Gertrude is "a quiet, biddable, careful mother and wife… a compliant, loving, unimaginative woman whose only concern is pleasing others".

Hamlet is considered the most ambiguous of Shakespeare's plays, and Gertrude, though not nearly as ambiguous as Hamlet himself, nevertheless presents difficulties. When we are first greeted with her, the impression is that of someone who is exceedingly insensitive: for how else could she marry the dead king's brother but two months after his death? However, as the play goes on, this impression begins to make way to a more three-dimensional characterisation which makes it difficult not to forgive her for her actions, as they seem genuinely not to come from any malicious intent.

Gertrude is undoubtedly a sensual woman; that is, she follows all too quickly her lusts and appetites, thinking little of the consequences. This is evident in the fact that she married Claudius so soon after her husband's death. In her first appearance in Act I Scene ii, we find it hard to accept why she cannot understand her son's reaction. Indeed, the language that she uses betrays this insensitivity: after describing death as commonplace, she says “If it be / Why seems it so particular with thee?” (I. ii. 74-75) She seems blind to the fact that the word “seems” could generate suspicion in Hamlet. If death is natural, then surely she should see that grieving is just as natural, and, by extension, that she too should be grieving?

Another example of Gertrude's hasty desire for sensual pleasure comes in the final scene. Hamlet is offered a drink by Claudius, which he refuses and places on Gertrude's table. Despite Claudius's warnings to the contrary, she cannot help but drink from the poisoned goblet: just as in the too quick marriage to Claudius she does not consider the consequences but this time, in a final irony, she suffers directly as a result. This interpretation of her actions, however, is not without its difficulties. Before she drinks, she says “I will, my lord, I pray you pardon me.” (V. ii. 295) This may imply that she feels guilt for her actions and has decided to commit suicide. If this is true, it is nevertheless apt that she does so rashly: she dies as she has lived.

In the second act, in which Hamlet feigns madness, Gertrude and Claudius send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find out what it is that troubles him. Whereas the king's intentions are certainly devious, it seems less certain whether Gertrude's are. Certainly, when encouraging the two courtiers to speak to Hamlet, she appears slightly manipulative. First, she flatters them: “two men there is not living / To whom he more adheres” (II. ii. 20-21), after which she says “If it will please you / To show us so much gentry and good will…” (II. ii. 21-22), and implies that it would not be prudent to disobey her. However, this manipulation is slight and gentle, and seems only a means to what she hopes will be a good end. When compared to the cynical language of Claudius (e.g. “Well, we shall sift him.” (II. ii. 58)), which has menacing undertones, Gertrude appears very genuine.

Despite her faults, Gertrude is hardly evil, and she can indeed be seen as a “quiet, biddable, careful mother and wife.” Throughout the play she is torn between her son and her husband, and it is clear that this tension comes largely from her desire to please everyone. Her only immoral deed comes before the opening of the play (that is, the “o'erhasty marriage”) and during the course of the action her only role seems to be a keeper of the peace - caught as she is precariously between Hamlet and his adversary.

That she loves Hamlet dearly is very clear. Unlike Claudius she is genuinely concerned with Hamlet's well-being. After she and the king give Rosencrantz and Guildenstern their mission, upon seeing Hamlet she says, “But look where sadly the poor wretch comes reading” (II. ii. 168), and she seems genuinely distraught by what she sees. Gertrude's problem is that she is unable to see the problems beneath the surface. She is concerned only that everyone should get on with each other, but perhaps if she was able to understand the root causes of Hamlet's condition she might be able to help solve them. As it is, she is taken aback when Hamlet accuses her of murder, incest and adultery:

