-
Essay / Comparison of Gertrude and Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet
A comparison of Gertrude and Ophelia in HamletThe Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet features two female characters in lead roles, Ophelia and Gertrude. They are similar in many ways. This essay aims to enlighten the reader on their resemblance or similarity. It is evident that Gertrude and Ophelia are both motivated by love and a desire for quiet family harmony among the members of their society in Elsinore. Out of love for her son, Gertrude advises: “Dear Hamlet, cast off your nocturnal color, and let your eye be like a friend on Denmark. Do not always look, with your veiled eyelids, for your noble father in the dust. (1.2) Likewise, she asks the prince to stay with the family: “Let not your mother lose her prayers, Hamlet, / I pray you to stay with us, not to go to Wittenberg. » Later, when the hero's alleged "madness" becomes the great concern, Gertrude lovingly sides with her husband in analyzing her son's condition: "I doubt that it is anything other than the main , / The death of his father and our hasty marriage. " She confides to Ophélie her thoughts of family support: "And for your part, Ophélie, I wish / That your good beauties are the happy cause / Of Hamlet's madness", thus attempting to maintain a romantic relationship with the court maid. , even if the latter belongs to a lower social stratum. When Claudius asks Gertrude: “Sweet Gertrude, leave us too; / For we have sent for Hamlet here closely,” Gertrude replies submissively, “I will obey you.” » Family love is Gertrude's first priority. When, during the presentation of The Mousetrap, she makes a request to her son: "Come here, my dear Hamlet, sit near me", and he...... middle of paper ... ...literature ossuary Terms. 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999. Boklund, Gunnar. "Hamlet." Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1965. Burton, Philip. "Hamlet." The only voice. New York: The Dial Press, 1970. N. pag. http://www.freehomepages.com/hamlet/other/burton-hamlet.htmColeridge, Samuel Taylor. Lectures and notes on Shakspere and other English poets. London: George Bell and Sons, 1904. p. 342-368. http://ds.dial.pipex.com/thomas_larque/ham1-col.htmKermode, Frank. "Hamlet." The Shakespeare by the River. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974. Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Hamlet, prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line number.