"O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.. "
Queen Gertrude from
HamletNameGertrude von der Maase, Duchess of Glucksbierg
Age43
GenderFemale
PersonalitylasciviousConsumed with love for absent family and only temporarily charmed by mindless extravagances, Gertrude extends her affection and charisma in the only other way she knows how - sexually. Inclined to low cut silk blouses and wanton, sultry eyeshadows to attract the attention of which she had so much of in her youth that she now lacks in truant husband and cruel son, she exhibits a sensual need for physical pleasure, yet a reluctance to follow through with any flirtations due to devotion to her family.
motherlySome people are born to be leaders, speakers or warriors; Gertrude was born to raise one. Stifled by a lonely childhood and unintentionally inattentive parents, she threw herself into mothering a son that would grow up to be vicious and bitter. Without a child to smother, Gertrude is forced to find other outlets to unleash her maternal instincts such as giving piano lessons to the children of Stratford. It is only an added bonus to these lessons that her manor and her afternoons are again filled with the bewitching sounds of a child's laugh.
materialisticThose born of immeasurable wealth know not the pangs of hunger but of emptiness instead - a void inside of her that Gertrude fills with fancy trinkets and exquisitely designed jewelry. Not once is the lady of the manor seen without impeccably manicured nails, perfectly coiffed hair and silk and satin ironed to perfection, clinging to her willowy body. The need for such opulence is perhaps influenced by her otherwise barren life, devoid of familial love or true, deep emotional connections.
liarWhite lies escape matte lips, bittersweet in their intentions, for Gertrude does not lie just to be lying. She lies for what she believes to be the good of those around her. And though she may be shallow and indifferent to most physical ailments, those of the heart she attempts to be mindful of, careful in the words she chooses so that they may not cause another sorrow whether they be true or not.
self-sacrificingGertrude may be blind to certain things - some intentionally, some not - but one thing she will never close her eyes to is the security of her family, especially her son. Though perhaps she wouldn't have been opposed to the idea had more time passed, it was against every fibre of her being to marry so soon after her dear husband's death, and to his brother at that - but at the cost of her son's inheritance, she had no choice, and she would sacrifice her very love for the child she bore.
BiographyAn only child of an unimportant but fairly wealthy politician and his homely, beak-nosed wife, Gertrude was unexpectedly stunning in appearance. The combination of her father's pert nose and naturally flaxen hair with her mother's angular bone structure and willowy frame was to the little girl's advantage. Though her family's influence and power was mostly weightless in the grand scheme of British nobility, her golden curls and beautific steely grey eyes led to countless suitors of varying importance.
The most charming of these men was a Sir Hamlet von der Maase, a relatively important Duke of Glucksbierg ironically enough not even of British origin. Gertrude met him while studying in London as a preparatory school girl - he, a suave man with a charming Danish accent studying in England abroad at the behest of his father. She was smitten with the foreigner and not only for his handsome features and charismatic personality. He showered her with fine gifts and luxurious holiday trips. Gertrude was utterly spoiled.
When the British beauty graduated and began university, everyone knew it was only a matter of time before her older beau proposed - and propose he did, with only one request of her.
"Come back with me to Copenhagen, darling. I'll make you a Duchess, just as you deserve." And how could she refuse such a simple request when he offered her the world in return? So she went with him.
But even Gertrude, so accustomed to luxury and splendor, did not expect the opulence that awaited her in Denmark - nor did she expect the seething jealousy of her soon-to-be husband's brother, Claudius. His elder brother had laid claim to the family's fortune, but did he too have to bring home such a lovely, rosy cheeked bride as his own? But the younger brother hid his stormy thoughts underneath an appealing smile and Gertrude, ever so accustomed to men attempting to attract her attention and wanting desperately to impress her new family, thought nothing of Claudius.
"He's always felt in my shadow." Hamlet would later inform her softly, as if it were a secret. "He has everything he needs but wants for what he hasn't earned. He will grow into a man soon enough."
The wedding was set, and soon Claudius left Gertrude's thoughts. She was to become a wife and have a family, something her lonely childhood lacked. She thrived on the thought.
When her sweet baby boy was put in her arms, though, that was when Gertrude knew her life was complete. His father's eyes stared up at her, blinking drowsily, and though strands of hair stuck to her forehead and her dressing gown was falling off of her shoulders, she was complete. Her baby Hamlet was home, and oh how he would be spoiled - he would know the love of a parent that she herself had never known. Through all her faults, there was one thing Gertrude truly knew she was meant to excel at - motherhood.
The sounds of Gertrude's tinkling laugh and sweet baby Hamlet's innocent giggles filled the manor for years. She doted on her son unabashedly, and to her surprise, so did his Uncle Claudius. The man often made rounds to his sister-in-law when his brother was out, sneaking his young nephew candies as he more often than not snuck Gertrude little trinkets as well. The woman was delighted - she knew no better than a man attempting to find his way back into a family after spending so much time away, but young Hamlet was more perceptive. He threw tantrums whenever Claudius came round, refused the sweets offered to him despite his love of candies - somewhere in his little heart he knew something was wrong. Uncle Claudius was trying to take his mommy away.
As Hamlet got older, Gertrude's doting did not cease but his warm reception to it did - he became cold, refusing his mother's affection. This hurt Gertrude greatly, the woman that had done nothing but live for her son and family. She hadn't the faintest idea of why he acted so distant, but the answer lay in the pearl broach she wore on her blazer, gifted by Claudius with a glint in his eye.
One final blow left Gertrude staggering. When Hamlet was away at boarding school, his father and Gertrude's dear husband was shot and left for dead. It was thought to be a mugging at first, but they soon realised his wallet was still on him. It appeared he had just been shot to die. Gertrude was devastated, but one person was her pillar throughout it all - Claudius. He sorted through the funeral arrangements with her, held her when she cried and brought her tea and sat by her when she had no tears left.
Of course, when the family threatened to take the fortune from her - the fortune she thought was rightfully hers, the lifestyle of which she had become so accustomed to - and give it to the new heir of the estate, Claudius, Gertrude knew, even through her grief, what she must do. For the good of herself, for the good of her son and the hope that he would earn his birthright when he came of age, she married Claudius. It was only shortly after that that Claudius proclaimed to her that they must move.
"Copenhagen has not been very kind to me." The man explained. "Nor has it you. I believe that, after being so many years gone, home in England will do you much good. A small market town, Stratford. I've purchased an extravagent manor, designed to your tastes." The move was hasty and unexpected - if Gertrude had not had blinders on, she might have realised it to be something to do with the police closing in on Claudius related to the death of his brother, but the woman was blissfully ignorant of what she did not want to see, so again she uprooted her life in the name of her family.
Her son was furious, of course. The cold exterior he had once extended to her was now icy, biting in its chill. He held back none in accusing his mother of incestruous relations, a whorish personality - but Gertrude took the pain and loved her son even more because of it. She begged him to come with them to Stratford but he refused - he was going to continue his studies at university in Wittenberg.
Now, it's been three years since she's moved to Stratford and became the lonely lady in the large manor, alone so often that some believe she to be widowed, visited by her son not once and, although doted upon Claudius whenever he is home, left alone more often than not when he is off to attend to unsavory things she has an inkling upon, but no wish for it to be true. Gertrude asks for not much but the love of her son again - a love that has not been extended to her in years.
OtherIf anyone wants to grab another character from Hamlet just tell me and I'll adjust Gertrude's biography accordingly.
