Gertrudes as Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

Gertrudes as Shakespeare Essay Where a twenty-first century audience would express sympathy for Hamlets loss and would understand his hesitation in taking vengeance, an Elizabethan audience would not sympathise towards him for avenging his fathers death, and would question why Hamlet is showing inaction. As Dori Ripley suggests, The church advocated Gods vengeance, while the state demanded justice through Gods chosen representative(s) (Ripley, 1), meaning it would be Hamlets duty to avenge his fathers death in the eyes of the Elizabethan Church, for Gods cause. Therefore, this would certainly contribute to Hamlets turmoil, with the added pressure to exact Gods vengeance on the wicked (Ripley, 2), and become King of Denmark. However, in the eighteenth century, Thomas Hanmer drew attention to Hamlets delay in avenging his fathers death, suggesting that Had Hamlet gone naturally to work there would have been an end of our play, meaning Shakespeares play would not have been as dramatic for his intended audience of his era. Ernest Jones suggests that Hamlet refrains from killing Claudius earlier in the play because he had already committed the deed Hamlet himself subconsciously wished to carry out; The long repressed desire to take his fathers place in his mothers affection is revealed in unconscious activity by the sight of someone usurping this place exactly as he himself had once longed to do (Jones, 99). This is evident in the play when Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius, however he decides to wait for when he is in thincestuous pleasure of his bed so he is guaranteed to suffer the same pain Hamlets father did when he was in purgatory. Eliminating his competition in the most torturous way suggests Hamlets hatred towards Claudius for marrying his mother. As an extension of this Hamlet is somewhat hostile to his mother throughout the play, shown through the language Shakespeare uses when Hamlet is alone with her. His anger towards his mothers sexuality is expressed, thus: O shame, where is thy blush? Rebellious hell, If thou canst mutine in a matrons bones, To flaming youth let virtue be as wax (3. 4. 82-4) Hamlet demands to know how young people can be expected to control their passions if mothers cannot control theirs. In the same scene, Hamlet pleads with Gertrude not to sleep with Claudius that night and to, Refrain tonight, And that shall lend a kind of easiness To the next abstinence (3. 4. 166-8) After that until she no longer wishes to sleep with Claudius. Whether this is right must be considered in psychoanalytic terms because abstinence stores up emotions that leads to a later emotional explosion. In the context of the play as a whole, this is symbolic because throughout Hamlet stores up his confusion, anxiety and turmoil until he explodes in the final scene, ending in death and destruction of the dynasty. Recent developments in Hamlet criticism suggest Hamlets attitude towards his mother can be explained in terms of Freudian psychoanalysis, in particular the Oedipus Complex where unconscious ideas and feelings centre round the wish to possess the parent of the opposite sex, and eliminate that of the same sex (Rycroft, 118), according to Charles Rycroft in A Critical Dictionary of Psychoanalysis. Although this is a modern theory which did not exist during the Shakespearean period, Shakespeare unconsciously reflects this possible interpretation of character in the play. Hamlet seeking to avenge his father by eliminating Claudius, his mothers husband, could be one of his motivations and subsequent causes of his emotional turmoil. His confusion is, therefore, redirected onto Ophelia who experiences Hamlets anguish. Rycroft also suggests that this is symbolised in Hamlet as persons who are fixated at the oedipal level that are mother-fixated or father-fixated reveal this by choosing sexual partners with obvious resemblances to their parents (Rycroft 119). However, Ophelias qualities are not representative of Gertrudes as Shakespeare suggests Gertrude tends to sexually dominate men in the play whereas Ophelia is obedient to them, suggesting she is vulnerable. Therefore, whether Rycrofts analysis is related to the play must be considered because it does not directly link to Hamlets situation, choosing to have a relationship with Ophelia because she resembles his mother he has sexual desires for. In Gertrude marrying Claudius, Hamlets jealousy is provoked, which eventually contributes to his rage when alone with his mother, You are queen, your husbands brothers wife. Here, Shakespeare shows Hamlets confusion within his complex situation, that his mother has become queen by incestuously marrying her husbands brother. Combined with Hamlets oedipal fantasy and his mothers new marriage, therefore, he is bound to show rage and confusion towards his mother and hostility towards her new partner. In conclusion, Hamlet is a character whose mind is in turmoil, which is subliminally presented through Shakespeares use of soliloquies. This turmoil could exist due to Hamlets life experiences, whether they were his fathers death or his mothers hasty marriage to his uncle, who murdered his father. These occurrences may have caused Hamlets confusion between mothers and lovers, his contemplation of suicide and his hostility towards others, resulting in catastrophe at the end of the play. An Elizabethan audience would not sympathise with Hamlets hostility towards other and his delay in taking vengeance and so could argue that his mind is in turmoil, the reason why he is inactive.