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Hamlet's Opinion of Gertude
Context and Language Videos
Act 1,
Scene 2
Lines 143-152

A discussion on Hamlet's opinion of Gertude in Act 1, Scene 2 of myShakespeare's Hamlet.

 

myShakespeare | Hamlet 1.2 Frailty and Women/Opinion of Gertrude

Hamlet 

Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on. And yet within a month –
let me not think on't; frailty, thy name is woman! – 
A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she followed my poor father's body
Like Niobe, all tears, why she, even she –
Oh, God! a beast that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourned longer – married with my uncle,
My father's brother, but no more like my father
Video Transcript: 

SARAH: Now, as Hamlet's thoughts move from his father's death, to his parents' love for each other, to Gertrude, Hamlet comes to another sore spot — how his mother's grief for her husband was so short-lived.



RALPH: And Sarah, here's one of Shakespeare's most famous lines, "Frailty, thy name is woman." — a personal favorite of mine.



SARAH: Somehow I'm not surprised, Ralph! Now when Hamlet calls women frail, he doesn't mean that they are physically weak, but that they lack moral strength, or principles. At least in Hamlet's view, Gertrude lacked the moral fortitude to resist being seduced by Claudius.



RALPH: It's also worth pointing out that Hamlet is quick here to generalize his mother's faults — her weakness becomes the frailty of all women. We'll see that Hamlet will continue to generalize about women from his experiences as the play continues.