It is easy to view Hamlet’s mother Gertrude as ‘severely flawed’ due to the fact that she has married her late husband’s brother not two months after his death. This flaw manifests itself, as Rebecca Smith argues as ‘Gertrude’s main interest is pleasing men’ in her sexuality which would have been viewed as dangerous and unacceptable in a woman to a Jacobean audience. Hamlet views her betrayal as she moves from one husband to the next in quick succession as a reflection on her sexuality in his belief that ‘Frailty, thy name is woman’, presenting her to the audience as flawed in her interest in her sexuality that means she has no genuine love for any men, but only in whatever can satisfy her sexual appetite. The implication that she may have also been involved in her husband’s murder somehow also further indicates that Gertrude can be considered ‘severely flawed’, as she gladly takes her place at her new husband’s side without much regard to the one who died less then two months previously. However many interpretations of the play, such as that performed in 2018 at the Globe theatre convey Gertrude as truly horrified at the accusation Hamlet makes in the closet scene, “to kill a king”, and then endearing to her son in his attempts to overthrow her new husband suggesting that her ‘flaws’ may only be limited to her liberal sexuality and disregard for her late husband.
Similarly it can be argued that Ophelia is also ‘severely flawed’ for her female sexuality and the role she plays in the events that lead to Hamlet’s destruction. The Kenneth Branner film interpretation of Hamlet alludes to a sexual relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia prior to the beginning to the play which would label her with the same faults Gertrude is accused of having, namely not being as chaste as pure as was expected of women. Ophelia does her duty and willingly acts as bait to Hamlet while her father and the king attempt to uncover the cause of his madness, outright lying to him in claiming her father is “at home” when Hamlet demands to know where he is. Her however unwilling manipulations of Hamlet in trying to get him to reveal his secrets ultimately contribute to the decision to send Hamlet to England and the corruption of the Danish court.
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