Whether or not Queen Gertrude, Prince Hamlet’s mother, was guilty of being part of the conspiracy that led to the murder of her husband, King Hamlet is debatable. This follows the fact that every critic presents a proof that defends his/her position concerning the debate, a case that takes place even today.

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Those on the support of her innocence conclude that she is just a victim of circumstances since she finds herself caught up in conditions that expose her to being associated with the conspiracy that she knew nothing about. However, whether this is true or not does not mean that she should escape judgment if the guilty must face it based on their actions.

Queen Gertrude might not have been present in the murder of her husband but that is true of all possible masterminds of wicked conspiracies. Her actions as portrayed by Shakespeare in the story lead one to the conclusion that she is as guilty as the one who executed the real murder of King Hamlet. There is enough proof tabled in the story that link Gertrude to the knowledge of the conspiracy plotted against her husband.

When the slain king’s ghost appears to Prince Hamlet, its description of the murder does not involve the mention of the queen as being among the perpetrators. However, this does not necessarily exempt her from the conspiracy considering the power behind the ghost: the deep feeling of love that King Hamlet had for his queen. The lines, “Revenge his foul and must unnatural murder…But howsoever thou pursue this act, taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven” (Hoy I.V. 84-85).

King Hamlet suggests that Gertrude be left alone to be haunted by her conscience. This implies that King Hamlet only wanted to save his son from the possible guilt that he may have faced when he engaged in killing his own mother.

The fact that Queen Gertrude remarried Claudius, the murderer of her husband after only two months when the grave of King Hamlet was still fresh raises eyebrows. This is by considering the fact that in those days marrying the brother in-law implied incestuous, which Gertrude did even without second thoughts.

This gives rise to the impression that she had waited for the day when her husband would be no more, a time when she would marry his late husband’s brother. Considering that she was not even concerned about the impression that her actions would cause to the people of Denmark, she truly might have been an accomplice in the plot to murder her husband or she was not able to control her bodily desires.

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When Prince Hamlet organizes for the play that is supposed to link Claudius to the murder of his father through gauging his reactions, Hamlet notices something about his mother that can pass for evidence against her. This happens when the queen in the play that Hamlet organizes keeps on professing her love to the king. Gertrude says, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” (Hoy III.IV. 89).

This is a clear indication that she identified with the situation presented on the stage and that she had a conflicting feeling with the queen in the play. This means that her love to the slain King Hamlet was a false one and that she might have been part of the conspiracy to eliminate him so that she can get the chance to marry Claudius who executed the murder.

In the queen’s closet when Hamlet goes to confront her, Gertrude has Polonius hide behind the curtains to eaves drop into their conversation. This means that Claudius influenced her easily and that must have been the case during the murder of her husband King Hamlet.

This is a clear indication that she was involved in the plot and wanted to warn Claudius that Hamlet was aware of what happened to his father. This shows further that she had her wickedness disguised behind her naivety since she could not even trust her own son and had to have someone hide to get and take the information to the king Claudius.

There is guilt that is evident in Gertrude’s voice following her confrontation by her son in the closet. Her words, “O Hamlet, speak no more. Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul, and there I see such black and grained spots…as will not leave their tinct” (Hoy III.IV. 88-91) signify the guilt that she has.

It is notable also when Prince Hamlet begs her not to go to bed with Claudius again; she evades the swearing meaning that one cannot overlook her potential as a terrible schemer of evil. The dramatic irony at this point grows when the queen promises not to tell anyone about what the prince says while she knows very well that Polonius was hiding behind the curtains and would surely tell Claudius.

With the evidence revealing Queen Gertrude’s possibility of having been part of the conspiracy that had her husband murdered out-weighing the possibility of her not being involved, it suffices to infer that the punishment that the apparition of the slain king proposed as punishment for her was not enough. This follows the sense that having been part of the conspiracy she is as guilty as Claudius whose treacherous acts led to him to murder his own brother to ascend onto the throne.

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Works Cited

Hoy, Cyrus. Hamlet, William Shakespeare. New York: Norton and Co publishers, 1992. Print.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The analysis of Marlow’s character

Conclusion

Works Cited

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Introduction

In his novel, “Heart of Darkness”, Joseph Conrad uses Marlow as the protagonist and at the same time authenticates his dynamic click site character. Marlow is an introspective youth in his early thirties. As an adventurous British man, he ends up in Congo, Africa, where he learns that darkness, evilness, and exploitation are some of the chief qualities of the human heart and the world.

