Essay On The Role Of Women In Hamlet

In the contemporary world of today, women are allowed to express their feelings, thoughts and they have unlimited amount of freedom, however during William Shakespeare’s time women were not allowed to act on stage as men were the ones who played the roles of women. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet the female characters are characterized with very little roles, however they directly or indirectly influence the actions by the men in their lives. Literary and historical scholars conclude that women were not interested political, economic, or social equality with men during this time in history. In the play the female characters are restricted in a patriarchal society as they are portrayed firstly as weak, secondly as obedient and lastly as dependent. These characters include, Gertrude who is the queen of Denmark, and Ophelia who is the love interest of Hamlet. The play revolves around the theme of revenge and how these women had a big influence in the plot of the play.

Throughout Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” women are used as method for men to get what they want. The men in Hamlet, either directly or indirectly continuously use women to acquire something from other men. The only two women in the entire play are Gertrude and Ophelia, who are consistently used by the current king, Claudius, Polonius, and Hamlet. Ophelia is exploited by Polonius and the King (mainly together), and is also used by Hamlet. Gertrude is used by the King, as well as Polonius. In “Hamlet,” the women throughout the play are used as pawns for men to get what they want, mainly from the other men.

In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare, the author, creates female characters that occupy very different roles than in his other plays. In this play, Hamlet plays opposite two women who are used by the men around them in order to further their own interests. One woman is named Ophelia. In many of Shakespeare’s other plays, he creates women that are very strong and play a very real role in the life of the protagonist. In Hamlet, however, Ophelia occupies a very different role-she exemplifies a pawn of the men around her. She is used not only by her father and his associate the King, but also by her supposed lover, Hamlet. This is a very different role for a woman in a Shakespearian play. Also, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude,

Hamlet can be viewed through a feminist lens by focusing on Ophelia and Gertrude and how various other male characters treat them. Ophelia and Gertrude are dismissed as characters through the entire play because they are women. Hamlet refers to women as “frailty,” implying that they are weak and are dependent on men. Reason suggests that with out the males, Ophelia and Gertrude would simply have no story.

In today’s world, women of all ages are given equal rights and freedom. In Shakespeare’s time, woman’s obligations were to follow the rules of the men and obey the men in their lives’. “Frailty, thy name is woman;” Hamlet implies the powerlessness of the two women characters in the play. In Hamlet, the roles of Gertrude and Ophelia are very important in that they are the only two female characters in the play. Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark and mother of Hamlet, and Ophelia, the lover of Hamlet, are characterized as controlled and lost in their lives because they are being used by the men throughout the play. Fundamentally, Shakespeare illustrates the nature of Gertrude and Ophelia as powerless victims by the women being subjects of men,

The Role of Women in Hamlet in William Shakespeare's Play Gertrude and Ophelia, the only two women in Hamlet, reflect the general status of women in Elizabethan Times. Women were suppressed by the males in their lives (brothers, fathers, and partners) and were always inferior. Ophelia and Gertrude have little or no power due to restricted legal, social and economic rights that were found in Elizabethan society. The male characters in Hamlet reflect this sexist view point, represented by Hamlet’s judgement that “frailty, thy name is woman”. This view was not uncommon in Shakespeare’s time and heavily influenced Shakespeare to present women the way he does in Hamlet.

Ophelia tries to obscure the truth because she is afraid of disobeying her father. It is obvious that Hamlet is already well aware that Polonius is watching after he states “Let the doors be shut upon him, the he may play the fool nowhere but in’s own house.”(3.1.132-133) Ophelia could have easily told Hamlet the truth, but due to her undying love for her father chooses to deceive Hamlet. Ophelia’s deceit leads Hamlet to start questioning her honest nature. Hamlet begins tearing apart by Ophelia because he is so irritated with her for being insincere to him. He states to Ophelia that “you should not have believed me: for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not.” (3.1.117-119) Hamlet states that he does not love Ophelia because he believes that through this scheme, Ophelia will reveal the truth that Polonius is in fact behind their “unplanned” meeting. Ophelia had betrayed Hamlet by lying to him, thus Hamlet felt the need to betray her. If Ophelia had just been honest with Hamlet he would have not become so discourteous towards her, but she was not which resulted in him denying his love for her. Just as Hamlet was deceived, Ophelia was also because it was her lies that led to the ending of their love. Ophelia’s dishonesty resulted in her becoming a mockery of Hamlets antic disposition. Hamlet uses Ophelia to uncover

Perception of Women in William Shakespeare's Hamlet In Hamlet, Shakespeare carefully represents Getrude and Ophelia. Individually, Gertrude is essentially seen as weak and immoral whilst Ophelia is seen as meek and a victim of society. Collectively, they are seen to fulfil a conventional 16th century role, and it is as our beliefs and views of women change that we are able to perceive the characters in a different angle.