“thou turn'st my eyes into my very soul, / And there I see such black and grained spots / As will not leave their tinct” (III. iv. 90-92). This does not necessarily imply any involvement in or knowledge of the old king's murder, but nevertheless it shows that Gertrude is finally facing the horrible internal reality that she has persistently tried to cover up with white lies. Gertrude's world view is based solely around love and comfort, and is too idealistic to admit complexities that don't easily fit with this view. In Act III Scene i, she tells Ophelia she wishes “That your good beauties be the happy cause / Of Hamlet's wildness; so shall I hope your virtues / Will bring him to his wonted way again, / To both your honours” (39-42). Despite the fact that earlier on she says that Hamlet's condition is caused by “His father's death and our o'erhasty marriage” (II. ii. 57), she seems to cling on to the unrealistic idea that the issue can be resolved in such a simple manner. At Ophelia's funeral, Gertrude expresses little grief at her tragic death, but more regret that Hamlet and Ophelia did not get married: “I hop'd thou should'st have been my Hamlet's wife: / I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, / And not have strew'd thy grave” (V. i. 237-239).

To her, love is the answer to all problems.

It may be rather strong to call Gertrude a deceitful woman, or “vain and self-satisfied”. All the lies she tells are meant to be for the greater good, and not for her own advantage, and any signs of vanity are evidence only of her simplistic understanding of the world and not that she thinks herself superior to others. But one can hardly doubt that she is sensual and driven by strong sexual appetites. For someone who seems to place love at the centre of everything, it is rather strange that (assuming she loved King Hamlet) she should be so quick to marry Claudius. Judging by her attempts throughout the play to set Elsinore back in equilibrium and generally to spread love, this can only be explained if her lust for Claudius was so strong that she had temporarily forgotten her love of King Hamlet. However, during the play-within-the-play she responds to the Player Queen that “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” (III. ii. 236) and implies that it is not at all unusual for a widow to want to wed soon after her husband's death. Her strong sexual appetite and her desire for comfort seems to override her sensitivity to those around her and her awareness of how she is perceived.

But this does not mean that she does not care about others. On the contrary, she cares very much about others; it is just that she likes things to appear happy on the surface even if they are not necessarily so underneath. For example, she wants Hamlet and Ophelia to marry, even if it is unclear whether they are truly in love. This, however, is innocent and is exactly what makes her quiet, biddable and careful: she will not risk angering someone if it means further disrupting peace. As Bradley observes, “the belief at the bottom of her heart was that the world is a place constructed simply that people may be happy in it in a good-humoured sensual fashion.” (Shakespearean Tragedy, p. 141) It is this idealistic belief that blinds her to the reality of the situation and that explains her behaviour.

The other female character, Ophelia, is a possible love interest of Hamlet and a major reason for Laertes's desire for vengeance against Hamlet. Whether or not the women in the play represent Shakespeare's view of women in his time, they are certainly portrayed rather negatively and are shown as tools, weak, and disloyal and untrustworthy.

Although the two women in the play are major characters with major roles, particularly Gertrude as she is the Queen of Denmark, the men dominate their roles and use them as tools. This portrayal of women as tools is obvious with the character of Ophelia, as she is used as the key for her father success. In the play, Ophelia's father uses her to spy on Hamlet, the father apparently caring little for Ophelia's own desires. Her role as a spy begins with this: “I'll loose my daughter to him. Be you and I behind an arras then, mark the encounter” (Shakespeare II.ii.162-164).

As shown, Polonius, Ophelia's father, proposes to Claudius how they will catch Hamlet revealing his true emotions, by letting loose his daughter while Hamlet is present and then hiding behind a wall to overhear the conversation, for Polonius believes that Hamlet is mad because of his love for Ophelia. Polonius reveals in the quote that he does not seem to care for the emotions of his daughter and how this experience will affect her daughter, seeing as she truly loves Hamlet. He only sees her as tool to elevate his status, neglecting her feelings.

Other than being an instrument for spying on Hamlet and for elevating the status of her father, Ophelia has little other role in the play. Although Gertrude has a much larger role than Ophelia, the men use her as an instrument to benefit themselves. Claudius and Polonius also ask her to spy on Hamlet, and she does so, despite the fact that Hamlet is her own son. Additionally, Claudius uses her to fulfill his sexual desires and lusts. For both of the female characters, the men use them as instruments to fulfill their needs, adding to the overall negative portrayal of women in Hamlet.

