Kelly 1 Harris Kelly 15 April 2016 English 305 Dr. Jennison­Scheler Essay #5 First Draft Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Gentleman The Lady Doth Protest Too Much Hamlet​
, by William Shakespeare, is a difficult to understand tragedy without a close look at why the characters act the way they do. The best way to do that is to examine the pressures exerted upon them, as studies by ​
Althusser. For instance Gertrude wants her son Hamlet to act like his stepfather, Claudius who is also his uncle, is his father. She wants Hamlet to even call Claudius father. However, Hamlet is a grown man and Gertrude's actions make her appear a bit unhinged. By trying to force her son into acknowledging her actions as socially acceptable she exposes her own unease with said actions. So Gertrude was party to something outside of the social norms, the murder of old Hamlet and rapid remarriage, but still feels the need to make right with society. Althusser writes about Ideological State Apparatuses. Basically how pressures and expectations from society enforce our behavior. ​
Noting why people act the way they do, “The individual in question behaves in such a way and such a way adopts such and such a practical attitude, and, what is more, participates in certain regular practices which are those of the ideological apparatus on which ‘depend’ the ideas” (​
Althusser 1501​
). In short, the pressures and Kelly 2 expectations of society ‘force’ us to act in accordance with or perhaps simply have the appearance of acting in accordance with. Need another paragraph or two here more fully explaining Ideological State Apparatus. Gertrude wants Hamlet to ‘get over’ his father’s death. While Gertrude is trying to get Hamlet to stop morning, “GERTRUDE: Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off,/And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark./Do not for ever with thy vailed lids Seek for thy noble father in the dust:/Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die,/Passing through nature to eternity” (Shakespeare 1.2.68­73). Gertrude appears eager for everyone to just forget about Hamlet’s father. Interesting that she wants it brushed under the rug. Yet Hamlet is in the right for morning his father. Hamlet remarks to his mother, “HAMLET: Seems, madam! nay it is; I know not 'seems.'/'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,/Nor customary suits of solemn black,” (Shakespeare 1.2.76­8). Hamlet is still in mourning for his murdered father. A normal thing to do in those times. ​
(find citation) There’s unease within Gertrude about the whole situation. While Gertrude is discussing Hamlet’s actions with her husband Claudius, “GERTRUDE: I doubt it is no other but the main;/His father's death, and our o'erhasty marriage” (Shakespeare 2.1.56­7). Gertrude even acknowledges that the remarriage was hasty. Things are not as they seem and Gertrude is trying everything she Kelly 3 can to push evidence of that away. She certainly doesn't want to appear outside of accepted social norms. Gertrudes seems incessant While Hamlet is accusing Gertrude that she was party to his father’s murder, “HAMLET: Now, mother, what's the matter?/GERTRUDE: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended./HAMLET: Mother, you have my father much offended” (Shakespeare 3.4.8­10). She’s almost hysterical in wanting Hamlet to acknowledge Claudius as his father. The Ideological State Apparatus is weighing down so heavily on her that she can’t seem to do anything but deny she was in anyway outside of what is considered acceptable. Gertrude’s apparent hysterics are just a symptom of her internal struggle to right herself in her own world view which is so influenced by the Ideological State Apparatus. Work Cited Shakespeare, William, and Susanne Lindgren Wofford. ​
Hamlet: Complete, Authoritative Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary Critical Perspectives​
. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 1994. Print. Althusser, Louis. ​
On the Reproduction of Capitalism: Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses​
. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. http://snoodle.snc.edu/pluginfile.php/294102/mod_resource/content/0/Althusser%2C%20
Ideology%20and%20ISAs.pdf Kelly 4 , “the attitude that should be observed by every agent in the division of labor” (​
Althusser 1485​
). , “” (​
Althusser ​
).