The mothers featured in Shakespeare's plays encompass a wide range of social positions, personalities, goals and importance in their respective pieces. Whether young and powerful, old and vulnerable, or long dead, the mothers of Richard III, Cymbeline, Hamlet, Macbeth, and The Tempest act in ways that make them appear as largely negative characters. By disrupting family and social bonds and boundaries, engaging in witchcraft, and casting prophecies and curses, the women in question act as destructive figures by disrupting the natural order of the world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay For example, Queen Margaret acts in various unnatural and subversive ways. Her simple entrance in the third scene of Richard III represents a bold legal and political rebellion, as she is banished from the kingdom under penalty of death. Before being noticed by the others, she launches vitriolic barbs at Glouster and Queen Elizabeth, the intensity of which eclipses that of the argument between the two objects of her passionate hatred. Eventually, she escalates her fury to an even more powerful level, demanding attention as she bitterly accuses Glouster and Elizabeth of being "conflicting pirates", stealing what was rightfully hers, namely her husband and her son. sons and the power and security they provided. (1.3.157). Even now, however, without this power and security and in a position that should naturally make her weak and harmless, she commands the attention of the other characters heavily as she utters a series of vengeful curses. Queen Margaret curses the current king, Edward IV, to be assassinated in peacetime and Elizabeth's son, the Prince of Wales, to die violently in infancy, just as her husband and son were dying. Emphasizing her horror for Elizabeth, Margaret continues, condemning the queen to outlive her glory, to live long to mourn the deaths of her children, and to die after many years of anguish as "neither mother, nor wife, nor queen of England” (1.3.208). ). After cursing Dorset, Rivers and Gray in the same way, the old woman continues with her incredible burst of energy to proclaim her most explicit curses yet. Ordering Glouster to remain like the dog through which she resentfully addresses him, Margaret condemns him to confound traitors and friends and still experience a sleep tormented by nightmares brought on by the rodent "conscience worm" (1.3. 221). Disregarding any trace of courtly decorum, she sharply attacks Glouster's deepest flaws and insecurities, enraged, You, elf-marked, aborted and rooted pig! You who were sealed in your nativity, slave of nature and son of hell! You, slander of your mother's heavy belly! You hated the issues from your father's loins! You, rag of honor! you hated (1.3.227-232) After being interrupted, she ends her cutting tirade with her most open prophecy yet, calling Glouster by the name he will take when he treacherously ascends the throne, Richard. Continuing in this vein, she tells Elizabeth that by joining Glouster in marriage, she has "sharpened a knife to kill herself" (1.3.243). Although Dorset calls her crazy and Buckingham claims not to respect any of her statements, her incredibly passionate, explicit and articulate swearing is extremely shocking, especially since she is an elderly lady, supposedly helpless. Even if the charactersdo not yet appreciate the seriousness of Margaret's words, the audience is immediately aware that she is not merely ranting, but rather giving ominous warnings that she is experiencing immense suffering. It is only after Queen Margaret's curses begin to come true that Elizabeth puts forward her elder's damning words. Her sons are murdered as Richard attempts to consolidate and defend his power, and Elizabeth begins to experience the agony of the loss of a child that Margaret had predicted. Desperately grieving, she listens as Margaret rejoices in the truth of her words and in her belief that some form of justice, however late, is being served. The unfolding events remind Elizabeth of another prophecy, that one day she would beg Margaret to teach her how to curse Richard. When she realizes this prediction, the world-weary Margaret advises her to live and view the world in an extremely unnatural way, commanding her: “Do not sleep at night and fast by day; Compare dead happiness with living unhappiness; Think that your children were gentler than them, and that he who killed them was more odious than he; Making your loss better makes the wrongdoer worse; Spinning this will teach you to curse. (4.4.118-123) His advice for living contrasts sharply with that of the other characters, all of whom aspire to success and prosperity. However, Margaret urges Elizabeth to deprive herself of even basic needs such as sleep and food, adding that she must distort her outlook to inflate the goodness of the family and the evil of her enemy. She believes, from experience, that only by living in misery can one curse others with equally deep misery. Another Shakespearean queen mother with disturbing motivations is the wife of Cymbeline. More endowed with traditional power and more secretive in her wickedness than the old and obviously hateful Margaret, the Queen uses different means in her attempts to achieve her