2000. http//www.shakespeare-online.com/gertrudechar.html (03/25/2003)