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Obligation And Loyalty In Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Within many of Shakespeare’s works, there is the present underlying theme of obligation and loyalty among the characters and their further ulterior motives. This sense of the dramatized issues of allegiance prevails as we observe the ways it makes and breaks these characters while they are continuously moulded by the different principles they are silently expected to follow. While allegiance is constantly embodied through rose lenses as an act of devotion, we are additionally made aware of the dangers that it can harbor due to its ability to twist from loyalty to something darker and far more sinister. What are the unspoken consequences of undying duty among its endless possibilities to conflict with one’s desires and well-being? The theme …show more content…

Before learning the truth, although Hamlet’s character was still very bothered by his mother’s quick marriage, murder never occurred in his mind until after his consultation with the ghost. When Hamlet begins to carry out his plan, he attempts to take proper precautions to ensure his victory by carefully planning about how his vengeance will play out as we see with his scheme to display an antic disposition and outwit his uncle with the “Mousetrap” play. However, Hamlet begins punishing himself for his procrastination and all of that carefulness is thrown away when he murders Polonius. This was out of character for Hamlet and the first sign of his mental corruption since he acted so impulsively killing Polonius compared to when he had the chance to kill Claudius when he was praying. Hamlet’s ideologies alter from the beginning of the play to the end, through contrasting the changes in Hamlet’s mindset, his rationality and obligation are overcome by …show more content…

Her character could even be seen to be one of the most at war when it regards where her true allegiances lie. One of the first conflicts of Gertrude’s character is the regal duty she must uphold being titled the queen of Denmark. Being one of the single people left in power to direct the future of the country, Gertrude is left to figure out the best solution for the people when Denmark is already so close to its ruin. Old Hamlet’s death already placed the kingdom in a state of vulnerability which is why a quick marriage for a new additional ruler was probably the best solution during their ongoing war. Unfortunately, with this comes the clash in obligation towards her old husband’s memory versus her duty to her new husband. Gertrude is expected to both mourn the deceased King Hamlet and support Claudius all within such a short timeframe whereas she is unable to do

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Throughout the play, Hamlet demonstrates a great amount of loyalty towards his father who had passed away all he wanted to do was bring peace to him in his afterlife. Hamlet was devastated when he had first found out that his father died all his emotion went towards his father. When he first finds out that the mother is re marrying again he felt that his mother was not being loyal to him whatsoever. One of Hamlets act of loyalty was his

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Queen Gertrude is the Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, the widow of Old Hamlet and the wife of Claudius, brother of her dead husband. Gertrude is ignorant and a woman who means no harm but because of her actions it contributes greatly to the terrible events that occur throughout the play. In this play there’s many conflicts, one of the first conflicts was when Gertrude married King Claudius two months after Old Hamlet’s death. Gertrude is ignorant because she’s not aware of anything happening. For example she’s not aware that King Hamlet’s murder was by his own brother Claudius, even though they were some hints out there to show that it was King Claudius who killed Old Hamlet.

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The main theme

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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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Also, Hamlet displays his anguish at the Queen for dishonouring his dead father since “Almost as bad, good mother, as killing a king and marrying his brother” (Shakespeare, pg. 121). In this statement, Hamlet expresses how, through the marriage to her husband’s murderer, Gertrude is a symbol of dishonor and damaging her relationship with the prince. Hamlet is disgusted by Gertrude’s actions and recognizes her not as his mother but the queen and wife of Claudius, the murderer. The respect revered by children to their mother is not evident between Hamlet and Gertrude. In Gertrude’s death scene, Hamlet screams to his mother “Wretched Queen, adieu!”

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In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare we see Several characters change and develop a lot throughout the play however one in particular that had an interesting way of thinking was Gertrude. Throughout the play the motif of appearance vs. reality shows up a lot. I fond gertrude to be a great advocate for this role because of the way her character changes so much within the novel . Gertrude appears to be this clueless unaware person but in reality I beg to differ. I find as though there was no way Gertrude had no idea of Claudius killing her former husband was a plan to take the position of King being able to have extreme power over the kingdom.

