You are the Queen, your husband’s brother’s wife, / And, would it were not so. You are my mother.
Act III, Scene 4 · Hamlet
Context
Hamlet confronts his mother after she asks if he has forgotten who she is. He responds by naming her multiple identities—queen, Claudius's wife, and his mother—piling them up in a way that makes her see all three roles at once.
Analysis
The syntax here mirrors Hamlet's disgust: he starts with her public title ('the Queen'), adds the grotesque marriage relation ('your husband's brother's wife'), and only then lands on the personal bond ('my mother'). By delaying 'mother' until last and wedging in the interrupted wish 'would it were not so,' Hamlet traps Gertrude between formal identity and family tie, making it impossible for her to claim innocence in either role. The structure forces her—and the audience—to hold all three facts in mind simultaneously, exposing the contradictions she has been living.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Hamlet refuses to let Gertrude compartmentalize her guilt—his sentence structure deliberately prevents her from separating 'queen' from 'mother' or ignoring the incestuous marriage in between.