Monday, April 19, 2010

Gertrude the Villain?

As I was skimming Hamlet to try to find a quotation that I could reflect upon, one in particular caught my eye. I think that Hamlet's reaction to the ghost's news and request that Hamlet seeks revenge is particularly interesting. The part of Hamlet's reaction that I would like to reflect on is as follows:

...................................Remember thee?
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. remember thee?
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there,
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain
Unmixed with baser matter. Yes, yes, by heaven.
O most pernicious woman!
O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables,
My tables--meet it is I set it down
That one may smile and smile and be a villain
At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark. (1.5.95-110)

One part that interested me was the end of this quotation, when Hamlet keeps repeating "villain". He seems to be referring to his mother as a "villain", because he states "O most pernicious woman!" (1.5.105) According to the OED, "pernicious" in this sense would have meant "intending or causing harm; villainous" (OED 2b). Hamlet seems to be indicating in two senses that a woman is a villain-whom I assume to be his mother. However, I have trouble picturing Gertrude as a villain. I don't agree with her decision to marry her late husband's brother, but as we discussed in class she probably didn't have much of a choice. There weren't any opportunities for Gertrude to make a living for herself on her own; it wasn't like she could have remained single and still lived in the castle. In order to continue to live in the same style, she had to remarry. But does this act make her a villain? I don't think so.

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