Why Gertrude is the REAL villain of Shakespeare's Hamlet
By Abby Fletcher
I think we can all agree that the relationship between Hamlet and his mother can get quite awkward for everyone at times. Especially when some film adaptions of the popular play can hint at something more than just a little family love... Ya know what I mean?
But throughout the whole play, you can see the fact of Gertrude being cold towards her own son whom, as far as we know of, she gave birth to. In some of the scenes, she treats Hamlet-like just another sideshow and endangers him on multiple occasions. Like the time she "kept" his secret of him just pretending to be crazy, but if she would've told Claudius then Hamlet being shipped off to England, Ophelia dying, and the possibility of Hamlet actually going insane.
In the scene of Ophelia giving out her flowers, the columbines are definitely for Gertrude according to my theory, which is that she had an affair before all of this happened and I wouldn't be surprised if she manipulated Claudius to kill the past king and made him fall in love with her.
Taking these actions spiraled Gertrude and Hamlet's relationship into a horrid sight AND destroyed the whole kingdom of Denmark. Think about this... without Gertrude, no fights would have broken out, no one would have been killed, PLUS Claudius wouldn't be the king, and Hamlet wouldn't even be born, saving Ophelia from heartbreak and her life.
But there would also be a possibility that Fortinbras would have never been able to take over the throne, which I mean yeah is bad for him but like good for literally everyone else. For Hamlet, because he'd actually get to take the throne, for the Polonius clan (Laertes, Ophelia, and Polonius) since they would merely be considered as noblemen, and the other characters, saving them from having to deal with Hamlet's 'I'm only just PRETENDING to be crazy' plan... Which was stupid anyway. For those of you out there who think that Gertrude killed Ophelia then that's just another reason on why she's horrible, who kills their son's "friend with benefits"... I don't know what else to call it. Anyway, still, that's cruel and would have saved Hamlet's feelings later on down the road.
See people, life without Gertrude is so much better than the painful sorrow (lol Jk) that she asserts into the other characters lives. Without her everyone would be so much better off. AND THAT'S A FACT... see everyone's happy! Now here's the real question, IF you believe in anything after death, how would that be with all of them there? I guess we'll have to imagine them. :P
Them if Gertrude kept her nose out of everyone else's business --------------------------------------------->>>>>>>
Nice theory! I always wondered the same: If Gertrude is behind all of this more than we realize throughout the play.
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