Gertrude

In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Gertrude is Hamlet's mother and Queen of Denmark. Her relationship with Hamlet is somewhat turbulent, since he resents her for marrying her husband's brother Claudius after he murdered the King (young Hamlet's father, King Hamlet). Gertrude reveals no guilt in her marriage with Claudius after the recent murder of her husband, and Hamlet begins to show signs of jealousy towards Claudius.The immediacy of her second marriage suggests that there may be some question as to whether or not she was involved in the murder. Her actions are often suspect, particularly because, according to Hamlet, she scarcely mourned her husband's death before marrying Claudius.

In Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Gertrude's role is smaller, limited to those instances where her character interracts with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Shakespeare's original.

Gertrude in "We Haven't Got There Yet"
In the 1606 production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead performed by a group of time-lost actors, Gertrude was portrayed by a woman named Jessica. William Shakespeare attended a performance, and was surprised that a female character was being played by a woman, rather than a young boy as was the custom. Later, when Shakespeare went back stage to congratulate the company, he was astonished to learn that they were from several centuries in the future. Jessica further vexed him by reciting a sonnet that Shakespeare had yet to write.

Literary comment
In Ruled Britannia, a passing reference is made to a scene where Hamlet sees the ghost of his father, but his mother cannot. This scene is found in the play Hamlet. However, as none of the characters are called by name, and the title of the play is different, "Gertrude" may have been called something different in that timeline.