Comparison of Gertrude and Ophelia in HamletShakespeare developed 126 female characters in his dramas. In his tragedy Hamlet, there are Ophelia and Gertrude. This essay will explore the similarities or commonalities of these two characters. One obvious trait that Ophelia and Gertrude have in common is that they are both recipients of Hamlet's ill will. TS Elliot in his essay “Hamlet and His Problems” explains how Gertrude is the object of the protagonist's disgust: Hamlet is faced with the difficulty that his disgust is occasioned by his mother, but that his mother is not an adequate equivalent. ; her disgust envelops and surpasses her. (25) LC Knight in "An Approach to Hamlet", in agreement with TS Eliot, comments on the "obsessive passion" that the prince exercises in his punishment of Gertrude: "I am of course aware that what Hamlet says to his mother in the closet this scene can be seen as part of a necessary and appropriate attempt to break the alliance between her and the smiling murderer; but through it all flows the impure streak of indulgence of obsessive passion.[. . .] If with sincere, even passionate concern, you want to help someone who is in great need, someone who is hopelessly ignorant of their true condition, do you, I wonder, say: “This is what you are: see how ugly you are. » ? Well, maybe you can; but certainly not in such a way that you seem about to launch an aggressive attack. (70) In the same way, Ophelia is verbally insulted by the hero; and this episode is developed in detail later. In the Introduction to Twentieth-Century Interpretations of Hamlet, David Bevington enlightens the reader on the similarities between Gertrude and Ophelia as the hero sees them: Yet, for Hamlet, Ophelia is no better than any other Gertrude: all two are tender of heart but submissive to the will. of importunate men, and are thus forced into unusual vices. Both would be different from what they are, and both receive Hamlet's exhortations to begin repentance by abstaining from pleasure. “Take yourself to a convent”; “Assume a virtue if you don’t have it. ” (9) As Bevington says, both Gertrude and Ophelia are “tender-hearted,” motivated by love and a desire for quiet family harmony among the members of their courtly society in Elsinore. At the play's first social reception, Gertrude is motivated by love for her son to advise: