Gertrude- Quotes

Question 1

“Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not for ever with thy vailed lids Seek for thy noble father in the dust: Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity.”
(Act 1, Scene 2)

Answer 1

Gertrude urges Hamlet to move on from his grief over his father’s death, highlighting her practical approach to the mourning process

Question 2

“I doubt it is no other but the main; His father’s death, and our o’erhasty marriage.”
(Act 2, Scene 2)

Answer 2

Gertrude admits to Claudius and Polonius that Hamlet’s melancholy likely stems from his father’s death and her quick remarriage to Claudius

Question 3

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
(Act 3, Scene 2)

Answer 3

Watching the play-within-a-play, Gertrude comments on the Player Queen’s excessive vows of fidelity, which may reflect her own discomfort with her actions

Question 4

“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.”
(Act 3, Scene 4)

Answer 4

During the confrontation in her chamber, Gertrude is overwhelmed by guilt as Hamlet criticises her marriage to Claudius, revealing her inner turmoil

Question 5

“O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!”
(Act 3, Scene 4)

Answer 5

Gertrude reacts in shock after Hamlet kills Polonius, demonstrating her horror at the sudden violence

Question 6

“Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend Which is the mightier: in his lawless fit, Behind the arras hearing something stir, Whips out his rapier, cries, ‘A rat, a rat!’ And in this brainish apprehension kills The unseen good old man.”
(Act 4, Scene 1)

Answer 6

Gertrude describes Hamlet’s actions in killing Polonius to Claudius, portraying Hamlet’s madness as uncontrollable and dangerous

Question 7

“There is a willow grows aslant a brook… fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide; And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up… Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, Pull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay To muddy death.”
(Act 4, Scene 7)

Answer 7

Gertrude recounts the tragic death of Ophelia in a poetic and detached manner, capturing the sadness of the event

Question 8

“I will, my lord; I pray you pardon me.”
(Act 5, Scene 2)

Answer 8

In the final scene, Gertrude defies Claudius’s warning and drinks the poisoned wine meant for Hamlet, showing either her ignorance of the danger or her determination to act independently

Question 9

“No, no, the drink, the drink,—O my dear Hamlet,— The drink, the drink! I am poison’d.”
(Act 5, Scene 2)

Answer 9

Gertrude’s dying words reveal the truth about the poisoned cup, warning Hamlet of Claudius’s treachery