Effects of Parental Relationships on Children as Exemplified by HamletFamilies are the essential parts of the relationships we form in the later years of our lives. If we receive unconditional love from those we care about most, we learn to trust others and their love for us. However, if we do not receive appropriate attention, we may come to believe that we are incapable of being loved or loving others. These kinds of procedures within a home can lead to a child having troubling consequences throughout their life. Just as important as the relationship they have with us is the relationship between the mother and father that we grew up observing. Parents must maintain a healthy relationship to prevent their children from forming a distorted image of love and trust. After Hamlet's experience with his mother's incestuous remarriage to Claudius, he no longer considers love to be a pleasant feeling. Gertrude exclaims over the exact reason for her son's apparent madness when, in response to Claudius' proclamation that Polonius knows the origin, she exclaims: "I doubt whether it is anything but the principal, / The death of his father and his hasty marriage. (II. ii. 59-60). This quick and incestuous marriage suggests to Hamlet "the impermanence of human affection as well as of life, and it also forces him, less obviously, to think of the violation of the union which gave him his own life and its being. (Scott 110). He learns from this event that love is nothing more than a passing emotion, without any meaning. This attitude toward love carries over into his treatment of Ophelia. Hamlet's exclamation: "Fragility, thy name is woman!" (I. ii. 152) applies in his mind, not only to Gertrude, but now also to Ophelia. ...... middle of paper ...... in others after gaining a firm sense of one's own identity, saying: "Only when identity formation is well underway that true intimacy” which is in reality a counterpoint as well as a fusion of identities “is possible”. (Staal 27). Although not all divorce cases end this way, it is more than likely that most will. It is a difficult experience to which children must adapt and compensate through their behavior. The same is true for Hamlet regarding Gertrude's quick remarriage to the murderer of her recently deceased husband. His actions have an effect on his son's way of thinking and ultimately his way of acting throughout the play. Love and trust are the two most difficult emotions for children to rebuild in these situations after a complicated experience. Therefore, to protect their children, parents must always maintain a healthy and cordial relationship..