haracters seem flat, yet over the course of the narrative
             they take on a critical physical importance because of the feelings men
             have for them emotionally and more importantly, physically. This is
             indicative not only of the world of Denmark, or of the world of Hamlet as a
             drama, but of English society as a whole.
             Gertrude, in Hamlet's mind, predominates fundamentally not as a queen
             but as a mother. This can be seen in her son's first soliloquy:
             But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two 140
             So excellent a king; that was, to this
             Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
             That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
             Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!
             Must I remember' Why, she would hang on him, 145
             As if increase of appetite had grown
             By what it fed on: and yet, within a monthâ€"
             Let me not think on't--Frailty, thy name is woman! â€"(1.2
             Gertrude has just comported herself as a queen in court. However, her
             status as a queen, though longer than Claudius, has less importance than
             her new husband's role as an administrator. Even her son does not
             speculate upon her desire to retain power in the court, after his father's
             death. Rather, he perceives her desire as a purely physical one. She
             loved his father, that is all that mattered, and now that she does not she
             has betrayed him as a son. This is reflective of the overview presented by
             ...