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Gertrude is Hamlet’s mother and the Queen of Denmark. When King Hamlet is murdered by Claudius, she didn 't seem to daunt her and shortly thereafter got married to Hamlet 's Uncle Claudius. This gives a suspense in this point of the play because it makes the audience think about if Gertrude had anything to do with the murder of her husband or if she helped plan the murder with Claudius. When Gertrude married the person that killed her husband, Hamlet takes it personal and she basically loses her son because he 's so upset with her.

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According to an article called, Hamlet-the Mona Lisa of Literature, “she is not good enough aesthetically, that is, bad enough psychologically” (Rose). As a mother she should have consulted how Hamlet was doing, what the average mother would do once a parent passes. Her absence is the cause of Hamlet’s madness. Instead of spending time with him, Gertrude is worried more about what her status would be. Distraught Hamlet was consumed by revenge towards his uncle, who became his greatest enemy and reason for living as told by his father’s ghost.

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Although it is quite clear that Gertrude is weak and reliant on Claudius to make her happy, she does not realize how much it has affected Hamlet. He does not only lose respect for his mother and his uncle, but begins to doubt his mother's prior love for his father. Overall, Gertrude demonstrates similar weakness traits to Ophelia by letting the men who surround her have a huge impact on the way the she

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Gertrude’s betrayal of her son was caused by Claudius, as he comforted her after her husband’s unfortunate demise, and later married her, this was betrayal to Hamlet because he had a very high opinion of his father and thought very little of his uncle, Hamlet said “-married with my uncle, / My father’s brother, but no more like my father / Then I to Hercules; within a month” [I, ii, 151-153] showing that he believes that his mother betrayed him and his father’s memory by marrying his uncle, it also

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Her dilemma of having to choose one man over the other is driving her to insanity because she can’t pick just one of them. Certainly she loves both of them or at least that’s what she thought, but Hamlet’s father is her true love while Claudius is the brother of her husband that just so happened to become king after his brother died. In short, she doesn’t know her true feelings for either person. Gertrude feels confused and overwhelmed by everything that just unfolded in front of her. It causes her an undesirable grief that she shouldn’t have had to deal

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Like many Shakespeare characters, Gertrude subversively breaks the molds of a woman in the Elizabethan era by having the same amount of ambition and greed as much as any other character, but the difference is she doesn’t have the luxury to outright show it. At the beginning of Hamlet, Claudius reveals that Gertrude and him have married. “Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, Th’ imperial jointress to this warlike state, Have we (as ’twere with a defeated joy, With an auspicious and a dropping eye, 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.

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Contextually, Gertrude is Hamlet's mother and the wife of Claudius, brother of her late husband. His stage presence is reduced because it appears that in nine out of twenty scenes and its appearance is often had to his royal status. In addition, Gertrude is a woman represented as being inert, does undertaking any real action during the play. Indeed, it does not come to the aid of his son Hamlet all throughout history and finds deleted before men dominate the work. Gertrude is a dependent character of men, especially Claudius.

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However, Hamlet soon discovers that Claudius has been lying to him, and Claudius’ real motive is to kill Hamlet in order to exterminate all possible threats to his reign. Claudius’ role play affects the entire country of Denmark, and he convinces the people that he is the rightful king, when he is not, and has murdered his brother for the throne. Gertrude, too, takes on a role; throughout the play, she seems oblivious to her wrongdoings. She claims that she loves Claudius, and did not just marry him for political reasons.

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Hamlet is stressed over his own father's murder, but he has to plan the right way to murder his Uncle Claudius. At one point, he thought he had finally murdered Claudius but it turned out to be Polonius, the chief counselor to the king . This murder only complicated things for Hamlet and caused him to be more confused about what to do with the situation. Shakespeare decided to depict Hamlet in a way that shows his flaws because it creates drama in the play.

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