Hamlet 1

The contrast between Hamlet and Gertrude's reactions to King Hamlets death highlights the misogynistic undertones of Hamlet's relationship with his mother. Hamlet reacts very dramatically towards the death of his father. He is emotionally exhausted and tormented by the lost. He laments, "Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,/ Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,/ Or that the Everlasting had not fixed/ His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God/ How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable/ Seem to me all the uses of this world!" (I.ii.133-138). The deep melancholy of Hamlets inner feelings displays the emotions of a hurt and distressed man. However, this is in stark contrast to Gertrude's reaction which Hamlet describes as:

Within a month—/ Let me not think on ’t. Frailty, thy name is woman!—/ A little month, or ere those shoes were old/ With which she followed my poor father’s body,/ Like Niobe, all tears. Why she, even she—/ O God, a beast that wants   discourse of reason/ Would have mourned longer!—married with my uncle,/ My father’s brother, but no more like my father/ Than I to Hercules" (149-157)

The conflict between Hamlet and his mother stems from the improper actions of Gertrude towards King Hamlets death. The contrasting reactions between Hamlet and Gertrude lead Hamlet to think  in a Misogynistic tone. His disapproval for his mothers actions leads to a conflict which Hamlet must address in order to maintain his proper purpose in the kingdom.