Through interaction with Kurtz, Conrad explicitly discusses Marlow as a round character. Although he is a philosophic wise man, the thrilled experience in Africa forces Marlow to take a different course in terms of his character. By featuring Marlow, Conrad proves the dynamism of the human character as expounded next.

The analysis of Marlow’s character

Marlow is a curious and at the same time a skeptic man. Initially, his curiosity propels him to explore Africa where he lands in Congo. According to Marlow, Africa is a dark and civilized continent that is why he prefers England. He is so skeptic about Africa that he describes it as a “God-forsaken wilderness (Conrad 73). Nevertheless, he still goes ahead and sets out on a journey to the “dark continent” Africa (Conrad 65).

Furthermore, he never adheres to any remarks said by either his aunt or friends. He tends to filter out all the seemingly satisfactory remarks by the manager and brick maker. When he sets his foot in Africa, he does not like whatever he sees. Ranging from the lifestyle to the people, he instantly hates Africa. Nevertheless, he has to forge on for his survival.

Although he passes for an intelligent, eloquent, and philosophic person, the hardships and personal relationships with other people at the ivory company turns him into a sensitive and resentful man. On arrival in Africa, Marlow becomes fascinated and thrilled by the primitiveness of the people and their lifestyle.

His main aim is to meet Mr. Kurtz whom he eventually encounters. Comparing the horrifying life of Africa with the luxurious life in England, he wonders why people like Kurtz are so passionate about money and power. According to Marlow, virtuous life is celebrated than earning a few extra coins in a world filled with danger. More over, the encounter with Kurtz makes him resentful when he declares, “he is no idol of mine” (Conrad 90).

Kurtz had not only brainwashed the natives as a superior human being, but he had also turned them into slaves forcing them to worship him. However, according to Marlow the greed for power and riches pushed Kurtz to deprive people their rights. Therefore, as he progresses in his adventure his love for Kurtz turns into hatred.

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Eventually he turns into a sensitive person especially because of darkness the human heart embodies. For instance, the lack of respect for human life by doctors at the company not only puzzles him but also propels him to be careful. There is a lot of disregard for human life while other people waste their precious life without feeling pain.

Before venturing into Africa, Marlow is an honest man but extraordinary circumstances force him to become cynical. He has no option but to lie in extreme circumstances. The first lie was when he branded the brick man as an influential yet Kurtz detested him. The lie was to enable him to get rivets for his broken boat and subsequently enable Kurtz to come out of the jungle.

From his own perspective, most people in the company wanted Kurtz dead, and his role was to help him out. In the second instance, Kurtz fiancée ‘intended’ believes her fiancé is a virtuous man with no evil heart. In addition, ‘intended’ believes everybody especially in Africa loves Kurtz, which is contrary to what Marlow encountered. Marlow refuses to expose the dark side of Kurtz because he does not want to break her heart. Therefore, although Marlow detest lies circumstances force him to lie for the betterment of human nature.

Marlow develops from a tough man into a sensitive and weary man. He dislikes the cruelty of the human heart, Belgians especially to Africans and the wilderness. Thus, his urge is to travel back to his luxurious land England. Unfortunately, his boat breaks down forcing him to lie to the brick man in order to get rivets for repairing.

Therefore, the misfortune at hand turns him from a truth and honest man into a liar and cynical person. Surprisingly he justifies all the vices he develops while in Africa as aforementioned in the previous text. On the other hand, although he dislikes inhumane persons he has respect for humanity because he struggles to save Kurtz life yet he disliked the way he handled Africans. Therefore, Conrad uses Marlow to condemn racism and promote humanity.

Conclusion

Conrad uses Marlow as a round character to fulfill the theme of humanity. His curiosity and intelligence motivates him to explore Africa where he experiences the dark side of life. Despite the extreme circumstances forcing him to acquire inhumane characters like lying, Marlow condemns the inhumanity in the Dark Continent, Africa. The availability of money, power together with hardship in Africa does not change him much.

Works Cited

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of darkness . Ed. Paul Armstrong. UK: Blackwood’s magazines, 2005

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