Indeed, Mechtild and Gertrude's tragedy is compounded by Gertrude's decision to drink the vial of poison she finds in Claudius's possession just after killing him. (Which means that in the film, she dies the same way she does in Shakespeare's play—but this time by her own choice.)
Gertrude and genre
She wilfully disobeys Claudius by drinking the poisoned wine.
In Laurence Olivier's film adaptation of Hamlet, Gertrude drinks knowingly, presumably to save her son from certain death. If she drinks on purpose, then she's the self-sacrificing mother Hamlet has always wanted her to be.
Other scholars, like Pragati Das in “Shakespeare's Representation of Women in his Tragedies,” agree that Gertrude is not murderous, but simply selfish, shallow, and addicted to pleasure.
Act 5, Scene 2 | myShakespeare.
Claudius assures Gertrude that, "Our son shall win." Gertrude agrees. She takes Hamlet's wine, wipes his brow, and offers him a drink, which he refuses. She then toasts her son. Claudius asks her not to drink, but she does and then wipes Hamlet's brow one more time.
Although Gertrude seems to be a villain, she turns into a victim that leads to her demise. To begin, Gertrude is a victim because she is naive that eventually leads to her death. At the end of the play when Hamlet and Laertes are fencing, Gertrude unknowingly drinks the cup of wine filled with poison.
After the death of her husband, Queen Gertrude quickly marries Claudius, her late husband's brother. She demonstrates that she never did truly love her husband, but rather that she only wanted to remain in her powerful position and have a male figure to depend on.
Gertrude's Loyalty to Hamlet
Despite all that happens, Gertrude chooses to remain loyal to Hamlet. At the end of act three, he reveals to Gertrude that he is only mad in craft, not for real, and he askes her not to sleep with Claudius anymore.
Top Gertrude Quotes
Seek for thy noble father in the dust. Thou knowst 'tis common: all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity. This is the very coinage of your brain.
During the match, Claudius conspires with Laertes to kill Hamlet. They plan that Hamlet will die either on a poisoned rapier or with poisoned wine. The plans go awry when Gertrude unwittingly drinks from the poisoned cup and dies. Then both Laertes and Hamlet are wounded by the poisoned blade, and Laertes dies.
But other interpretations, in both stage productions and paintings, suggest Gertrude's guilty knowledge of the murder, and Hamlet suspects her as well as Claudius; Hamlet's "mousetrap" therefore sets out to capture the conscience of a king and a queen.
Poison symbolizes anything that is evil and harmful.
Gertrude dies on-stage, accidentally poisoned by Claudius. Laertes dies on-stage, stabbed by his own poisoned blade.
Gertrude and Claudius, a John Updike novel, serves as a prequel to the events of the play. It follows Gertrude from her wedding to King Hamlet, through an affair with Claudius, and its murderous results, until the very beginning of the play.
In Gertrude's room, Polonius hides behind a tapestry. Hamlet's entrance so alarms Gertrude that she cries out for help.
Gertrude shows as another prime example of a female that is submissive to the men in her life. Gertrude's love and obedience toward Claudius are shown throughout the play when she relentlessly stands by, supports, and obeys all of his requests.
Also, Gertrude reports Ophelia's death in one of the most lovely, poignant, poetic speeches in all of Shakespeare. She uses nature, water, and flower imagery to show how she is now free of the cruel human world.
In her relationship with Claudius, Gertrude is driven by her sexual needs, which is the physical representation of her inner corruption. His mother's betrayal leads him to believe that all women are disloyal and dishonest to their husbands.
Hamlet delays killing Claudius because Claudius represents Hamlet's innermost desires to sleep with his mother Gertrude.
He urges her as well not to reveal to Claudius that his madness has been an act. Gertrude, still shaken from Hamlet's furious condemnation of her, agrees to keep his secret.
Gertrude describes her love for Hamlet when she asks him not to return to Wittenberg. When she shares with Ophelia her hope that the young woman would have married her Hamlet, she divulges her wish for his happiness. However, she never declares any kind of emotion for Claudius, either positive or negative.
Gertrude is just a mother, trying to protect his son from being hurt. In the final scene of the play, Gertrude drinks the poisoned wine that Claudius has prepared for Hamlet.
Gertrude (also spelled Gertrud) is a female given name which is derived from Germanic roots that meant "spear" and "strength".
Gertrude (Gudrun) Hildebrandt Moller recalls her experience in school, when her teacher encouraged her to change her name so it was easier for other students to address her.