Feminist Criticism Of Hamlet By William Shakespeare

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.

The equality of men and women has been a controversial topic throughout various eras of time. Previously observed as delicate and feeble individual’s incapable of independence, women have not always had to opportunity to voice their own opinions. This is clearly demonstrated within the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare by two prominent female characters, Queen Gertrude and the love interest of Prince Hamlet, Ophelia. Depicted as a reserved leader who favors luxury and affection over loyalty and strong morals, Gertrude often seeks guidance from the male figures around her. Similarly, Ophelia has a malleable personality built upon the opinions of her father and the endearment of Hamlet,

Throughout centuries men have been seen as the gender that have more rights than women. According to Diane Elizabeth Dreher’s 1986 book, Domination & Defiance: Fathers and Daughters in Shakespeare, she explains that a woman during renaissance England, “was to conform patiently and silently to the will of her father and, later, to that of her husband, accepting commands, correction, physical abuse, with sweetness and humility” (16). As a result of a renaissance society that promotes and even encourages this type of behavior, men believe that they have more power. When someone believes that they have more power than another person a pattern of disrespect, and in the most extreme cases, physical and emotional abuse are likely to follow. In Hamlet, Shakespeare contrasts two female leads of the play, Ophelia and Gertrude, through reduction to appearance, instrumentality, and silencing in order to show that during this time period, the objectification of women in the play was parallel to the objectification of women during renaissance England.

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.

As stated by Tim Gillespie in his text Doing Literary Criticism, the concept of literary criticism is the field of “interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating” literary works. Thus, literary criticism is not objective; rather, it varies subjectively depending on the critic and the lens, or school, they choose to view the work of literature through. Though the actual content of literature is of extreme importance, the way it is approached is of nearly equal magnitude, as varying approaches open new and insightful views texts previously regarded as static. The feminist lens is one major school of literary criticism.

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

During the Renaissance, it was common for women to behave a certain manner in a patriarchal society. Acting as a subordinate to their husband and fathers, women were expected to listen to the men in their lives and carry out their wishes. This cultural expectation exists in Shakespeare’s Hamlet through the father-daughter relationship between Polonius and Ophelia. Polonius is an overbearing father who ultimately plays the most influential role for Ophelia. He demands to have control over every aspect of her life, whether it’s social, emotional, or marital. Without a mother-like figure to follow, Ophelia is forced to succumb to the standards that men have put upon her. Both characters illustrate the superficiality to their personas and how they each curb their intentions due to traditional values.

In the play Hamlet written by Shakespeare, a young prince is trying to avenge the untimely murder of his father. Later on, Hamlet pretends to be insane, when finding that his father is dead and then uses others to get what he needed. As this happens a girl about Hamlet’s age struggles with Polonius her father and Laertes her brother. Poor Ophelia is unable to fight back all those against her as she slowly goes insane. Ophelia has the idea that she doesn’t like to be undermined and tries to create this new image of herself. When this play is read from a feminist perspective, the way it is interpreted the work is in the mindset of advocating for women 's rights. The feminist side of things shows how women are represented, but we would rather have a fair representation. Ophelias’ death was caused by the raging madness of Hamlet.

As a child born and raised in the age of tolerance I found myself confused by the blatant sexism so heavily featured in Hamlet. The modern woman being depicted as strong and self-sufficient I wondered how women could have been depicted as weak and submissive. Once my confusion cleared I realized that the depiction of women in Hamlet was one sided, controlled by the misogynistic males dominating the narrative. Gertrude and Ophelia, the only women featured in the play are only characterized by the male influence in their lives and lack full characterization. They are depicted as weak and considered supporting characters in a narrative that requires their involvement.

In William Shakespeare play, the chief protagonist hamlet shows a negativity view towards women in his life. Hamlet consider that his mother and Ophelia have deceived him through their action; Gertrude married only a mother after hamlet father died and Ophelia heeds her father right not to see hamlet despite confessing her love to him. In this way hamlet views this two women as a fragile and too dependent on the man in his lives which makes him say “fragily, thy name is woman (page 271). In a soliloquy in the second scene of Act I, deploring his mother’s indecent marriage, Hamlet says “Frailty, thy name is women!” Most critics have interpreted this statement as are mark toward all the women in general referring for their moral weakness and distrustfulness advocating the fact of Hamlet’s being a misogynist. But it is also not inappropriate to say that, Hamlet, in this statement, does not mean “frailty” for moral weakness or distrustfulness. By “frailty” he can also mean the flaw of being dependence upon men in women. Gertrude is a woman who values status and affection more urgently than moral righteousness and respect. She is extremely dependent upon men in her life. That is why after king Hamlet’s death, when she finds her position insignificant; she quickly gets married to Claudius only to restore her earlier status which she values more

Sexism in Hamlet For centuries, gender inequality has been an issue in societies around the world. Whether it is the fourteenth century or present day, men are seen as superior beings to women. In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, it is obvious that women constantly live in the shadow of men and are portrayed as mindless and foolish beings. For example, Gertrude is seen as a foolish character due to her sexual relationship with Hamlet's uncle and Ophelia is mindlessly willing to give up her life for a man. Shakespeare created these characters to show how women are controlled by the decisions of men.

