2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)

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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
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