Interaction Between Hamlet and Gertrude (III. iv.)

            The interaction between Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude, exhibits polar extremes between the two: Hamlet attempts to justify his madness whereas Gertrude reactions emotionally to Hamlet’s madness.. Hamlet misinterprets Polonius’ voice as the King’s for when Polonius exclaims, “What ho! Help!” (III.iv.27) and proceeds to slay him while certain that Claudius is behind the tapestry. In response to Gertrude’s shock, Hamlet comments on his action by deliberating comparing it to the heaviness of Claudius’s marriage to Gertrude. In doing so, he explains, “A bloody deed—almost as bad, good mother, / As kill a king and marry with his brother”, as a justification for why he mistakenly killed Polonius instead of his intended target, Claudius.  He justifies his thoughts as a warning towards Gertrude, explaining to Gertrude, “Confess yourself to heaven, / Repent what’s past, avoid what is to come, / And do not spread the compost on the weeds / To make them ranker” (III.iv.170-173). Hamlet can be seen as someone who is protecting his mother from the malevolent claws of Claudius. He, rather than revenging against Gertrude, attempts to warn her from the “compost of weeds”. Unfortunately, Gertrude reacts emotionally rather than cognitively to Hamlet’s justification for his action, where she states, “O Hamlet, speak no more!” (III.iv.99) and “Alas, he’s mad” (III.iv.121). In doing so, Gertrude does not give Hamlet the chance to justify for his jagged reasoning behind his task to kill Claudius.