What does William Shakespeare have to say about women? Quite a bit. But his writing of the character Gertrude in his play Hamlet can be seen to tie in with one viewpoint of women: the weaker-sex. To be fair, it must be said that he presents both sides of the issue, but let Gertrude be the focus of this study. Gertrude is a shallow, flighty, sensual woman, whose character is summarized by Hamlet in words, "Frailty, thy name is the woman."
Gertrude is presented as a character that is more than slightly cranially vacant. Indeed, one might suppose that Gertrude is one giant blonde joke written by Shakespeare. First, one may observe her observance upon observing the play in act three. When Hamlet asks her about how she likes the play she says, "The lady [the player queen] doth protest too much, methinks." (3.2.254) The queen seems to be missing the point of the play completely. Furthermore, observe the real protester! Gertrude is making a royal joke of herself by protesting the protesting of a queen. Then, consider her advice to Hamlet upon the loss of a father:
Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color 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. (1.2.70-75)
From this, it is clear that her heart is as shallow as her head. She refers to death as a "common" thing; in that time "common" carried with it implications that something was vulgar. A less Shakespearian way to say the selfsame thing is, "Dad's dead. Deal with it!" Her insensitivity to both the death of her husband and the feelings of her son indicate that her heart is a chilly pool no deeper than a finger's width. Once more, the queen demonstrates her ocean-depth of shallowness with her questions toward Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. After sending them on a reconnaissance mission in Hamlet's distracted glo...