Gertrude of Shakespeare’s Hamlet was a quiet, but complicated and misunderstood character. She was a misplaced cog in a broken, corrupt machine who never really quite fit, but she was neither good and needed nor bad and inhibiting. It seemed that everything she did, whether it be for her or her loved ones, was criticized, especially by her son Hamlet. And perhaps in sheer ignorance, or blatant apathy, she never addressed any of these critics or denied any rumors, such as the rumor that she was at play in the murder of her late-husband. As a matter of fact, she rarely addressed any of her feelings. Throughout the play, the audience is left to guess her intentions and thoughts because she did not give the mass of soliloquies that her son Hamlet did. But dissecting her lines and actions, we can assume that Gertrude was morally good because she was level-headed during the death of her husband, was okay with change, and knew when to speak up and when to let other talk. On the other hand, Gertrude can be seen as immoral because she showed next to no expressions of sympathy toward Hamlet’s grief period, spared no time to grieve the loss of her husband, and was eager to side with her new husband and king. Therefore, no clear statement about gertrude morality can be made, thus labeling her as morally ambiguous. Besides the fact that she cannot be labeled either extremes, she was specifically proven morally ambiguous because she shared aspects of both sides of the spectrum. This ambiguity was significant to the play because, due to lack of clear evidence, could not be blamed for any of the results of her behavior. She also used the fact that she was not seen as neither good nor bad to hide behind the shadow of ambiguity and do the most damage out of the entire royal family. Gertrude is never defined in this play as solely good or solely evil due to the fact that she does not