Question One
This paper focuses on Queen Gertrude , a character is who is not highly capitalized upon in the Hamlet. As is evident from the Hamlet , Queen Gertrude is highly emotional. She is affected by Ophelia’s death. The weariness of her heart is reflected in her words. She compares Ophelia to a precious flower. She is of the perspective that just is the life a flower or a weed comes to an end, the life of Ophelia so did. She explains the sadness that she has over the turn of events but explains that there is nothing that both Ophelia and she would do to make sure that Ophelia did not die. Despite the emotions that are demonstrated by Queen Gertrude is evident that she is not sincere and in some cases her mourning seems sarcastic. This is because she had resented the idea of her son Hamlet getting married to Ophelia(Shakespeare, 1961, p.33)
Considering that she had resented the idea of such a marriage, her words at Ophelia’s burial does not reflect sincerity but dire hypocrisy. Queen Gertrude’s insincerity is also reflected when she proceeds to marry King Claudius immediately after the death of her husband. This illustrates the fact that Queen Gertrude is not remorseful about the death of her husband. It is for this reason that Hamlet begins to become jealous of King Claudius. The actions of Queen Gertrude lead King Claudius to want to Kill Hamlet using poison. This scheme to kill Hamlet leads to the death of Queen Gertrude who accidentally takes the poison intended for Hamlet.
Question two
Appendix 1 : Oil on canvas painting by John Everett Millais
The painting of Ophelia John Everett Millais is created on a canvas. The painting shows Ophelia floating on a river a few moments before the lady drowns. This painting is based on the speech that Queen Gertrude gives at the burial of Ophelia. According to the speech that is given by Queen Gertrude, the lady fell into the river when she in the process of collecting some flowers. She was on top of a tree adjacent to a river before she fell off. The painting depicts Ophelia as calm and in the process of singing because she is not aware of the dangers that would face her in the river. As Gertrude explains, the lady dies after her garments are soaked in water and become heavy. The painting demonstrates the beauty of the sceneries and the flowers that surround the riverbed.
In addition, the painter captures the wideness of the garment and her open arms that illustrates her happiness as she sings the different melodies. This oil on canvas is a summary of a Gertrude’s speech and every fine detail that Gertrude talks about is brought out in the painting. In addition, to the summary of Gertrude’s paintings, the painter also makes the biblical illusions of martyrs. For example, Ophelia’s pose of having open arms and looking up is one of the qualities that have been portrayed of different saints that have been persecuted. The foliage of the adjacent land illustrates the beauty of the landscape and the richness of the ecosystem in Danish land. Therefore, I strongly agree with this painting because it is a clear pictorial representation of Act IV, Scene VI of the Hamlet Play. In addition, this pictorial representation depicts even the finer details of Queen Gertrude’s speech during the Ophelia’s funeral.
Question three
The podcast provides more insight and information regarding the plot. The asides before the play give more information to the audiences about what is happening in the play. For example, reading the play, it is difficult to at first understand that it is Claudius who is involved in the killing of Hamlet’s father. The action of marrying Gertrude could be interpreted as being an action of goodness as any other brother would do after the death of the brother. However, after the death of Hamlet’s father it is apparent that Queen Gertrude is very quick to get married to Hamlet’s uncle, an action that concerns Hamlet. He is not happy by his mother’s action to marry his uncle, but Gertrude is not moved by the concerns of his son. Gertrude forgets about here prior husband and decides to move on with Claudius(Hitt, 2013). Claudius is however concerned by the fact that Hamlet is not supportive of the idea of his mother marrying his uncle. It is for this reason that Claudius finds it prudent to eliminate Hamlet so as to counter this opposition. This brings out the idea that Claudius’ action to marry Hamlet’s mother is not genuine. Instead, it is based on his personal interests to rise to the throne. This also puts to question whether Claudius action of trying to kill Hamlet, shows that he has a responsibility in the killing of King Hamlet. It is through the podcast that the turn of events is clearer. The atrocities and motives of the characters are discussed before the play in the form of an aside.
References
Hitt, J. (2013). Act V | This American Life. Home | This American Life. Retrieved June 10, 2013, from http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/218/act-v
Shakespeare, W. (1945). Hamlet (Éd. bilingue ed.). New York: Pantheon Books.
