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Gertrude Betrayal In Hamlet

1108 Words5 Pages

In the play “Hamlet”(1603), William Shakespeare emphasizes the acts of betrayal to display the overall theme of the play. Mr. Shakespeare is able to imply this by creating two characters Gertrude and Hamlet to turn against each other in a family against family relationship throughout most of the play. Shakespeare’s purpose in this play is to show how betrayal produces conflict amongst individuals, in order to show how a relationship based off of betrayal is a source of deadly revenge for everyone around. Queen Gertrude betrays the family when she marries soon after her husband’s death, not only does she do that, but she marries her own husband's brother.This causes Hamlet a feeling of betrayal due to the fact that, he feels like his mother …show more content…

Queen Gertrude makes it seem like the king meant nothing to her when she states that, “She disrespects the king by saying that it is common for everyone to die, instead of having an apathetic tone in her voice, as a normal widow would, she causes more conflict between her and Hamlet.This causes conflict because she is acting unconcerned, proving that she has moved on so easily and she proves this by marrying so soon after her husband’s death. Hamlet sees this as an act of betrayal, considering that Gertrude seemed unphased of his father’s death, and she traded a rich pure love for one that is poor and weak. The Ghost tells Hamlet, “ O Hamlet, what a falling off was there! [f]rom me, whose love was that of dignity that it went hand in hand even with vow I made to her in marriage, and to decline [u]pon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor [t]o those of mine.” With this the ghost infuriates Hamlet even more as a result, he feels like his mother is mocking his dead father by going from a person who is rich and superior as him, onto a fool who has nothing to offer to her. Getrude betrays her family because instead of bringing them back into power she marries onto a man who brings nothing to the kingdom, but more

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