Hamlet – the Character of GertrudeShakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, features ten male characters for every one female character. The only notable female characters are two: Ophelia, the sister of Laertes and the daughter of Polonius; and Gertrude, the queen and wife of Claudius and mother of Hamlet. This essay will explore the character, role and importance of Gertrude. Prince Hamlet initially appears in the play dressed in solemn black. His mother, Gertrude, is apparently troubled by this and asks him: Good Hamlet, cast away your nocturnal color, and let your eye be like a friend in Denmark. Do not always look with your veiled eyelids for your noble father in the dust. :You know it's common; everything that lives must die, passing through nature into eternity. (1.2) The queen obviously considers that her son's discouragement results from the disappearance of his father. She joins the king in requesting that Hamlet stay in Elsinore rather than return to Wittenberg to study. Respectfully, the son responds: “I will obey you as best I can, Madam. " Thus, from the beginning, the audience notes a decidedly good relationship between Gertrude and those around her in the drama, even though Hamlet's "mourning was a visible and public protest against the royal marriage, a protest in which he is completely alone, and in which he has hurt his mother” (Burton “Hamlet”). Hamlet's first monologue expresses his anger at the speed of his mother's marriage to Claudius, and at its incestuous nature since it is a family marriage: “Fragility, thy name is woman! . . . "When the ghost speaks privately to Hamlet, he learns not only of his father's murder, but also of the... middle of paper ...... the climax approaches, Osric invites Hamlet to a rapier contest with Laertes . During the match, Gertrude drinks from the cup poisoned by the king to kill Hamlet, she says: "The drink, the drink I am poisoned", words which motivate Laertes to confess that the king is behind the betrayal. He thus dies at the hands of Hamlet. Then Hamlet and Laertes die, wounded by the poisoned sword intended for Hamlet Thus, once again, Gertrude plays a central role, is crucial to the development of the plot WORKS CITED. Abrams, MH A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999. Burton, Philip. “Hamlet.” freehomepages.com/hamlet/other/burton-hamlet.htm No page. Jorgensen, Paul A. “Hamlet.”.