For A Majority Of History, Societies Have Often Positioned

In medieval times, the word of the man of the house, in this case being Polonius was to be obeyed by the women of the residence. Also the word of the husband is held to a similar standard. Therefore, Ophelia would have felt an obligation to obey both Hamlet and her father. This however, creates controversy within Ophelia herself due to her commitment to both her father and her unnecessary commitment to Hamlet. Her passion for Hamlet seems to be diffused by her greater sense of commitment to her father. Ophelia is not entirely true to Hamlet in that she lies to Hamlet and tells him that her father is at home when he is actually behind a curtain listening in on the conversation. This is evidence that Ophelia is not able to operate and maintain sanity under the pressure from both sources. In her choice of obedience to her father, she in a sense has chosen the course of her fate (which is inevitable doom). But does Ophelia fulfill the requirements of her day as a woman? One way of looking at the issue is the question that was Ophelia driven insane by her desire and love for Hamlet, or was she merely a casualty of a culture that creates unfeasible demands from women? Due to her incapability to create her own decisions, she is vulnerable to the influence of her father and brother and

Throughout history, there is not one group that has more stringent cultural norms than women. In the Elizabethan Era, women were subservient to men in almost all aspects of life, both public and domestic.In the eyes of a man, a woman was a piece of property to be owned; a tangible piece of property that one had rights to. Such is the case with Ophelia in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Hamlet forces social constraints of typical womanhood onto Ophelia, which in turn exacerbates her madness. Due to this pervasive sexism, Ophelia and Hamlet’s death’s are views in sexist lights that make readers view Hamlet’s death one that was heroic, and Ophelia’s one of a damsel in distress.

People have mostly seen women inferior to men because women have been thought of as simple-minded and could not take care of themselves. Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows how men treated and thought of women during the 1500s. There was an order most did not interfere with; however, some did. In the 1500s, women were supposed to conform to men’s wishes. Throughout the play, Ophelia first obeyed her father and brother’s wishes, ignored the social norms later, and then went mad, which caused her to never gain her own identity.

The women in Hamlet are affected greatly after being exploited by the men in the play. Ophelia goes mad – her nature is “indeed distract”- not only because of the exploitation, but also because of her Father’s death,

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,

During the time of Shakespeare, women did not have as much freedom and power as they do today. In the 1500’s women were dominated by men. Decisions that impacted women were decided by men. This dominance is evident with Ophelia in Hamlet. Ophelia was controlled by her father and brother. They told her to stay away from Hamlet; however, Ophelia wanted to continue to see Hamlet. This is an external conflict that Ophelia faces. The internal conflict Ophelia faces is her continuing love for Hamlet, after their breakup. Ophelia eventually went mad and killed herself because she struggled with an internal and external conflict that eventually overwhelmed her.

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 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

Perhaps the most common feminist struggle, even to-date, is regarding a female’s agency over her own body, and her own time. The two leading female characters in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” Getrude and Ophelia, both exemplify different aspects of this struggle—Gertrude as the married widow, whose dead husband, Ole King Hamlet, seeks to claim her sexuality, and current husband, Claudius, who seeks control over her; with Ophelia as her contrast, in the role of Hamlet’s peculiar love interest. These women work to develop, within Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” the relationship of both Ophelia, as the classic objectified female, to the overarching storyline, and of Claudius and Gertrude as a defining male-female relationship that lends itself to an analysis of gender roles, denial of subjectivity, and woman’s place within the domestic sphere.

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.

In the late sixteenth century, men held power, not only over women, but also over their children, servants and/or apprentices they had. In extreme cases, women were sometimes viewed as objects; and in this inferiority women needed to strive for four virtues: obedience, chastity, silence, and piety (Traub, 129-30). Without such virtues women were subjected to the torture of social solitude and ridicule as well as assuring a man's dominance. Women were defined in society primarily by their economic status but what closely followed was one of the virtues they strove to obey, chastity. Being virginal, if unmarried, and faithfulness to her husband, if married, marked how they were viewed by others. If they were not chaste, the entire population may as well know of such and that would bring immense shame upon her family, and any associated with her. Ophelia is a girl caught within a society, backwards it may seem, but appropriate for the century in which Hamlet was written.

Although Ophelia wants to believe Hamlet is true to her and “Hath given countenance to his speech… With almost all the holy vows of heaven” (Act 1, Scene 3), her father’s word is law and what he says she must follow, for “if she refuses Polonius, she risks social ostracism and grave insult to the man who capriciously controls her future” (Campbell 58). A modern audience may expect her to fight for this love but this was unheard of in Shakespearian times when women were often completely dependent on first their fathers and later their husbands almost everything. Essentially, Ophelia is

The modern times of today allow for an open interpretation of most anything, but one thing that remains fairly constant is the understanding of history. When Shakespeare produced and published his play Hamlet, he gave an insight to the historical characteristics of the time period with the language he used and the descriptors of the characters. For example, Ophelia plays a large role in the play by being the love interest of Hamlet and the daughter of the man he killed. Shakespeare depicts her as a obedient family minded young girl which directly correlates to the mindframe of women during this time period. Women were meant to provide children and deal with all inner home related situations. Ophelia exposses herself as the obedinet daughter when she tells her father “’Tis in my memory locked, And you yourself shall keep the key of it” (Act 1 Scene 3). In this day and age most

“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.

Although it may not be clear to the naked eye, the women in Hamlet display certain acts of disobedience through small deeds. Ophelia, Hamlet’s love interest in the play, showcases her lack of obedience and wit through two separate scenes. She first portrays these rebellious characteristics when she first tells her father of the relationship she has with Hamlet. Many people would argue that this does not show any of Ophelia's stray from the norm and some may argue that this scene would more portray a father