Prince Hamlet's Relationships with Gertrude and Ophelia

Introduction

Hamlet is a tragedy written by well-known William Shakespeare. It revolved around the main character that is Prince Hamlet of Denmark. Hamlet has to face the mysterious death of his father, his mother disloyalty who remarriage his uncle within a month of the Kings death and his abrupt broke up with the women he loved. Apart from Hamlet, other main characters of the story are Queen Gertrude who is the mother of Hamlet, Claudius who is his uncle and successor of the throne after the death of the King, Polonius who is Lord Chamberlain and Ophelia. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius, and she is in love with Hamlet. Enraged at her mother promptness to remarriage after his father, Hamlet developed a sense of hatred and mistrust on all women of the world. His generalization got a boost when the woman, with whom he is in love with, also betrayed him by following her father's orders. Among all the characters, the relationship of Hamlet with Queen Gertrude and Ophelia is of particular importance (Hamlet, 1909-14).

Discussion

Contemporary tradition advocates that the man treats all women in the same manner as he treats his mother. If this relationship is affected, it will also be reflected in his relationships with the rest of women in his life. William Shakespeare's Hamlet is a very fit example for this tradition. Due to Hamlets relationship with his mother, his relationship with his beloved Ophelia is also affected. It is not a good idea to analyze the relationship between Hamlets and Ophelia in isolation from Hamlets relationship with Gertrude.

Her mother's “o'er hasty marriage” (242) acted as a catalyst which shaped the future circumstances. It enrages, not only the King's Ghost, but also resulted in hamlets formulation of degraded view of status of women. Although it is not directly implied, but they play has provided enough grounds to establish that there must be some conspiracy which engages her and Claudius both in homicide of the King. She might be the reason for which Claudius killed his own brother.

One of the striking attribute of his personality, Hamlet is fond of making generalizations which is self evident in case of his relationship with her mother and later on with her beloved. He believed all women are the same. When he met his mother for the first time in the play, he resented her mother for marrying within a month of his father's death. He resented her because he believed that his father greatly loved her, and it would be a dishonor call to indulge in any nuptial celebrations. She has desecrated his late father's memories and committed an otherwise sin if she would not been a Queen(Wilson, 1951, 245).

His opinion of his mother deteriorated further, when he encountered the apparition of his father. The ghost told him not only about his uncle's unconscionable and shrewd murder but also his mother's disloyal conduct after the King was no more. After finding out the truth, he planned to ...