Sydney Hector
Jennifer Gatti
ENG-4UE
12 August 2014
A Dysfunctional Family
The bonds between a family members may be the making or the breaking of a person. A family nurtures one into the person that they will become. When the bond between two family members is unhealthy, there can be serious consequences. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, there is an example of an unhealthy relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet. Gertrude is guided by self-interest rather than motherhood while making decisions, and their relationship is more than an Oedipus complex, it’s incestuous. These two aspects of their relationship give Hamlet a general disgust and distrust towards women, including Gertrude. The relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude in Hamlet is extremely unhealthy.
Gertrude makes decisions based on what is good for her, not for Hamlet. She chooses to marry Claudius because it keeps her position of Queen safe. While making all of her decisions throughout the play the audience realizes that Gertrude thinks of herself before others. This is a bad trait to have because Hamlet is hurt by some of the decisions. When Gertrude asks Hamlet why he is so upset, Hamlet says

Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote me truly. These indeed “seem,”
For they are actions that a man might play.
But I have that within which passeth show,
These but the trappings and the suits of woe. (82-86)

Hamlet is upset at his mother because she married his uncle without thinking about what Hamlet wanted. He has grief because Gertrude made decisions based on what was best for her, which is not a good trait for a mother. Their relationship suffers because Gertrude thinks of herself always before anyone else.
The relationship between the Hamlet and his mother is incestuous. Hamlet has an unconscious desire to have sex with his mother, which is unhealthy and disgusting. Hamlet first reveals this desire in Act 3 Scene 4 when he says:

Not this, by no means, that I bid you do—
Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed,
Pinch wanton on your cheek, call you his mouse (185-187)

Hamlet is rude and talks to his mother in a way that no ordinary son would. He tells her not to have sex with his uncle and uses graphic terms throughout the scene. Hamlet is so descriptive and graphic because unconsciously, he is jealous of his uncle and wants to have sex with his mother. This incestuous desire is unhealthy for the two character’s relationship.

Hamlet holds a general distrust and disgust towards women. His original feelings towards his mother are projected onto all of the women in his life. Gertrude is a bad influence on Hamlet because he is unable to have a healthy relationship with a woman. Hamlet shows his disgust and distrust when he talks to Ophelia:

Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me. (123-126)

Hamlet is disgusted by Ophelia, and thinks that she will ‘breed sinners’ because she is a bad person. He cannot trust what she tells him, because Gertrude had betrayed all his trust. Hamlet’s unsound feelings towards Gertrude are projected onto Ophelia as well as the rest of the women around him.
The relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet is proven to be extremely unhealthy. The bad feelings that Hamlet has towards Gertrude are projected onto the women around him. Gertrude makes decisions based on self preservation rather than motherhood. Hamlet also has an unconscious desire to have sex with his mother. All of these factors are what make a family dysfunctional. The relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude is what lead to their individual deaths.

Work Cited
Primary source:
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Harold Jenkins. London: Methuen, 1982. Print.