Gertrude

[Peter 1966]

How guilty is Gertrude? Hamlet tells her all he knows about Claudius but what does she do about it?

[beavadam]

In the scene in which Hamlet reveals to Gertrude what he knows about Claudius, his tone is accusing and angry. He is justifiably upset as he has just seen the play he believes confirms Claudius's guilt. It is important to remember that Gertrude believes Hamlet to be as mad as a bag of squirrels over his love for Ophelia:alien: . This idea is reinforced when the ghost appears, but only to Hamlet. To Gerturde it would appear that Hamlet is talking to himself.
In this scene Hamlet is seen to be in a state of feverish, angry excitement. It culminates in Polonius mistakenly being stabbed through the curtain and Hamlet dragging his body away.
All these events would increase Gerturdes concerns for her sons sanity and probably would decrease the chances of her taking her son's claims seriously.

There is an element of Gertrude's guilt in the way she takes no action at all and fails to question any of her husbands behaviour. She seems to be a rather foolish woman, shown by the nature of her death and the unquestioning way she walks into her marriage with Claudius.:cold:

[Peter 1966]

. It culminates in Polonius mistakenly being stabbed through the curtain and Hamlet dragging his body away.
All these events would increase Gerturdes concerns for her sons sanity and probably would decrease the chances of her taking her son's claims seriously:

Actually Polonius is killed towards the start of the scene.

Is Gertrude really foolish? Or is there any sense in which she is complicit in the evil perpetrated by Claudius?

[beavadam]

Despite our hillarious error, the point still remains the same.

The fact that Gertrude remarried so quickly after the death of her husband would suggest that she wasn't too upset or surprised by his demise. There is a sense of this in the play but very little hard evidence. Before watching the play, Hamlet remarks how Gertrude looks 'cheerful... And my fathers died within two hours', but is corrected by Ophelia, it has been two months. This could be Hamlet accusing his mother of evil deeds.

[Rach89]

there is also suggestion tht Gertrude had been with Claudius before king Hamlet death so this also points to her guilt. sorry cant quote the text as not at home and dont have it with me :(