Not only does Shakespeare portray the women in Hamlet as being tools to benefit the men, Shakespeare also shows them as weak and obedient towards the men. Both women in the play submit easily to the will of the men. Ophelia willingly and obediently submits to the desires of her father without any protest, despite the fact that her father may not even truly lover her and clearly has a preference towards her brother.

When her father tells her to stop her affair with Hamlet, she obeys. When her father tells her to spy on Hamlet, again, she obeys. Another sign of her weakness is shown in this quote: “She speaks much of her father, says she hears there's tricks i'th' world, and hems, and beats her heart… speaks things in doubt that carry but half sense” (IV.v.4-7). As the Gentleman says, she mourns greatly over and her father's death, so much that she has gone mad, though her father probably does not even truly love her.

This is a display of weakness in comparison to Laertes, her brother, who does not go mad or mourn nearly as much, even though his father shows more love him more. Gertrude is also subject to this portrayal of weakness, as she too seems to obediently give in to the demands of the men, despite having much authority seeing as she is the queen. She seems to easily give in to the demands of Claudius for marriage, despite Old Hamlet's death being only a month ago.

Not only that, she further gives in to his demands by spying on her son Hamlet and telling Claudius what happens: “In his lawless fit, behind the arras hearing something stir, whips out his rapier… and in this brainish apprehension kills the unseen good old man” (IV.i.8-12). Gertrude informs Claudius of Hamlet's murder of Polonius and in the process, betrays her own son, seeing as she makes a promise to Hamlet not to tell anyone.

The fact that she would betray her own son for a man she is married to for a only few months and who is not even the father of her son shows how weak she is, easily giving in to the commands of Claudius, and how men back then would practically control their wives. The author makes the weakness of the women clear in the play, and so are many other negative features of them.

Although this applies more to Gertrude than it does to Ophelia, the infidelity and untrustworthiness of woman in Hamlet is what prompted the protagonist to utter the famous line, “Frailty, thy name is woman” (I.ii.146). Disgusted with the swift marriage of his mother to his uncle only a month after the death of his father, Hamlet comes to the general conclusion that women are weak and disloyal.

Throughout the play, the women are portrayed as such. Beginning with Gertrude, it is quite surprising that she would go on to marry only after a month of being a widow, especially since she showers the late Old Hamlet with much love. Perhaps, she's tired of grieving over her dead husband and believes that Claudius could bring her entertainment, or perhaps Claudius is simply a very persuasive man. Whatever the reason may be, this comes to show that women in Shakespeare's time would probably jump from one thing to another once they are bored. To further show his contempt at women, Hamlet tells Ophelia, “Why, wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners… it were better my mother had not borne me” (III.i.121-124).

Although Hamlet also criticizes men, he calls unchaste women “a breeder of sinners” and wished that his mother had never born him at all. This quote almost makes it seem as if women are the source of evil. Although it cannot be said that Ophelia is disloyal, seeing as she never marries, it also seems as if the male characters cannot really trust her. One interesting fact is that whenever Gertrude or Ophelia spy on Hamlet, there always needs to be a man watching.

However, when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spy on Hamlet, there is no need for Polonius to peep at the scene. It seems as if Claudius and Polonius cannot trust the women to report the facts, but they easily trust the men. Whether or not Shakespeare has a distrust of women during his time, the men in Hamlet certainly do, and it obviously does not present a virtuous image of women.

Although women continue to make a large impact on the world, they do not seem to make as large as an impact in Shakespeare's time. As shown in Hamlet, Shakespeare portrays the two female characters as instruments for the men, weak, and disloyal.

