Characterizing Queen Gertrude: A Conspirator of Claudius

Characterizing Queen Gertrude Of all the major characters in the play, Queen Gertrude is often the most neglected, perhaps because she is elusive throughout the entire play. In fact, of all the characters, hers raises the most questions: was she involved in her husband’s death? Was she a conspirator of Claudius? Did she understand the repercussions of remarrying her husband’s own brother? All throughout the play, Gertrude is portrayed as a shallow woman, who thinks only about her worldly comfort. In fact, in the analyses of Gertrude’s character, may believe that the only reason she remarried was so that she can maintain being queen, and the affection of the men of her life (Mabillard, 2008). She seems to be a weak character (Graf, 2013), never thinking deeply before making decisions, and always choosing the easiest option. Queen Gertrude is non-confrontational and seems to have an aversion for the truth. In Act IV, Scene V, Gertrude opens with the words “I will not speak to her” (Shakespeare, 2016) in...