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Queen Gertrude Confronts Her Sins

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Queen Gertrude Confronts Her Sins

- “Oh, what a tangled web we weave. When first we practise to deceive!”

Gertrude’s ambiguous personality has been dissected in a numerous ways by generations of readers, but those who read Shakespeare’s Hamlet unanimously agree upon her morally frail and fickle nature. In the play’s opening scenes, Queen Gertrude is presented as a victim of her own moral missteps and lapse of judgment. Upon hearing of the death of her late husband, she appears indifferent and callous. She betrays both the late King Hamlet and her son through the incestuous act of marrying King Hamlet’s brother, Claudius. However, as the play progresses, a Gertrude’s pivotal encounter with Hamlet disintegrates the persona she has hidden behind for so long. By the conclusion of the play, Gertrude realizes the ramifications of the tangled web of lies she has wrought, shedding her mask of deception and betrayal to reveal her genuinely benevolent and kind nature. Further scrutiny of the three focal scenes involving Gertrude delve into the acknowledgement of her vices, and the actions she takes in order to abolish them.

When Act 1, Scene 2 begins, the audience is aware of King Hamlet’s death and the stage is set for the introduction of the play’s primary characters, the freshly-minted King Claudius, the sartorial Queen Gertrude and her grieving son, Hamlet. In an ensuing discussion between the three, the queen sheds few tears over King Hamlet’s death, brushing off Hamlet’s lengthy lamentation of his father’s passing. “Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off/ And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark (Act 1, Scene 2)” she chides, urging him to wipe his tears and act like the regal prince she wants him to be. As Hamlet further bemoans his father’s unexpected death, she is dismissive, “Do not for ever with thy vailed lids/ Seek for thy noble

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