Part 36: Gertrude builds a better mousetrap for Claudius (Interlude D.3)
In Hamlet 5.2, Gertrude suspects poison, [1] but doesn't know for certain — a dangerous mystery: she avoids openly accusing Claudius. This scene is a variation of King Aegeus, saving son Theseus from a poison cup from stepmother, Medea — with some genders switched and stakes raised.[2] Gertrude will test the wine by drinking it, without saying that is her reason for doing so. In this she sets a better, simpler mousetrap for Claudius: If it is poison, he could stop her and confess. If not, maybe “mad” Hamlet was mistaken about Claudius? Hamlet’s “Mousetrap” foreshadows (and sheds light on) Gertrude’s. She cannot pluck the mystery’s heart without drinking from the cup to test it, and to test Claudius. By drinking, in effect, Gertrude tells Claudius: If you would poison my son, you must go through me first. In her closet, Hamlet had told her that he would later beg a blessing of her [3]. Testing the wine for poison is the blessing she offers her son, without his having to ask. This ...