Frailty in Shakespeare's Hamlet - Essay Example

Frailty in Hamlet. When Hamlet says; “Frailty, thy is woman”, (Act Scene 2, 146), he does not mean that all women are frail. He means that the trait of frailty is a feminine one. In this same speech, he refers to his mother, Gertrude, as frail because she has re-married in less than two months after the death of her first husband. The frailty here means the moral weakness of Gertrude. Hamlet compares his mother to an unweeded garden. She has fallen for her brother-in-law, who has always been present and nurtured his relationship with her like a seed. Hamlet questions her frailty as she seems to need to remarry even before proper mourning of his father, the great King Hamlet, is over. Gertrude clings to the former King Hamlet while he is alive. Gertrude’s son, also named Hamlet after his father, laments how quickly his mother clings to another. Gertrude is made out as a weak woman who constantly clings to a man. Hamlet thinks that Gertrude shows her fall into temptation for a man who is less worthy than his father. He compares his father to a great Hyperion, a man of enormous size, power and strength. King Hamlet’s brother Claudius, is compared to a satyr and unworthy to take the place of King Hamlet to become the new King. Claudius is also deemed unworthy to become the new husband of Gertrude. Hamlet is indignant that Gertrude marries within a month of his father’s funeral. He thinks that his mother commits incest by marrying her brother-in-law as the prevalent society views a brother-in-law as an equivalent to a brother. So Gertrude commits incest by marrying her brother. Hamlet says that; ‘“She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not nor it cannot come to good: But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue.”’ (Act 1, Scene 2). Hamlet is suspicious of the hasty marriage between his mother and uncle. He knows that it is treason to speak ill of the King and Queen so he is humbled into keeping silence. It is speculated that Claudius married Gertrude in order to become King of Denmark before the Crown Prince Hamlet can be crowned as the King. When Hamlet says; ““Frailty, thy name is woman”, he cannot mean that all women are frail because Ophelia is a strong woman. Ophelia shows her strength when Laertes, her brother, warns her against loving Prince Hamlet. (Act 1, Scene 3). Laertes says that since Hamlet is royalty, he has obligations which may hinder his relationship with a commoner like Ophelia. Ophelia takes it very well. She gives a like minded retort to Laertes to remind him to watch his own morality. However, the ease by which Ophelia gives up Hamlet may also be seen as her frailty because she lacks personal conviction to remain true to her affections. Ophelia is easily swayed in her patriarchal home when her father and brother give advice to her. She betrays Hamlet by showing his written correspondence to her father, Lord Polonius. Hamlet expected this frailty of Ophelia and he wrote his love poems and letters knowing that Ophelia would obey her father and show them to him. (Act 2, Scene 2). In this way, he sends his intended message to the King, Queen and Polonius indirectly through Ophelia. Ophelia shows her frailty in Act 3, Scene 1, when she agrees to pretend to accidentally meet up with Hamlet to allow her father and King Claudius to spy upon their conversation. Ophelia allows herself to be used and this shows her frailty of character again. Ophelia reminds Hamlet about his love letters but Hamlet denies them and feigns madness. Ophelia is unafraid to refute Hamlet’s claims that he did not send her letters. She is not cunning enough to suspect anything and persists in her confrontation. Hamlet is forced to recant his previous declarations of love to her. He does not say that she is frail in believing him but on the contrary, he honors her by saying; “You should not have believed me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not.” (Act 3, Scene 1). He says that her virtuous trait cannot influence his bad traits although he admires her. In Act 3, Scene 2, Hamlet watches the play that parodies King Hamlet, King Claudius and Queen Gertrude, while sitting at close proximity to Ophelia. He hints to her about the play but Ophelia is frail in intellect and does not understand his latent meaning. He hints that his mother is cheerful and does not mourn, considering it to be so soon after the death of his father; ‘“O God, your only jig-maker. What should a man do but be merry? for, look you, how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died within these two hours.”’ (Act 3, Scene 2). Hamlet chooses to sit with Ophelia because he wants to confide in her with veiled statements. She cannot understand him. In this scene, Ophelia is limited in her dialogue. She speaks single lines. After Hamlet rejected her in Act 3, Scene 2, she seems frail here because she is unable to make good conversation in response to his comments. Ophelia does not understand that the play is masque and an allegory that reflects on King Claudius and Queen Gertrude. In Act 4, Scene 5, Ophelia is described as being distracted and in a pitiful mood. She is frail now because she mourns the death of her father, Polonius. Ophelia is not so frail as to totally abandon her love for Hamlet. She does not blame Hamlet for accidentally killing her father because she knows that Polonius was hiding behind the curtain doing the eavesdropping work on behalf of King Claudius. Ophelia sings odes of lament and seeks redress for her father’s death. She says to Queen Gertrude; ‘“Say you? nay, pray you, mark.”’ (Act 4, Scene 5). Queen Gertrude understands what Ophelia has been saying as she feels guilty for Polonius’ death. Gertrude shows her conscience at work when initially, she tells the Gentleman servant that she refuses to speak to Ophelia. Ophelia knows that she is frail and cannot do anything for her deceased father. She warns that her brother, Laertes, will know of this death and hints that he will seek justice for this. In Act 4, Scene 5, Laertes returns and says that Ophelia is mad; ‘“By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight, Till our scale turn the beam.......”’ (Act 4, Scene 5). Laertes blames Ophelia for her frailty. He says that if she had persuaded King Claudius to take revenge on Hamlet for killing Polonius, her moral values would not have weighed upon her conscience thus to turn her mad. If Ophelia is truly frail and deficient in morality, she would not be singing mad songs. She may not be frail and she understands the grief of her father’s untimely death, which is why she sings her eulogies to honor the memory of her father. In Act 4, Scene 7, the characters learn that Ophelia has drowned herself. This shows her frailty. On the other hand, one can argue that since she has moral principles, she feels guilty for not prosecuting Hamlet for his sin of killing none less than her father. So Ophelia drowns herself out of shame. She is ashamed of her love for Hamlet over her love for her father. Ophelia, disregarding the debate on whether she was frail or not, is much loved by Laertes and Hamlet. When her body is lowered into her grave, Laertes cannot bear to part from his sister and jumps into her grave. Hamlet sees this and jumps in too. Hamlet declares that he loves Ophelia more than Laertes loves his sister. Hamlet does not want to be outdone in love and shows that he is willing to sacrifice himself in the same way that Laertes does. (Act 5, Scene 1). Hamlet hints that he has done a lot because of Ophelia. He mentions a list of his sacrifices; “Swounds, show me what thoult do: Woot weep? woot fight? woot fast? woot tear thyself? Woot drink up eisel? eat a crocodile? Ill dot.” (Act 5, Scene 1). This reminds the audience that Hamlet pretended to give up his love for Ophelia earlier in the play because he does not want to expose her to the treachery of King Claudius. He knew that Claudius and Polonius would make use of her to get to him so he told Ophelia to get to a nunnery. Ophelia was frail and did not understand the rationale behind Hamlet’s action. Ophelia drowned herself because she was frail and failed to understand Hamlet’s love for her. Queen Gertrude seems frail. She does not suspect any foul play in her first husband’s sudden death. She says that; ‘“Thou knowst tis common; all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity.”’ (Act 1, Scene 2). Hamlet has described his father as a healthy, strong man and not susceptible to sudden death. Hamlet is suspicious when his father suddenly dies. Queen Gertrude may be a frail woman who lacks the qualities to thinks and she accepts whatever befalls her. Gertrude seems frail and unable to form her own definite opinion. In Act 3, Scene 1, King Claudius and Lord Polonius wants to spy and eavesdrop on Hamlet’s conversation with Ophelia to determine his state of mind. Claudius asks Gertrude to leave them alone to do the work. Gertrude is frail because she leaves the analysis of her son Hamlet to his stepfather and uncle, Claudius. In Act 3, Scene 2, Hamlet stages a play as a masque with a story that uses an allegory to the current circumstances of the former King Hamlet, Claudius and Gertrude. When Hamlet asks his mother what she thinks about the play, she answers that; ‘“The lady protests too much, methinks.”’ (Act 3, Scene 2). Gertrude is frail in failing to see the allegory. She reflects her submissive nature in her statement. In Act 3, Scene 4, Gertrude exposes Polonius to danger by allowing him to hide behind the curtain when Hamlet speaks with her. She is frail in allowing Polonius to eavesdrop upon a private conversation with her son. When Hamlet accuses her of offending his biological father, Gertrude shows her frailty in failing to understand what Hamlet refers to. Hamlet tries to make her understand when he says that she should use a mirror to look into herself. Gertrude is frail and wildly accuses Hamlet of trying to murder her. Hamlet makes a speech to directly accuse her of her frailty in marrying Claudius and Gertrude finally admits her frailty. She says; ‘“O Hamlet, speak no more: Thou turnst mine eyes into my very soul; And there I see such black and grained spots As will not leave their tinct.”’ (Act 3, Scene 4). Gertrude shows no other remorse. She is frail and asks Hamlet what she should do. Hamlet predicts that she will reveal all to Claudius but Gertrude denies that. She lives up to her word in Act 4, Scene 1, when she tells Claudius that Hamlet is mad and killed Polonius when he mistook him for a rat. Gertrude tries to redeem herself by changing her frailty towards the issue of aiding her son Hamlet. In Act 4, Scene 5, Gertrude tells her gentleman servant that she does not wish to speak with Ophelia. By this, she shows her frailty in confronting the consequence of her action and also her guilty conscience in having a hand in Polonius’ death. It is only after the gentleman pleads on behalf of Ophelia that Gertrude consents to console Ophelia. Ophelia appears to be mad in her frailty but she is not too mad to realize that Gertrude has some responsibility in her father’s death. King Claudius realizes that Ophelia is frail and he orders his servant to keep an eye on her. It can be argued that Ophelia is not that frail for she manages to elude the servant and she chooses to drown herself. However, there is also a suggestion that Ophelia was allowed to drown herself while being witnessed by the servant. Queen Gertrude says that; ‘“Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes; As one incapable of her own distress, .......”’ (Act 4, Scene 7). Someone heard and saw what Ophelia was doing but did not prevent her drowning. Queen Gertrude thinks that Ophelia drowned herself because she was mad and does not examine the underlying reasons behind Ophelia’s insanity. Hamlet blames himself for being the cause of Ophelia’s death. Gertrude blames madness for Ophelia’s death. Gertrude is frail and does not analyze the theories behind each action or reaction. She accepts things at face value. Actually, the root of all the problems is Claudius. His murder of the former King Hamlet is the cause of this series of consequences in a chain reaction. In Act 5, Scene 2, Queen Gertrude is unaware that Claudius has poisoned Laertes’ sword and Hamlet’s cup. She picks up the poisoned cup intended for Hamlet and does not heed Claudius’ warning not to drink from that. She is frail and shows her stubborn behavior. She is frail in her dim wits as she does not think to wonder why Claudius has told her not to drink from the cup. She has killed herself in her refusal to act or recant her act even as she is told not to drink. Hamlet blames her for her muteness or passive participation in this act where Laertes, Gertrude, Claudius and himself all die. Ophelia was frail and she committed suicide. Gertrude was frail and killed herself with her indifference towards Claudius’ warning. Ophelia is the more tragic woman in this play. She dies over grief for her father and Prince Hamlet. Both Ophelia and Gertrude were used by men against Hamlet. Ophelia choose to take her life because she is not that frail to forget her bonds with her father. Gertrude is more frail in moral character because she forgets her former husband King Hamlet after his death. It seems Hamlet is the most frail in being the victim of circumstances by failing to act in time before all the tragic deaths happened. Works Cited. The Literature Network. Hamlet by William Shakespeare. 2000. The Literature Network. 14 Apr. 2007. < http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/hamlet/ >. Read More