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Writing Contest 2009
Criticism Winner
Bethany Walker
Clackamas Community College
Women of Hamlet: Ophelia and Queen Gertrude
The two women in Hamlet’s life each impact his choices and tone in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet. One is his lover, while the other one is his own mother. The one obvious connection between these two women is Hamlet himself. Throughout the play, both long for his affection. Shakespeare writes of these women in obvious forms, but the subtext convinces readers the relationship between Ophelia and the Queen is more than meets the eye.
Ophelia was Hamlet’s lover, and to some critics she was "Queen Gertrude’s threat to every role the Queen possessed, including the throne" (Loberg 64). Throughout the play, she is discouraged by both her father and brother of the continuation of seeing Hamlet. She is in constant turmoil throughout the play because she loves Hamlet, but does not want to disobey her father’s wishes. One Shakespearean critic even writes, "Of all the characters in Hamlet, Ophelia is most persistently presented in terms of symbolic meanings" (Showalter 77).
Everything about Ophelia models the Elizabethans’ definition of femininity, including her death by drowning. Drowning, according to phenomenologist Gaston Bachelard, "becomes the truly feminine leash in the dramas of literature and life, one which is a beautiful immersion and submersion in the female element. Water is the profound and organic symbol of the liquid woman whose eyes are so easily drowned in tears, as her body is the repository of blood, amniotic fluid, and milk" (Showalter 77). Bachelard also writes how even when a man starts to cry, he is exploring his femininity because the tears represent femininity (Showalter 77).
Queen Gertrude is seen as the perfect mother and wife, while others see her as nothing but a murderer and selfish being. She is seen to be the perfect mother and wife because of how she protected Hamlet and Claudius throughout the play, but in reality she was protecting herself. Women in this time period protected their roles by their relationships with men. She married Claudius only to secure her "roles as wife, mother, and queen of Denmark" (Loberg 64). Women in patriarchal societies created their own secret "aggressive ways" to defend themselves without making it obvious to others (Loberg 64).
As previously stated, Ophelia was a threat to Queen Gertrude. She threatened Queen Gertrude’s role as mother, wife, and queen. In Act 3 scene 2, the Queen is asked to leave while Ophelia partakes in the trap set for Hamlet created by the King and Polonius. Loberg writes that this very incident undermines the Queen’s authority because the maiden was in more control than the Queen. Even the dialect that was given by the Queen to Ophelia, critics argue, is somewhat aggressive because the Queen acknowledged Ophelia just as she was leaving. One critic writes, "adult women target and shun other women most often for violating patriarchal group norms" (Loberg 65). Nowhere else in the scene does the Queen even hint the presence of Ophelia.
Ophelia also endangered the royal throne of Denmark. The Queen finds out that Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, is clandestinely coming from France to Denmark to seek revenge after the murder of his father, Polonius. If Laertes revenges his father’s death and Claudius is no longer king, Gertrude would no longer be queen. Ophelia, in return would be heir to the throne because of her brother.
Signs of the Queen’s aggression is self evident all the way through Hamlet. She showed physical and vocal aggression in this play. Physical aggression from the Queen is found in the scene when Laertes arrives to Denmark and demands to see his father. The King says, "Let him [Laertes] go Gertrude" (4.5 120). One can infer that she had physically withheld Laertes. The sudden outburst of the Queen when the crowd gathers exclaiming that Laertes shall be king is another example of these aggressive antics from the Queen. She calls all the people false Danish dogs (4.5 107-108). Whether it was physical or vocal aggression, the Queen made it evident that she was not just the sweet innocent Queen that some made her appear to be.
The aggressions and the obvious threats Ophelia possessed toward the Queen make the assumption that Queen Gertrude could have murdered Ophelia. The last time readers read of the Queen is when Laertes arrived to the castle and sought to see his father. The next time the Queen enters in the play is to tell the King and Laertes of Ophelia’s death. The Queen was the first to speak of Ophelia’s drowning and no previous dialogues were read in the play that gives readers the conclusion of how Queen Gertrude found out about Ophelia’s death. If in fact, a servant had given the news to the Queen, logically the King would have known first. The King was always the first to know everything before the Queen. Queen Gertrude showed the signs of aggression and had the motive (Loberg 63).
The last scene could also persuade someone to believe that Queen Gertrude could have killed Ophelia. One reads that every main character, including the Queen, except two was killed by means of poison. The main characters that do die are the male killers in the play. Coincidentally, the Queen dies amongst these male killers. Not only did her death among the killers suggest her role in Ophelia’s death, but also the poison itself. A Francis E. Dolan did research on the Elizabethan legal records and propaganda and found that poisoning was "the early modern housewife’s method of choice" (Loberg 61). The death of the Queen and the poison itself are both evidence of the Queen’s participation in Ophelia’s death.
The obvious commonality between Ophelia and Queen Gertrude was Hamlet, but many critics believe that the death of Ophelia is a hidden commonality between the two women. Ophelia was the icon for femininity and held many threats against the Queen. The Queen, however, is seen by some by being nothing but a protective mother and wife. Some see her as nothing but a vicious murderer who is protecting no one but herself. Throughout the play she gives readers reasons to believe that she could have murdered Ophelia. Whether it be by a simple word or action taken out of context, the thought of the Queen murdering Ophelia has been and will continue to be an argument between readers of Hamlet.