Hamlet vs. Queen Gertrude

     A tragedy affects everyone in some way. People have different reactions and problems they have to work through. Hamlet and Queen Gertrude face the death of King Hamlet. A good father, a loving husband and a great king was lost when he fell to the hands of his brother Claudius. Although Hamlet and Gertrude suffer the same tragedy, their handling of the situation is anything but the similar.
     After King Hamlet's death, Gertrude spent the rest of her life deceiving herself. She married his brother, Claudius, perhaps believing that she could live life close to the way it was before. She may have thought that Claudius would remind her of King Hamlet or the marriage may have been out of convenience. Either way, she tried her best to move on. She even urged Hamlet to accept his father's death as something normal and insignificant. The queen dealt with arising problems with ignorance. For example, when Polonius died, his daughter, Ophelia, went insane. Gertrude refused to talk to her until Horatio and a gentleman told her of Ophelia's condition.
     The queen's traits consist of care and strong will. An instance of her care is found before she died. She warned Hamlet of the poisonous drink. Her last words were, "No, no the drink, the drink! O my dear Hamlet! The drink, the drink! I am poisoned" (99). She also protected King Claudius. When Polonius died, his son, Laertes, asked the king as to where his father's body was. Claudius, replying "Dead" (75), was followed by Gertrude saying "But not by him" (75). Her strong will was proved when she insistently said that she was going to drink the wine, not knowing at the time that it was poisoned. Her will is further evident in the suppressing of her emotions and trying to move on with life after her husband's death.
     Hamlet, on the other hand, grieved over the loss of his father. After seeing his father's ghost and with plenty of hesitation, he took action and fulfilled his father's wish of revenge. He resorted to acting crazy to get by with things and questioned life itself. He asked "Who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life but that the dread of something after death..." (45).
     His characteristics are composed of cleverness, craft, and determination. He also had some major anger issues. He was mad at his mother for marrying his uncle Claudius, he was absolutely livid at his uncle for killing his father, and he was very upset with his situation. He was very skilled at lacing sentences with sarcasm and wit. He would insult somebody and they wouldn't even know it.
     If Hamlet and Gertrude were to deal with their problems together, they might have kept each other in check and not let things get out of hand. It is a shame that they didn't feel comfortable enough to trust the other to what they were going through. This lack of trust resulted in a down ward spiral of their lives.