Family Relationships in Shakespeare's Hamlet

“She married. O, most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! / It is not, nor it cannot come to good. / But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.” (1.2.161-164). Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most utilized plays, set in a time period where incest is considered a sin against both God and the state. From its range of symbolism to the depth of the characters, involving a complex web of characteristics and personalities, Shakespeare’s play paints a prominent theme through familial relationships. Throughout the play, the complexity of the familial parent/child relationships is key in developing the characters’ sense of purpose and the theme of the overall play. The complete existence of the theme depends on parent-child relationships; this concept is apparent at the beginning of the play, when Hamlet receives a new stepfather, Claudius. The character relationship between these two was very tense and spiteful, which filtered over into Hamlet's relationship with his mother, Gertrude. Gertrude and Hamlet have an overall contrastingly positive relationship to Claudius and Hamlet's negative one. Hamlet has slight resentment towards his mother for marrying so soon after his father’s death, but their relationship is amenable. Polonius’s relationship with his two children on the other hand, is not ideal. Polonius demonstrates strong control over his daughter, Ophelia; but Ophelia does not oppose his insistent nature; she instead embraces his control. Polonius also has a somewhat strained relationship with his son, Laertes. Laertes seeks his father’s approval and Polonius has very little trust in Laertes, creating a snowball effect of self-doubt and disapproval.

Hamlet's relationship with his stepfather, Claudius, is filled with spite and vindictiveness. Hamlet's anger towards Claudius begins at the very beginning of the play, when he marries his mother directly after the death of his father. This hate flourishes and grows so much that, at the end of the play, Claudius and Hamlet end up murdering each other. Hamlet finds Claudius’s prompt marriage to his mother (word) and incestuous. Furthermore, the ghost gives Hamlet yet another reason to hate Claudius by telling Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius and now he must send him to the purgatory. The ghost tells Hamlet “If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not; / Let not the royal bed of Denmark be a couch for luxury and damned incest.” (1.5.81-83). By saying this, the ghost sets Hamlets murderous plan in action. Claudius learns of Hamlets plan to murder him and now sees him as a threat, and seeks to have him eliminated. Hamlet searches for Claudius to murder him once and for all and instead accidentally murders Polonius, father to Laertes, and foil to Hamlet. The murder of Polonius fueled Laertes’s anger and Claudius used this to his advantage by recruiting him to poison Hamlet. This plan, however, backfires and results in the death of his wife, Hamlet, and himself. After Claudius mistakenly kills Gertrude, Hamlet grabs the poisoned sword and kills Claudius after his failed attempt when Hamlet says  “And so he goes to heaven,  And so am I revenged. That would be scanned: A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven.” (3.3.80-83). Based on Hamlets inclination to murder Claudius, it can be assumed their relationship was far from quintessential.

Hamlet and Gertrude's relationship seems to be contrastingly positive compared to other parent-child relationships. Despite the fact that Hamlet despises Claudius and his mother’s relationship, the maternal relationship is (word) overall. Hamlet shows his caring nature towards Gertrude when she is poisoned and says, “No, no! the drink, the drink! O my dear Hamlet! / The drink, the drink!, I am poisoned” (5.2.314-315). Hamlet immediately seeks help and rushes to his mother’s side. This shows Hamlets caring and loving nature, especially when Gertrude dies and Hamlet is in agony; it shows how close the mother-son pair are. Despite Hamlets love and respect for his mother, Shakespeare paints a master picture of betrayal between the two. Gertrude's marriage to Claudius causes Hamlet to grow infuriated because, to him, remarriage is a great act of betrayal. This struggle can be seen after Hamlet discovers his mother has just remarried and he utters, "That it should come to this!"(1.2.138). This quote comes from Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, where he is questioning why his life has gone wrong and why his mother has remarried so soon. Hamlet struggles with his inner consciousness after the remarriage of his mother; he fights the urge to murder Claudius and also fights the primal urges he has towards his mother. Based on the oedipal complex, Hamlets hesitance and inability to decide to murder Claudius suggests Hamlet is suffering from deep-rooted issues from the complex. Hamlets conscious is under conflict; he struggles with murdering Claudius because he sees him as an oedipal reflection of himself. He is also jealous of Claudius’s closeness with Gertrude; Hamlet wishes he could be that close to her. 

Throughout the play, the values brought through familial relationships are necessary in developing a characters sense of purpose and this is prominent in both Ophelia and Laertes relationship with Hamlet. For instance, Polonius has complete control over Ophelia like she was just meant to serve; however, Ophelia is impotent and does not oppose Polonius's commands. This can be seen when Ophelia tells Polonius “I do not know, my lord, what I should think. ” (I.3.104). Polonius controls Ophelia's whole life and, in consequence, leaving Ophelia unable to think and act on her own. Polonius does not look out for Ophelia's best interest. He instead focuses on his own. This can be seen when he says, "Tender yourself more dearly, / Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, / Running it thus) you'll tender me a fool" (1.3.107-109). Ophelia cannot think for herself, so she just goes along with what her father tells her. This eventually leads Ophelia to spiral because she could not deal with loss, or perceive the world, which ultimately leads to her own suicide. Laertes’s relationship with his father is equally as strained as Ophelia's relationship with him; Laertes depends on Polonius's approval to motivate him throughout the play. After the loss of Polonius’s control, structure, and approval, Laertes begins to go mad similarly to Ophelia. Laertes gets lost in his anger and desire for revenge, which is ultimately what leads to his death. Without Polonius’s control, Laertes loses his ability to properly think and attempts to seek out revenge to make himself feel better, which then leads to his death. 

Throughout Shakespeares play, the parent-child relationships display the tragedies throughout and are crucial to the overall theme and plot of the play. The significance of the familial relationships in this play to the theme are undisputable. These relationships are portrayed through Hamlets rage and fuel to murder his stepfather, which then leads to the death of his mother, and himself. The relationships set Ophelia and Laertes in a similar fate; the hold Polonius has over both his children's lives, lead to the downfall and eventual death of his children. Hamlet shows the fragility of family relationships between parents and children and how fast they can be destroyed. Just as family built and created love and life, it also destroyed it.