r of the actions of the female characters, and the rest of Ophelia's actions are reduced to "frailty." Even Ophelia's death is marked in the third person. She doesn't even warrant a death on stage but has her tale related by others. All of these devices make it very easy for the audience to see this character as typical of womankind.
Gertrude's character is given a slightly different nature, but she is presented to the audience in a similar manner. Gertrude is immediately placed out of danger of retribution for her actions by the Ghost, who wants Hamlet to "leave her to heaven/And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge/To prick and sting her" (l.v., 86-88). Although these comments by the Ghost place her out of association with the then despicable Claudius, the Ghost also bluntly states her weakness. Old Hamlet says that, "With witchcraft of his wits" Claudius managed to seduce his "most seeming-virtuous queen." Through this and subsequent comments, the Ghost gives the audience the feeling that Gertrude just wasn't a strong enough person to do the right thing, and that she was the victim of the advances of Claudius. This picture of Gertrude is heightened effectively by Shakespeare's early inclusion of dialogue between Hamlet and Gertrude, and his subsequent soliloquy. It is because of Gertrude that Hamlet states, " . . . frailty, thy name is women" (1.ii, 146), and this phrase becomes Hamlet's recurring interpretations of women in this tragedy. Hamlet becomes more and more appealing as the play wears on,, and Hamlet's responses to his mother as well as his interpretations of her actions make it easy for the audience to see his mother as a weak person. When she finally dies, we don't instinctively feel a conflict has come to an end, but instead feel that a very confused woman has finally reached peace. Her warning to Hamlet fits this feeling perfectly, leading the audience to believe that with her life at an end she can fin...