Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Tragedy of Gertrude and Ophelia | Ryan Ranch

Course Description:

Much of "Hamlet’s" dramatic tension revolves around Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, and Ophelia, the Prince’s lover. Shakespeare’s plotting intrigues audiences with the way the two characters' emotional turmoil contributes to their tragic ends. Conflicts emerge early in the drama when Gertrude hastily marries Claudius on the heels of his murder of the queen’s husband the king. Shakespeare ramps up the edginess by adding that the king was Claudius’ brother! As for Ophelia, tragedy quickly arrives when Hamlet kills her father. All of this is a precursor to even greater tragedy as the play hurls toward its conclusion. Directors and actors have long been drawn to the Gertrude/Ophelia roles as they have yielded some of theatre’s most memorable performances as we will see in key scenes from the play.