sins. Of course, this far fetch idea may seem a bit too simple. But as Kenneth Muir states about the ghosts speech "taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against they mother aught. Leave her to heaven": Gertrude is to be left to the prickings of conscience; but the meaning of the first four words of this sentence is ambiguous. They could refer to Hamlet's attitude towards his mother, or they could have a more general application: he is to execute justice on Claudius, without allowing his own mind to become tainted with evil. (Shakespeare for Students 88)Mr. Muir indirectly applies the fact that maybe Gertrude's conscience is enough punishment for her, and that anything else would be too much. As for Gertrude's marriage status, remarriage after two months may be a short time. Not only was king Hamlet freshly buried when Gertrude remarried, but Gertrude married king Hamlet's brother. "but in Shakespeare's time, it was considered a form of incest for a widow to marry her brother-in-law" (Shakespeare's Characters for Students 90). Another aspect to look at is the play that Hamlet devised to catch Claudius. When the queen in the play professes her love for the king, Gertrude states "the lady doth protest too much, methinks" (III.ii.230). This now allows the reader to begin to believe that maybe her love for the late king was a false love and not true. That perhaps some perversity may have persuaded the queen to plot against the king. Furthermore, after the play in the Queen's closet, Hamlet goes to see Gertrude to talk to her and Gertrude decides to have Polonius hide in the curtains to eavesdrop, implicating the queen even further. Making it worse, "Critics generally regard Gertrude as weakwilled, highly dependent on Claudius and easily manipulated by him." (Shakespeare's Characters for Students 90). If Gertrude can be easily manipulated by Claudius, then she is just as guilty as he is. Although Gertrude's being gu...
