Gender Inequality In Much Ado About Nothing

This essay is an exploration of the play Much Ado About Nothing, and the gender roles involved in the deceit and trickery that transpire and develop throughout the story. As gender is one of the main themes in the plot, identifying the expected gender roles of the characters, and how the contrast between characters highlights these expected roles. In Shakespeare 's time, known as the Elizabethan Era, men and women’s roles and expectations were starkly different. Elizabethan women, no matter what social class, were inferior to men. A female’s role in the family was to get married so they could increase their family 's wealth and power and to produce heirs. Men, on the other hand, had all of the power within a household. Males were expected

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.

sons are my brethren, and, truly, I hold it a sin to match a kindred"

The patriarchal society is a setting of ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ that shows male domination and women suppression. Men like Don Pedro, Benedick and Claudio returns with victory from the battle. It implies the boasted male ego. Male honor serves as a crucial importance to men in the play. Leonato questions the messager that ‘How many gentlemen have you lost in this action?’ It hints that physical strength is a definition of manhood. With Don Pedro, Claudio and Benedick rise of power as a soldier with victory, they hold great power as a upper social class. In Act 1, the exposition of the play emphasize on men’s talk, only the outspoken Beatrice can have a word or two, but the men still dominate the

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 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

     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.

Due to Hamlet’s psychological state, he felt confused and betrayed by his mother. His mother marrying his dead father’s brother opened gates to his madness. To Hamlet’s mind, women represent frailty; they are weak and regard them as an embodiment of weakness. He referred to his mother as a morally and spiritually weak woman as her incestuous inconstancy drove her to remarry immediately after her husband’s death and that she committed a sin. The most notable frailty of Gertrude seems to be that, whether by nature or nurture, she cannot exist without men. He recorded saying that Gertrude, “a little month or ere those shoes were old, with which she followed mo poor father’s body” (1.2.147-148). She needs a man as her guide to her perception

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

The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, is set in an anti-feminist era. Women traditionally have been seen inferior to men. This was an intellectual as well as a physical issue. Women were to raise a family, cook, clean, be pretty and not be smarter than any man. The main characters Ophelia and Gertrude are both depicted with these characteristics as powerless and frail people. This illustration of helpless women affects one's understanding of what their true selves could be.

“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.

First, women are shown unable to make to make decisions; even simple choices, if made against a man’s advice, turn into chaos. At the conclusion of the play, Hamlet, Gertrude makes a choice that goes against what her husband wants:

For many years, in the older eras, women had always been categorized as insignificant, and worthless. Because of this, women were forced to conform to the stereotype of depending on men, and were subjected to what the men said. William Shakespeare demonstrates this in the play Hamlet. The women are portrayed to deserve their fate because of their inability to be independent and their ability to be easily influenced. In the play, Shakespeare demonstrates that both Gertrude and Ophelia deserve their fate.