Linette Martir Ms. Given Honors English 21 December 2017 Queen Gertrude and Ophelia as Servants in a Royal Castle of Males “We need everyone to be a feminist. Feminism is the fight for the equality of sexes, not for the domination of one sex over another” (Vallaud-Belkacem). Literary theories are lenses through which one can see in literature. An example of a literary theory is the feminist theory, which is created to enlighten others on social problem that are ignored or misinterpreted. Feminism existed since the 1500’s but the theory was created in the 1900’s. Due to the creation of the feminist theory, an audience can look through the feminist lens when reading a book or even watching a movie. This allows an audience to detect how women are portrayed or treated. Throughout the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Gertrude and Ophelia are unimportant to the plot. They are not only unimportant, they are also mistreated. Examining through the feminist lens in the 16th century, William Shakespeare reveals the way in which women are mistreated by men in Hamlet utilizing Gertrude and Ophelia as victims. With that in mind, the male roles in Hamlet are dominant because women are lower than men. Both Hamlet and Polonius mistreat Gertrude and Ophelia as if it is normal. The reason Shakespeare normalizes their controllable ways, is because during the time period Hamlet takes place mistreating women was not unusual. Since it is normal, Polonius and Hamlet treat the women poorly without realizing they are incorrect. Shakespeare realized this was an issue so he decided to expose the problem through his writing. Ironically, Gertrude is the Queen and the mother of Hamlet, but that does not stop him from having control over her. To explain further, in Gertrude’s bedroom Hamlet disrespects his mother greatly by making her feel guilty for her choices. He believes “...Gertrude is a moral self who must be brought to account for her sins and must work through the same confrontation of guilt as every other member...” (Montgomery 102). As Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude should have power over him and have the strong voice that can stop him. Instead Hamlet controls Gertrude and demands her to do things such as never to “let the bloat King

For many years in the past women played a small role socially, economically and politically. Many works in the literature demonstrate this during the Elizabethan Era. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia, Hamlet’s love and also the daughter of Polonius. She is a prime example of this as her father implores her to see Hamlet further more because of the possibility that he takes her name and her virginity. Ophelia truly loves Hamlet and was devastated when he shuns her in addition to pretending to be mad. She was affected by many of the decisions as well as the actions of the male characters in the play, including Hamlet, Polonius and Laertes. Throughout the play, women are very dependent on men. Men felt superior to women during Hamlet 's lifetime, in which they thought that they could make the women’s decisions and try to change how their thoughts and feelings. During this time, women were treated as the weaker sex because they had no voice of their own. Women were expected to be pure and innocent while men could be as immoral as they so desired. As for Ophelia, she depends on Hamlet for his love and then later on in the play she becomes strongly frightened by Hamlet and his actions.

Gertrude’s weakness enables her to place her emotions ahead of moral righteousness and what is the right act for her to do. Her emotions are expressed when she makes the immediate decision of marrying Claudius, while betraying the love she had with her original husband, Old King Hamlet. Hamlet is disgusted by Gertrude’s decisions to marry Claudius and she begins to lose the respect he had for her. For instance in Hamlet’s soliloquy, he declares, “She married. O, most wicked speed, to post/ With such dexterity to incestous sheets!” (I.ii.161-162). This further demonstrates Hamlet’s profound disapproval of such forbidden and violated actions between his mother and uncle. By turning against traditional laws, Hamlet takes Gertrude into different regards and is left unsettle upon his true feelings for her. Despite Gertrude’s impetuous measures, Hamlet is greatly impacted emotionally further triggering his decision of stating, “frailty, thy name is woman!” (I.ii.150). Hamlet illustrates his anger by making the generalization that all women are frail and weak in character, centering his statement towards his mother. More so, Gertrude is morally weak because she clearly did not devote enough time mourning the death of Old King Hamlet, before marrying Claudius. Not only does she establish weakness,but she is also confined in meeting her needs of security and guidance from a male figure. On the other hand, Ophelia is defined

Imagine being told that you are loved, and then are treated like you are worth nothing. This is a reality for the women in Hamlet written by William Shakespeare; Gertrude and Ophelia. Women in the 1600s were seen as objects with no value and were only there for the convenience of the male in their life. Gertrude and Ophelia are the only two female characters in the play, and there are many males in the play that treat them with disrespect. Hamlet is the big offender of these two women in the play. The relationship between Ophelia and Hamlet is confusing because it goes back and forth, where Hamlet “loves” Ophelia, to where he “never loved her,” disrespecting her beyond belief. Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, is married to Claudius, King Hamlet’s brother, and this frustrates Hamlet. Hamlet lashes out at Gertrude for this marriage, being mistreated by her own son. In Hamlet, both main characters are portrayed as objects with little to no significance and are treated with no respect by their male counterparts.