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How Does Gertrude Present Women In Elizabethan Time

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“Women in her greatest perfection were made to serve and obey man” (Knox Cor 11). The people of the Elizabethan time period took this particular quote seriously. Gertrude in the Shakespeare play Hamlet represents how society views women as inferior. Gertrude throughout the play is subservient to her new husband, Claudius. This caused tension between her and her son, Hamlet, who was still grieving his late father. However, Gertrude’s hasty marriage was established due to the concerns widowed women had during this time period. How widowed women during the Elizabethan time were treated, the roles women played in the Elizabethan time, and how they were viewed greatly affected how Gertrude’s character was written and her actions in the play. Gertrude’s …show more content…

She likely did this because after her husband’s passing, her son would’ve become king, leading her to no longer be Queen of Denmark. By marrying Claudius, it allowed him to become king and her to remain queen. The swiftness of her marriage can be shown in the speech Claudius preforms following his brother’s funeral, “With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage / In equal scale weighing delight and dole) / Taken to wife. Nor have we herein barred / Your better wisdoms which have freely gone / With this affair along. For all, our thanks” (Shakespeare 1.2.12-16). Gertrude was quick to marry because in the 1600s, widowed women were looked down upon by society. Gertrude cared deeply about how others perceived her. This can be seen when Hamlet confronts her, she is deeply hurt by his words and tells him, “Oh, Hamlet speak no more! / Thou turn'st mine very eyes into my soul” (Shakespeare 3.4.80b-81). She struggles to accept that her marriage to Claudius is causing harm to her son because she doesn’t want him to see her as a bad mother. Gertrude uses her marriage with Claudius to keep her status, but is unable to acknowledge the damage it is doing to her …show more content…

Society’s view, and more specifically Shakespeare’s, impacts how Gertrude’s character is written and portrayed. Women were perceived as weaker emotionally and men felt they needed to protect themselves. In the article The life and Times of Queen Elizabeth I, Heather Shanette wrote, “Women were regarded as "the weaker sex", not just in terms of physical strength” (Shanette). Many times throughout the play Polonius, Hamlet, and Claudius tell Gertrude what to do or make decisions to protect her. An example of this is when Claudius tells Laertes, “The queen, his mother / Lives almost by his looks, and for myself / (My virtue or my plague, be it either which) / She's so conjunctive to my life and soul” (Shakespeare 4.7.11-15). Claudius chose to send Hamlet to England because, by his words, Gertrude would be heartbroken. He made the decision to protect Gertrude’s emotions. He believed that by prosecuting Hamlet for murdering Polonius, Gertrude would be inconsolable, therefore he made the decision to send him to England. Shakespeare wrote Gertrude as emotionally weak and someone who needed to be protected because that was how women were

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