Penny Downie seems to interpret Gertrude as suspecting the cup in poisoned after Claudius implores her not to drink. This seems an interesting choice considering she drinks anyway. I've never seen an actress interpret the scene this way. Thoughts?
"Wicked tiger. He looks proud."
Glenn Close did it that way in the Mel Gibson "Hamlet".
And even though it isn't as explicit, it looks as if Gertrude knows that the cup is poisoned in the Kenneth Branagh version and in the Laurence Olivier one.
But in Shakespeare's original there's nothing to indicate that she does.
Really? I just watched the Mel Gibson one last week, and I didn't get the sense that Glenn Close was playing that way at all. Certainly not as clear as it is in this one.
shareGlenn Close performed it in such a way that she knows that Claudius poisoned it. She didn't know that it was poisoned when she drank, but she finds out as she dies.
shareI haven't seen the Branaugh version, but the way I interpreted the part in the Olivier one is that Gertrude was suspicious of the cup after the pearl was put in, and drank from it more as a method of testing whether her suspicions were true. I'm pretty sure the line where she offers the cup to Hamlet was cut, which led me to think that she also wanted to protect Hamlet as well, if the drink really was poisoned.
I just watched the Gibson "Hamlet", and that actually comes across to me as an accidental poisoning-- she ignores Claudius's warning, happily drinks from the cup, and then offers it to Hamlet. Meanwhile, for the Tennant "Hamlet", Gertrude drinks from the cup, but she doesn't explicitly offer it to her son-- Hamlet just says that he'll wait a bit until he drinks.
I can't remember if the Branagh version has Gertrude offering the cup to Hamlet (and I lent it out to a friend so I can't check...), but in that one she seems pretty oblivious to the poison.
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Was today really necessary?
Yes.
shareDuring the DVD commentary, someone mentions that the Gertrude role is generally considered underwritten. It seems what she is aware of at any point of the play is mostly a mystery.
John Updike wrote a novel "Gertrude and Claudius" speculating on her character's motivation and involvement.
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I didn't really get that either. If she knew, why not just pretend to spill it or something. How exactly is she helping her son by killing herself? And she didn't drink it all so it's not like she was saving him by drinking it herself.
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I figured Gertude finally believed her son about Claudius and knowing the cup was poisoned drank it.
shareThere are other quarto's which state that Gertrude in fact had a hand in the King Hamlet's murder. In that case, she knew the cup was poisened, and I would say that she wanted to repent by sacrificing herself for her son
shareI was just discussing this with a friend yesterday. My opinion is a combination of some of the others stated here. I think once Gertrude talked to Hamlet (after Polonius' death) that she started to go a little nutters, too. She was disgusted with herself, as evidenced by her line to him about seeing into her soul. So when Claudius said not to drink, I think she suspected what he had done, but 1) wanted to protect her son (she kept the cup after drinking, probably thinking that she could keep it from Hamlet until she died and it was obvious that the drink had been poisoned), and 2) was looking for an out - like Ophelia - and this way could commit suicide without committing suicide, if that makes any sense. She was murdered, but she chose to let it happen.
Then again, I could just be blowing smoke. Someone should see if Penny Downie has talked about this in any interviews...
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Was today really necessary?
In the version with Ethan Hawke, the Gertrude knew the cup was poisoned.
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Think cynical thoughts.
It is a while since I have seen it but I think Claire Bloom's Gertrude in the BBC Derek Jacobi knew that the wine was poisoned.
I thought that Pennie Downie was extremely good in this production.