This essay seamlessly integrates AO1,AO2,AO3 and AO5 perfectly. This type of standard is sure to wow examiners as well as your teachers! Once you have exam technique locked in you are already 10 steps ahead of your peers. I just completed my A-levels and got an A* and you will too with these essays...
How far does Shakespeare present Gertrude as guilty in Act 3 Scene 4?
Shakespeare characterises Queen Gertrude as a vacillating and morally weak women in order to
expose how Claudius’ corruption penetrates not only the landscape of Elsinore but the soul of
Gertrude. The playwright illustrates this through olfactory imagery and the pictorial details of
the portraits in the play. He displays this corruption to be reflective of the violation of the
Divine Right of Kings, a notion often used by the Catholic Church throughout its history and also
to be reflective of the events that occurred during Mary Queen of Scots’ rule, who is said by
critics to be parralleled with the character of Gertrude as she, too, married the murderer of
her former husband. This essay will evaluate how far the olfactory and pictorial details properly
convey Gertrude’s guilt.
Shakespeare floods the play with symbolism of moral disintegration and imagery of corruption
as a result of Claudius’ sin and this moral decline is evident in Hamlet’s artful dialogue towards
Gertrude. Critic, Schmidtt claims that signs of Gertrude’s complicity cannot be dismissed within
the plot of the play. This complicity that he speaks of is likely not referencing her complicity in
the act of murder but her complicity in furthering the corruption that Claudius has already
triggered through his usurping sin. In Hamlet’s mind, the evil of the Queen’s incest is as bad as
Claudius’ sin which is hinted at by his constant reproach of the ‘incestuous marriage’. Hamlet
describes their marriage bed as being ‘stewed in corruption…making love over a nasty sty’. Altick
remarks that the ‘play may justly be said to be enveloped in an atmosphere of stench’ which is
reinforced by Shakespeare’s constant allusions to the rotting of flesh as a vivid way of
symbolising repugnant ideas, in this case how the sin of one man can cause a whole kingdom to
undergo symbolic destruction. The ‘sty’ that Hamlet mentions is obviously referencing the bed
which is highly significant because the overall semantics of disease and decay suggests the
dynamic and infectious quality of sin and further the fact that the process transforms the
beautiful human body into a horrid mass of corruption. However, most importantly the bed is
potentially suggestive of how newly wed couples consummate their marriage on the first night
with the expectation of conceiving a child but this combination of the corruption and the bed
shows how their consummation was productive, not of a baby but of the decay within Elsinore
which was commenced by the murder but solidified within the marriage. After Hamlet’s
outburst, Gertrude exclaims that his ‘words like daggers enter in {her} ears’, this is an indication
to the audience of her guilt conscience surfacing as she refuses to hear any more of what she
likely already had suspected but this guilt of inaction overwhelms her hence her plea. The simile
comparison of his words like ‘daggers’ convey a somewhat violent but obscure imagery in that the
daggers may be symbolic of Hamlet tearing down her superficial facade and forcing her to look
inward upon herself which she already begins to do as she ‘turn’st {her} eyes into {her} very soul’
and sees ‘black and grained spots’. This unpleasant description of her soul is repentant in a way
as she acknowledges her sin of adultery and her participation within the corruption of Elsinore.
The likening of the bed to a sty is also relevant to understanding how the marriage of Claudius
and Gertrude mirror the breakdown in religious cohesion during the reformation era. In Hamlet,
altars become a site of loss and replacement signalled by the wordplay of pigsty and altar. The
latin translation of altar is ara while the Latin translation of pigsty is hara. Part of the
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller olamideayeni. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $10.09. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
