Hamlets Weakness In Hamlet - 1490 Words

â€Å"Frailty, thy name is woman!†(1.2.146). Frailty, according to OxfordDictionaries.com, means: â€Å"the condition of being weak and delicate,† and more specifically: â€Å"weakness in character or morals†. Hamlet, the main character, sees weakness in all women. In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, he expresses that women are merely weak and almost insignificant to the play, but it can be argued that the women are stronger and do have importance in the story, especially the Queen. She’s very intelligent when it comes to staying in her powerful position and how some manipulative fragments that move the play forward. Despite this, Hamlet sees the women as harlots because of his views on Ophelia and his mother, he even uses their sexuality as a weapon against†¦show more content†¦She moved on from the King Hamlet to King Claudius in a blink of an eye. What Hamlet and many readers fail to see is that Queen Gertrude doesn’t love Claudius, it truly seems that she only married him to keep her status and protect the things she cared for. Meaning that she wasn’t all that frail like Hamlet described her, she was really manipulating events in her favor. Actions like this were intelligent and beneficial for her in the time that she lived. The reason people see Gertrude as weak is most likely because of how she perishes. She commits suicide using a cup poisoned by King Claudius and meant to kill Hamlet. Some believe that she didn’t mean to commit suicide and it was just an accident, but there are reasons to believe that it was not a mishap. The text states: â€Å"The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet. Good madam. Gertrude, do not drink that. I will, my lord. I pray you, pardon me,†(5.2.281-287). This is right before Gertrude causes her death. It can be perceived that Gertrude knew about the poisonous cup because why would she suddenly disobey the King when she has followed his lead for the whole play le ading up to now. She even back talked him; back talking the King could have gotten Gertrude her in trouble, but she did so carelessly like she knew she was going to die. Some may take Gertrude’s suicide as her showing weakness because she felt that she only had power over her â€Å"To be or not to be† as Hamlet puts it. Others feel itShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeares Hamlet964 Words   |  4 PagesWeakness is an inadequate or defective quality in ones character that negates their strength that is often accentuated by an unsatisfactory situation. In William Shakespeares Hamlet, a characters inability to overcome their weakness due to it being emphasized by their unfortunate circumstance results in their tragic downfall. This is illustrated through Hamlets over thinking, Claudiuss ambition, and Gertrudes naive persona. 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