Betrayal, The Male's Perspective

On Monday, December 15th, 2008, at approximately 10:09AM, Mr. P. Murray's ENG4UE-01 class listened to the arguments involving Gertrude's betrayal of her husband and son. Judging this debate were Ms. Megan Marshall, Ms. Stephanie Wilson, and Ms. Jayme Bedell. On the affirmative side, Adam Young, Matt Brown, and Stu Gendron argued that Gertrude did indeed betray her husband and son. On the negative side, Jon Hughes-khatib, Tyler Keith, and Alex van der Mout argued that Gertrude did not betray old and young Hamlet.
Opening arguments saw affirmative debater Adam Young defining betrayal as deception. Mr. Young argued that "without trust, love is not possible", and therefor Gertrude did not even love her family, as she did not trust young Hamlet's actions, plotting to spy on Hamlet with Claudius and Polonius. The negative debater Tyler Keith counter-argued that Hamlet only feels betrayed because Gertrude re-married so quickly (she could have simply moved on quickly). Mr. Keith also argued that Gertrude could not have betrayed her family because the Ghost of old Hamlet begged young Hamlet not to harm his mother because she is not at fault. He further argued that Gertrude could have grieved off-stage, and re-married only to solidify Hamlet's position to the throne.
Rebuttals saw members of the affirmative side arguing that there is no grieving present by Gertrude. Hamlet even goes so far to make a fool of her with the use of his play, and she does nothing but shrug it off. The affirmative side also argued that Gertrude did truly betray her family, and continued to by telling Claudius of Hamlet's insanity. The negative side quickly counter-stated that Gertrude is obviously telling Claudius of Hamlet's insanity so that he may go to school, and plays along with Hamlet so that Claudius thinks not of him as a threat. The negative side continued to oppose the arguments of the affirmative side by taking Mr. Young's definition of betrayal and stating that since there is no deception between Hamlet and Gertrude, there is no betrayal.
Second arguments saw affirmative debater Stu Gendron insisting that Gertrude did not care for Hamlet because she did not mourn his death. He continued this plea by arguing that the play about Hamlet's death did not affect her, therefore her betrayal is obvious. Negative debater Alex van der Mout ignored the affirmative side's repetitive pleas by stating that the Ghost knew Gertrude meant no harm, so it is obvious there is not betrayal on her part. Mr. van der Mout also mentioned that at the time of this Shakespearean play, men did not have to tell their wives of what they did, so Gertrude was likely unaware of Claudius' murderous acts.
To counter this argument, the affirmative side argued that a hallucination (Hamlet's ghost) should not be a basis of argument, because they are not real). The negative side ignored this statement and continued to insist that betrayal is not linked to deception, and that the Queen was not saddened by the play because she did not make the connection. Mr. Hughes-khatib ended the second rebuttal by stating, "We have a Jehovah's Witness, a Mormon, and me on this team - we don't lie."
The free-for-all showed the male's perspectives on this debate, as Mr. Keith opened with a dramatic monologue, which was followed by Mr. Keith winning a sword fight against Mr. Young, and Mr. Hughes-khatib winning a sword fight against Mr. Gendron. Where no authentic arguments were made, Shakespearean insults were thrown left and right, in a disinteresting round.
Final arguments saw the affirmative debater Matt Brown insisting that Gertrude is nothing but selfish throughout the play, marrying only for her own wealth. He further concluded that Gertrude has indeed betrayed young Hamlet by calling him crazy. Negative debater Jon Hughes-khatib countered by correcting Mr. Brown, saying "marrying for wealth is selfish, not betrayal." He continued on to say that Gertrude even shows her care about Hamlet's mental health, caring for him as a whole. Gertrude, he argued, sacrificed herself by drinking poison so Hamlet would not drink it.
Final rebuttals saw repetition of all previous statements. The debate concluded at 10:54AM, when the judges announced the negative side as the winners, due to Mr. Keith's monologue, and many sword fighting wins. The affirmative side lost, although they pointed out more fallacies. Overall, the debate on betrayal gave many male perspectives of both sides of the argument.