Gertrude/ AO5

Question 1

Gertrude is a woman who does no mature, who clings to her youth and all that belongs to it… desperately refusing to grow old

Answer 1

Harley Granville-Barker

Question 2

Gertrude is a nurturing and caring maternal presence rather than a shallow sensualist

Answer 2

Rebecca smith 1980

Question 3

Gertrude’s adultery turns all women into prostitutes and all men into potential cuckolds… Women make men into monsters

Answer 3

Valerie Traub 1988

Question 4

Gertrude’s sexuality is literally the sign of her betrayal and her husband’s death… idealised father’s absence releases the throat of maternal sexuality

Answer 4

Janet Adelman 1992

Question 5

Ophelia and Gertrude can be seen as representatives of the two archetypes of women in early modern drama: virgin and whore

Answer 5

Sean McEvoy 2006