Hamlet | Blog Post #2

            It seems as though the point of Shakespeare's Hamlet, at least in Acts I-III, was to emphasize the power of love, grief, and the needs for sovereignty and  vengeance as they relate to and stem from one another in very complex ways, and also how royalty, money, and access to anything one wants cannot guarantee the happiness of all, though it can for some. Specifically for this play, I believe that the power of love was the outset of the play, as Hamlet's parents were so deeply in love and ultimately happy that it caused a sheer uncontrollable jealousy in Claudius, whose own need for that kind of love transformed into a need for sovereignty, when he realized that both true love and complete sovereignty could be achieved with one very difficult act and one simpler one: killing his brother and wedding the widowed queen. Both love and the need for sovereignty, in turn, created an insurmountable feeling of grief in Hamlet, which led to his ultimate need for vengeance on Claudius, from which all of his grief had stemmed. As for royalty, money, and access to all things wanted being the so-called way to eternal happiness, we are able to see the differences in the attitudes that they create in different people; Claudius had indeed found his eternal happiness, yet Hamlet is left questioning the worth of living.

            Gertrude, although she has a relatively minor speaking role within the play compared to other characters, remains an imperative part of the story as a whole and the point that I believe Shakespeare is trying to make. As just mentioned, I feel that Shakespeare emphasizes the power of love, grief, and the needs for sovereignty and vengeance. While I cannot say this definitely as I have only read Acts I-III, it does not seem as though Gertrude employs any of these attitudes and emotions. We know from Hamlet's recollections that was deeply in love with his father, the former King of Denmark, but Shakespeare never really delves into her and Claudius' relationship in terms of showcasing their love for one another. As far as grief goes, Hamlet speaks multiple times of how his mother was so quick to get over his father's death and succumb to the  offered affections of Claudius, therefore not experiencing the same magnitude of grief that Hamlet obviously did and still does. It is possible, however, that in the coming acts she may begin to express a more vengeful attitude comparable to that of Hamlet's if she learns the truth about Claudius murdering her late husband, and may even possibly aid in Hamlet's plot to kill Claudius. Other characters in the play at least show some semblance of these attitudes, such as Polonius and the many servants and their need for sovereignty showcased by waiting on Claudius hand and foot, Ophelia's struggle over Hamlet's love, Fortinbras' past need for sovereignty, and the Ghost of Hamlet's father's need for vengeance. The disparity in the attitudes of the other characters and the play as a whole versus Gertrude's attitudes are significant because although she does not display the same attitudes, she remains such an essential character to the plot of the play, because had she not married Claudius following  the death of her husband and Hamlet's father, Claudius would not have gotten what he wanted and it is therefore possible that the Ghost would not have felt the need to have his death so avenged and never contacted Hamlet to carry out this vengeance.  

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Act III, Scene IV, Lines 7-21

HAMLET: Now,  mother, what's the matter?

QUEEN: Hamlet, thou has thy father much offended.

HAMLET: Mother, you have my father much offended.

QUEEN: Come, come, you answer me with idle tongue.

HAMLET: Go, go, you question me with a wicked tongue.

QUEEN: Why, how, now Hamlet?

HAMLET: What's the matter now?

QUEEN: Have you forgot me?

HAMLET: No, by the rood, not so: You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife, And would it were not so, you are my mother.

QUEEN: Nay, then I'll set those to you that can speak.

HAMLET: Come, come, and sit you down. You shall not budge. You go not till I set you up a glass Where you may see the inmost part of you.

QUEEN: What will thou do? Thou wilt not murder me? Help, ho!

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         One can see how this dialogue between Gertrude (Queen) and Hamlet is crucial to understanding her and supports the thesis that her absence of love and grief that resulted in her marriage to Claudius is the root of the point. This is especially evident in lines 13-15: " No, by the rood, not so: You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife, And would it were not so, you are my mother."-- here we see just how betrayed Hamlet feels by his mother's lack of respect and grief for his father's death, so much so that he no longer wishes to be her son. The author makes it clear which attitudes belong to solely Gertrude and which ones belong to the play as a whole when he has Hamlet state in line 9  that she was the one who offended his father, not himself, alluding to the fact that Hamlet loved his father, grieved for his father, and now is trying to avenge his father's death, whereas Gertrude, while she loved his father, has done nothing to prove that following his death and is therefore unrepresentative of the attitudes of the play as a whole.