Explore the "loving mother-son" relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet, with focus on language.

                                                                                                                             Ramya

                                                                                                                             Sr. 4 D

Q.  Explore the “loving mother-son” relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet,  

      with focus on language.

Ans.        Very evident in Hamlet is the “loving mother-son” relationship between Queen Gertrude and Prince Hamlet. Their mutual affection for each other can be seen right from the first act when they address each other as “Good Hamlet” and “good mother”. This seems rather polite and formal but shows their deep underlying love for each other. However as the play progresses and Hamlet learns through the ghost of his father the truth about his uncle (whom his mother has married), the actual intensity of the mother-son relationship is brought out.

            This happens as Hamlet learns of his father’s murder. Our first impression of Hamlet sets the tone for the whole play. Even without Shakespeare providing an elaborate description of Hamlet's features, we can imagine his pale face, tousled hair, intense, brooding eyes. Dressed totally in black, Hamlet displays all the 'forms, moods and shapes of grief'.  His speech is punctuated with harsh sounding words and he repeats the ‘d’ sound often with words like “ dead, sullied, windy, dejected, denote”. This shows his extreme despair. Gertrude, as his mother, cannot help but notice Hamlet's outward appearance of mourning, but Hamlet makes it clear that the outward signs of grief do not come close to conveying how much sorrow he feels inside:

            Hamlet cannot forget his father, even when all those around him have resumed their merry lives, content to offer the occasional pacifying words of wisdom. The queen, considering she has lost a husband, offers up the rather awkward "Thou know'st tis common, all that lives must die/Passing through nature to eternity" (I.ii.71-2), Hamlet's antly, by the cold-hearted actions of his mother, who married her brother-in-law within a month of her husband's death. This act of treachery by Gertrude, whom Hamlet obviously loved greatly at one time, breaks the very foundation of Hamlet's being, and he tortures himself with memories of his late father's tenderness towards his mother: