Updikes Gertrude and Claudius free essay sample

An analysis of the story and how it compares to Shakespeares `Hamlet.` This paper presents an analysis of Updikes Gertrude and Claudius. While the plot remains the same as in Shakespeares `Hamlet,` Updike presents a completely different view of middle-aged sexuality in this story. The character of Gertrude is explored. The plot of Shakespeares Hamlet seems complicated enough! a casual reader might be tempted to exclaim. Why render the story even more complicated by attempting to surmise back story of some of the more minor characters of the tale, in relation to the action of this already very long play? However, John Updikes novel Gertrude and Claudius attempts create just such a prologue. In providing a past history for the heros mother Gertrude, Updike creates a far different woman in his novel than the sensual, guilty lady of the Jacobean drama Hamlet. In Updikes vision of Gertrude, Gertrude or `Gerutha` was a strong, beautiful young woman who was married to a warrior Horwendil the Jute by her father. We will write a custom essay sample on Updikes Gertrude and Claudius or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She didnt love the man, but was forced into the arrangement. When the warriors father died, he and she assumed the throne of Denmark as king and queen. Gertrude never really accepted her status as wife of Horwendil and mother of Hamlet. She only came to a full sensuous understanding of herself as a woman when she entered into a liaison with her husbands brother.