desired goals, which transgress family relationships through deception and thoughts and actions murderous. In her first appearance in Cymbeline, the Queen attempts to comfort the soon-to-be separated young lovers, Imogen and Posthumous, by confiding in them that she will be their ally, insisting: "No, be sure that you will not find me, my daughter, After the slander from most mothers-in-law, they look at you with evil eyes. You are my prisoner, but your jailer will give you the keys that lock your restraint. For you, Posthumus, as soon as I can defeat the offended king, I will be recognized as your advocate. (1.1.69-76) Imogen sees through this facade of kindness and caring, accurately surmising that her mother-in-law is indeed looking askance at her. As the action unfolds, the audience discovers that not only will the Queen not try to convince her husband to restore the relationship between Imogen and Posthume, but that she will do everything in her power to destroy. Soon after, the queen lies to her daughter-in-law. In her moment of torment, she attempts to trick Cornelius, the royal physician, into giving him poison which she claims to need for experiments on small animals. Even before she receives a potion, the sight of Pisanio, Posthumus' ever-loyal servant, prompts her to reveal her plans in a sinister aside. She reflected: “Here is a flattering rascal; that's who I'll work on first. He is for his master, An enemy for my son. (1.4.27-29) Previously claiming to act in Posthumous's interest, the Queen now reveals that not only is Posthumous his enemy, but so is anyone, like Pisanio, who would serve him. Fortunately for Pisanio, Imogen is not therethe only person to suspect the queen of horrible motives. Cornelius wisely gives the queen a harmless sleeping potion, so that when she attempts to poison Pisanio while claiming that her potion is a soothing token of an even greater good that she represents for him, the faithful servant will not suffer any harm. After such a betrayal, it happens that No surprise when the Queen, with Cymbeline, passes by her son Cloten, encouraging him as he attempts to win Imogen through song. It is only a matter of time, they claim, before the king's daughter forgets Posthumous and takes Cloten's hand in marriage. However, this is more surprising when the seemingly heartless and cruel queen is overtaken by the fever caused by Cloten's disappearance. But like everything the Queen does, things are not quite what they seem at first glance. She did indeed fall ill after Cloten disappeared while trying to grab Imogen, but her anguish was not just that of a grieving mother. The true root of his illness is only revealed in the final scene of the play, when the extent of his cruel schemes is revealed. Corneille breaks the news to Cymbeline, bluntly lamenting the way in which the queen ended her life, "with horror, dying madly, like her life, which, being cruel to the world, ended most cruel to her -even” (5.5.31-33). With the king's permission, Cornelius details the queen's deathbed confessions. First, the doctor reveals that the queen never loved her husband and only valued his power. He relates that she “married your royalty, was the wife of your place of residence,/abhorred your person” (5.5.38-39). Cornelius goes on to say that the queen considered Imogen a "scorpion" that she would have poisoned if the young woman had not run away (5.5.45). Finally, and most shockingly, the doctor says that the queen planned to poison the king so that her husband would slowly and painfully waste away until she could put her son on the throne. However, as her malicious plan began to unravel, Cornelius recalled, the queen became desperate and shameless; she opened, despite heaven and men, her designs; repented. The evils she had caused did not occur; then Desperate died. (5.5.58-61) The Queen is so cruel that even in her final moments she does not engage in the conventional act of repentance, but rather regrets that her plans did not come to fruition. While Cymbeline's wife behaves in ways that sometimes deceive those around her, Queen Gertrude even leaves the audience in a state of confusion as to her true motivations and character. However, she clearly violates conventional family boundaries and does not meet normal expectations regarding the role of a good mother. In Hamlet, Gertrude is introduced shortly after the death of King Hamlet, brother of Claudius and husband of Gertrude. His introduction comes when Claudius announces that he and Gertrude are going to marry. Hamlet, naturally upset by the recent death of his father, cannot and does not want to join in the festive atmosphere that Claudius advocates. Gertrude, rather than mourning the late king and trying to help Hamlet through the natural process of mourning, joins with Claudius in urging her son to "cast off his knightly color at once" (1.2.68). She goes on to describe the universal and mundane nature of death, depriving Hamlet of a nurturing presence to help him cope not only with the concept of death, but also with the loss of his beloved father. The lack of understanding of Gertrude's words is not only as troubling as the act of marrying her deceased husband's brother, an event over which Hamlet ruminates with.