While we humans live in a society governed largely by men we have little idea of what a matriarchal society would be like as it clearly doesn’t exist in today’s society. For centuries we have fought for gender equality, but we are reminded in films, plays and novels that Women are submissive and the weaker gender. Shakespeare’s written tragedies had clearly showed his patriarchal perspective with his character Ophelia from Hamlet, whose motivation and dominance is powered by Her father Polonius. Gertrude is another women from Hamlet who is represented as a weak minded, dependant character who has no power or control over what she does. If we look at these two characters from a Feminists point

In Hamlet, the female characters can be seen as being subservient to men. This goes on to show how Shakespeare, goes against the feminist theory by not creating equality between all the characters. One of the main character’s Ophelia can be seen as being weak and undermined in the play. She spends most of her time following the actions of her father, Polonius and boyfriend, Hamlet, with little to no say in her own opinion on topics. Polonius displays his dominance over Ophelia when he expresses his opinion on her relationship with Hamlet. He informs Ophelia on exactly what her next actions need to be when dealing with Hamlet. He even goes as far as warning her to not go against his wishes because it will “ tender [him] a fool”, showing his superiority over Ophelia’s actions (I . iii. 109). The inequality can also be shown when comparing Laertes’s life with Ophelia's. Laertes is left alone to travel France, while Ophelia is stuck to follow her father's orders. Hamlet also tries to show his

Ophelia is in love with Hamlet. She shares herself with him and is beginning a relationship, she wants to be with hamlet and believes he loves her "My lord, he hath importuned me with his love in honorable fashion"(pg 17 line 110). Polonius instructs Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet. Polonius states that Hamlet doesn’t really love her and is only with her for one thing, and as soon as he gets enough he will want no more.

In this essay, one will be discussing the position of women in regards to men in Shakespeare’s text, Hamlet and The Tempest. The intent of this essay will be to present arguments both for and against the idea of women acting as spectators for men, but not as actors themselves. In accordance to the Oxford English dictionary, a spectator is defined as a person who watches at a game or other event. The texts studied and sourced in this essay, will be used to discuss whether or not women were portrayed to be passively existing through the strong, powerful, male characters. During the period in which the Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Hamlet were written, women were “not being permitted to be the women they were: to use themselves appropriately,

The powerful define the everything beneath them because their downfall leads to the destruction of the will of the powerless Lenses influence the ideas of approaches that could help define societies. The idea of a lens leads to reflections of cultures, just as Marxism does through literature. Marxism focuses on the idea that whoever controls the most power controls society. Division of the social classes introduces the idea that to end the conflict between those classes, it must be with the literature that reflects the culture. Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, relates to class division through the dialogue between characters and the own thoughts of Hamlet. Looking through a Marxist lens at Hamlet is part of Marxist literature due to the the portrayal of the relationship between the royalty and the less important characters while also showing the alienation of the less fortunate working class.

How does Shakespeare’s portrayal of Ophelia, Queen Gertrude, and the reactions of male characters to these women reveal larger social attitudes to women in Shakespeare’s time. Shakespeare’s work is still influential today as evidenced by the fact that Disney released an adaptation of Hamlet called “The Lion King”, and the theatrical adaptation has made $6.2 billion in ticket sales. Within Shakespeare’s plays, he often indirectly comments on the social flaws of his society. In the play Hamlet, he provides an important portrayal of the negative treatment of women in the age of Elizabethan society by way of revealing the generalization of women, inequality between men and women, and the stereotyping of women as either angelic or evil seductress.

Shakespeare was possibly the first writer to portray women as strong, crafty, and intelligent. However, he has still received criticism from feminists about his representation of women. Some have even accused him of misogyny. There are only two female characters in the play Hamlet - Gertrude, Hamlet's mother and Ophelia, daughter of Polonius. Any debate based upon gender roles must therefore focus upon these two characters.