Gertrude and Claudius | Themes & Symbolism

Gertrude and Claudius Significant Topics

Shakespeare's Hamlet

Hamlet, the play, is the overarching theme of Gertrude and Claudius. Without the play, the book would not exist. Hamlet is both the premise and the outcome of Gertrude and Claudius. The language of the book is in the style of the play, and lines and ideas from the play are scattered throughout the book. As events unfold in this story, they refer ever more specifically to events in the play. Finally, at the story's end, the action of the story and the play converge. Gertrude and Claudius repeatedly compels the reader into Hamlet and back.

Unlike Gertrude and Claudius, Hamlet is a play, a very different medium. Its author intended the public to know it from performance, as words said aloud and interpreted by actors. Its language is beautiful, its speeches are deeply philosophical, and its action is exciting. The crux of the difference is that its characters are...
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