2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)

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E n g l i s h queen’s defender. Of Gertrude’s critics, she says, “[T]hey fail to see Gertrude for the strong-minded, intelligent, succinct, and… sensible woman that she is” (202). She attributes the queen’s usual silence to brevity and conciseness rather than indecision. Heilbrun points out things said by Gertrude that she believes to be evidence of an independent mind. For example, Gertrude forms her own opinion when she tells the king the probable reasons for Hamlet’s distress: “I doubt it no other than the main, / His father’s death and our o’er-hasty marriage” (Ham. 2.2. 56- 57). Certainly that was a brave thing to say to her husband (203). Heilbrun also notes that the queen’s comment is “to the point,” a virtue for which Heilbrun praises Gertrude, calling the queen “independent” and “completely rational” (203). Seen from a modern perspective, a quiet woman such as Gertrude might be seen as wisely tactful and concise, but at the time the story Hamlet is set, most women were quiet. Quietness was neither the mark of prudence nor indecision. All noble women were simply expected to be both submissively discreet and respectfully silent. Heilbrun not only defends the queen’s stability and intellect, but she also defends her from accusations of adultery. Did the queen have a relationship with Claudius before her husband, Hamlet, died While speaking of his murderous brother, the ghost of Hamlet’s father does seem to condemn his wife as guilty of adultery: Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast, with wicked witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts— oh, wicked wit and gifts, that have the power so to seduce!—won to his shameful lust the will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. Oh, Hamlet, what a falling off was there! From me, whose love was of that dignity that it went hand in hand even with the vow I made to her in marriage, and to decline upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor to those of mine! (Ham. 1.5. 43-53) The Ghost reproves his wife for leaning on a much lesser man than he. He calls her a “most seeming-[emphasis added] virtuous queen.” Could this be anything less than condemnation The only way the queen can be excused is if we assume that the king is wrong. Heilbrun suggests that the ghost still thought 3 7 W r i t i n g A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
V o l u m e I V : F a l l 2 0 0 8 C o m p a r i n g C r i t i c s of Gertrude as his wife, though he was himself dead; to him, her marriage to Claudius was adulterous as well as incestuous (206). Another article, “Hamlet’s Mother,” written for the Shakespeare Quarterly,” by Baldwin Maxwell, brings a counter-argument to the position taken by Heilbrun. Like Heilbrun, Maxwell, too, makes note of the queen’s silence in the play, but states that the few lines she does speak are no more “‘concise and pithy’ than speech in dramatic verse normally is” (Maxwell 237). He adds that the few lines she has are composed chiefly of “misunderstandings” and “clichés” (237). On the subject of possible adultery with Claudius, Maxwell does not state a marked opinion: there is no sure way of knowing what happened between the king’s brother and wife before he died. Maxwell does, however, state that the queen’s present relationship with Claudius is enough to condemn her because he says that it cannot be seen as anything other than incestuous. Maxwell sees Gertrude as weakminded, giddy and incapable of making her own decisions. While Heilbrun praises Gertrude for admitting the mistake of her “o’er hasty marriage,” Maxwell disagrees saying that this speech brings more condemnation on the queen: Are we to assume from her mentioning only the hastiness of their marriage—a censurable indiscretion perhaps but no mortal sin— that Gertrude failed to realize that her marriage to Claudius, no matter when performed, must bear the graver stain of incest As she is at the time alone with the King, I think we must so assume. She hardly reveals here ‘a talent for seeing the essence of every situation presented before her eyes.’ (Maxwell 240) Not only does he hold the queen guilty of a black sin, he also sees her as stupid and shallow for not recognizing her sin. Maxwell goes so far as to mock Heilbrun for naming the queen “sensible” and “intelligent.” He seems to be saying, “Sensible Give me a break!” Views such as Heilbrun’s and Maxwell’s on the personality and character of Queen Gertrude are the dominant opposing views on the queen today. There is, however, another view that takes the story out of the realms of human weaknesses and strengths and into the realm of myth and legend. This view, asserted by Manuel Aguirre in his article “Life, Crown, and 3 8
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2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)

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