Female Sexuality Throughout Shakespeare 's ' Hamlet '

These two passages are engaging to the reader because they provide a rare glimpse into the characters of Gertrude and Ophelia.  For the most part, Hamlet is a male-centered play; it is interesting to observe the role of women within this structure.  Given the small roles assigned to Gertrude and Ophelia, it is imperative to closely examine their descriptions and words, especially in reference to the male characters.

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,

When looking at Hamlet through a feminist lens, Ophelia and Gertrude gain the spotlight. However, with the spotlight on them, they are shown to be dependent upon men and men’s affection, Gertrude needing the affection of Claudius, and Ophelia needing the affection of Hamlet. This shows the women in the play to be seen as weak minded and easily exploited. In the end, not only is Claudius the reason for Gertrude’s death, but Hamlet is the reason for Ophelia’s death. The men they are dependent on control Ophelia and Gertrude’s stories; yet, those men are what drive them to the grave.

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.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a compelling tragedy that to this day still captures reader’s attention. In the play there are only two female characters; when considering the time period in which Hamlet was written, it makes sense.It has been theorized that since Shakespeare wrote the parts of Gertrude and Ophelia for male actors they are not nearly as in depth as the male characters. Considering that the reader sees so little of both female characters it’s fascinating how they fit into the play, each with very different parts but some similar characteristics and opposites. Both female characters had very tragic deaths in the play, by their own hands, that related to their characters quite well. An interesting difference between Ophelia and

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet can be read as a feminist play given Ophelia’s experiences within the Danish society. Through Ophelia’s interactions with the men of the play, the audience can see that the male-dominated society brings inequality, distrust, and destruction. As Ophelia interacts with her brother, her father, and Hamlet, she is completely unable to assert her own independence, and her lack of personal autonomy eventually drives her to madness. These three men all deny Ophelia’s individuality and desire for self-control because they are accustomed to their male-dominated world. However, once Ophelia is driven to madness, she is regarded as an individual and finally has political and social power. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a feminist play located within a misogynistic culture that Ophelia struggles to escape.

     The treatment of women in Hamlet is very troubling. The leading female characters, Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, are pawns or puppets for the men around them. Like chess pieces, they are moved about and influenced by the men they love with little say of their own; in fact, Shakespeare does not even develop their characters.

Gertrude was Hamlet’s mother. She was a selfish and evil woman. She cheated on Hamlet’s father with Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle. She married Claudius a month after her husband’s death.

In refusing her gender roles, she creates havoc in everybody’s lives and also ultimately leads to her own downfall. Gertrude’s decision to marry Claudius not only goes against her religion because of its incestutous nature but also against the wishes of Hamlet, a dominant man in her life. She embraces her decisions and their consequences and rejects everyone else’s opinions. It is because of Gertrude’s decision to defy her religion and classic Elizabethan ideals by marrying Claudius that Claudius ends up coming to power. She is unable to be controlled by any males in her life. However, this backfires when, true to her character, she defies and betrays Claudius as well. Claudius’ plan to kill Hamlet using the poisoned wine is instantly foiled when Gertrude drinks the wine despite Claudius having explicitly said, “Do not drink” (5.2.86). When she dies it exposes Claudius’ plan which leads to his death. Her rejection of her traditional role in society creates a chaos that resonates throughout the whole story. This supports the belief that society is only functional when women remain virtuous and obedient. Gertrude dies because she did not obey male authority thus trying to portray that a woman's compliance is indisputably important in the patriarchal society of the play and Elizabethan England. This is demonstrated by the dramatic collapse of the social order in the play that is initiated by both Gertrude and

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.

The female characters were connected to their authoritative male counterparts by a dominated relationship which created the scale for inequality. Ophelia was labeled as a dependent woman. She was always seeking for the instructions and advice of her father on how to conduct her relationship with Hamlet. “Do you believe his tenders, as you call them? I do not know, my lord, what I should think.” (Shakespeare I.iii.103-104) By bluntly stating “what I should think” and referring to Polonius as “my lord”, Shakespeare is demonstrating the obedience and dependence on the male authority figure in the Elizabethan era. These terms of address illustrate a scale of inequality amongst gender roles not only within the play but within the Elizabethan era. Gertrude is also characterized as a damsel in distress who is in need of a man in her life, as demonstrated by Hamlet’s reaction to Gertrude’s hasty marriage to King Claudius. “Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him as if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on; and yet within a month – let me not think on’t – frailty, thy name is woman.” (Shakespeare I.ii.143-146) Through Hamlet’s lens, Gertrude’s “increase in appetite” reveals her dependability on men to be the result of her need to fulfill her sexual desires. Through the explosive declaration, “frailty, thy name is women”, Hamlet extends the judgment of sexual dependence on men to all women and reveals a weakness among women in the Elizabethan era to not be able to live on their own and to be reliant upon men to fulfill their sexual appetite. The strict gender roles and the lack of authority given to women, illustrates the strong need for male dependability by Gertrude and

“Frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2. 150)! This controversial line, followed by several more from the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, displays a common view towards women that portrays them as being weak and reliant on men. Throughout the play, two women, Ophelia and Gertrude, are shown to be dependent on the men in their lives. They both take on a senselessly obedient state of mind. Even though they share this common characteristic, Ophelia and Gertrude are very different characters. Ophelia is a beautiful, young woman who is the love interest of the protagonist, Hamlet. Ophelia obeys her father, Polonius, without hesitation and has very little experience with making her own decisions. Gertrude was the wife of Old Hamlet, and is now the wife of Claudius, the current king and Old Hamlet’s brother. Gertrude desires affection and status more than she cares about the truth of what happened to her late husband. The men in this play have no sense of how they treat the females. This patriarchal way of life was prominent in the late 16th century and early 17th century which was about the time that Hamlet was written and performed. This relationship between the genders is interconnected within the play and with society during that particular time period. The characters of Ophelia and Gertrude were solid examples of how women were viewed as inferior to men during this time in history.

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. In this essay I will look at Hamlets perception of women in general but particularly Gertrude and Ophelia. I will also look at the historical presentation of women, comparing Hamlets time to today and seeing if the symbolic role that the females characters have is related to the period. Also I will look at Hamlets madness, whether it was real or not and also whether women could be the cause of it. Finally I will look at a possible ‘Oedipus complex’ in Hamlet. ‘Hamlet’ as the title suggests is based around the character Hamlet Prince of Denmark. This is why women are often presented the way that Hamlet sees them. Also Hamlet lives in a very enclosed world

Hamlet is regarded by many as Shakespeare’s most well-known work. A tragedy focused on revenge, this work awed the Elizabethan audience with its shocking themes and content. The play follows Hamlet, a prince who is fixated on avenging his father, who was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle Claudius. Throughout the entirety of the play, Hamlet behaves erratically and irrationally, focused entirely on revenge. This play features two prominent female characters, Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, and Ophelia, a girl in love with Hamlet. Out of the entire cast, these are the only two females with names, and they are not