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Some critics have seen Gertrude as innocent, others as central to the evil in Hamlet - Using act 3 scene 4 as your starting point, how do you evaluate these views?
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Ben Campbell Word count 1597 Some critics have seen Gertrude as innocent, others as central to the evil in Hamlet. Using act 3 scene 4 as your starting point, how do you evaluate these views? It is tempting to condemn Gertrude as evil, but it is probably more sensible to consider her as weak and inconstant. But when have tragedy plays ever been sensible? Like many of Shakespeare's women it is argued that their characters are somewhat "sketched in" rather than drawn in with detail like for example, Hamlet's. The way Shakespeare has "sketched in" Gertrude's character leads an awful lot down to the way she is played on the stage. When reading the play Gertrude's character is enigmatic. This leads a lot down to personal interpretation upon reading the play. We also have to take the culture of that period in time into consideration when examining Gertrude's character. Act 3 scene 4...
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