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To What Extent do you feel that Gertrude is responsible for Hamlet's state of mind in the play so far?
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| Submitted: Tue Jan 27 2004
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Henry Bain To What Extent do you feel that Gertrude is responsible for Hamlet's state of mind in the play so far? One of the ambiguous themes in the play that is left widely to interpretation is the madness of Hamlet. Is he merely "mad in craft," or, has he actually degenerated into a nihilistic man, to whom "to be or not to be" is a central preoccupation? Hamlet is clearly angered by the marriage of his mother and his uncle so soon after his father's death. In Hamlet's first soliloquy he says: 'Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon gainst self slaughter' (1.2.131-2) Hamlet immediately tells us he wishes suicide was not a mortal sin. This, along with the rest of his soliloquy, shows the profound effect that the marriage of his mother and uncle has had upon him. He compares his mother...
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