It cannot be said that these portrayals truly represent the views of Shakespeare, seeing as little is known about the author and the women in Hamlet contrast sharply with Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, because she is shown as strong-willed, intelligent, and loyal to Romeo. But, it can certainly be said that portrayal of women in Hamlet is certainly what women are generally thought of during Shakespeare's time, as being there to simply fulfill the needs of men and carry on the human species. People do not view them as strong and independent beings with intelligent minds. Perhaps, this explains why Shakespeare chose to portray women as they are in Hamlet, to express the general opinion of women at the time.

It is not until the 19th Century with the feminist movement that people view women as equals of men. To a modern audience, the portrayal of women would certainly be criticized. Portraying them as weak and tools to fulfill the needs of men would garner negative responses even from men. Despite this, there is still a perception of women being disloyal and untrustworthy, even if that perception is not widely agreed upon.

Even in today's modern films, there is sometimes a stereotypical femme fatale, a beautiful woman that lures the hapless hero to achieving her end with her charm and beauty. Famous in James Bond films, it is still a negative stereotype that women have yet to battle. Perhaps, it will still be a while until woman will receive the portrayal they deserve.

I think that while Gertrude loves Claudius she still wants the best for her son. She dies of for him in the end and when she mourns Ophelia I can not help thinking that Gertrude hoped for Hamlet and Ophelia to be together so Hamlet would be happy. I think that Gertrude marries Claudius because she loved him before the murder. It is the only logical explanation I can find.

Gertrude could want power, could simply want to be queen but she does not strike me as that kind of person. She is emotionally frail and not particularly commanding. I can not see Gertrude marrying just to become queen. It is possible that she and Claudius fell in love after Hamlet senior's death but I doubt this based on the time line.

Getting married after seeing each other for only four months sounds like a very rushed marriage to me. The only way that they both know they want to spend the rest of there lives together is if they had thought about getting married before the kings death. She and Claudius having an affair is the only other explanation available. That being said however I do not think that Gertrude was in on Hamlet senior's murder. She seems too innocent in the closet scene and is too surprised by Hamlet's accusations.

I could see her participating if she avoided the issue in the closet scene but Gertrude does not try to dodge the topic of Hamlet senior's death. Gertrude does not strike me as a character who would murder anyone, much less there own husband. I think that Gertrude is too frail of a character for such actions. Gertrude feels guilt over marrying Claudius after learning of Claudius's actions against his brother however. I think this may prove that Claudius and Gertrude were having an affair as well.

Gertrude feels guilt after she learns what Claudius had done but not before. She was fine with marrying Claudius when her former husband had died of natural causes but when she realizes that Claudius killed his brother to gain the crown and her hand in marriage she feels guilty for betraying her husband for Claudius. Gertrude is greatly worried about Hamlet.

Unlike Claudius, Gertrude cares about Hamlet. While Claudius orders Hamlet executed Gertrude is trying to help her son, thinking that he is losing his mind. Gertrude is worried Hamlet is losing his mind and that Claudius is not taking care of Hamlet even though he says that he will. Gertrude is also worried about her son's love life with Ophelia. I think that Gertrude does like Ophelia since she says she hoped to one day see Ophelia and Hamlet married.

Gertrude also seems to despair that Ophelia is losing her mind. She uses the word alas several times when describing Ophelia and quickly grows quiet as Ophelia continues singing. She is greatly grieved that Ophelia has lost her mind. I think that this is because she liked Ophelia and that in the end she wanted to see Hamlet and Ophelia marry. Gertrude's love of Ophelia and Hamlet and her belief that they can be saved makes me think that Gertrude is a caring and kind person.

If I ignore Gertrude's actions with Claudius she strikes me as a good mother even if she is a little dull witted. However with her actions with Claudius I wonder how much her love with Claudius is real. Obviously she must love him if she marries him but I wonder if that marriage was forced somehow.

I think that one of the reasons Gertrude may care for Hamlet so much is the fact that she realizes she betrayed Hamlet seniors trust of her and that she can male it up by saving Hamlet.