Hamlet, By William Shakespeare Essay

William Shakespeare's Hamlet There were many factors which affected Shakespeare when he wrote Hamlet, one of which was the fashion at the time were all about revenge tragedies, the audience absolutely loved to watch violence. Shakespeare knew that, so most of his plays were in that category. When this play was written in 1601, Shakespeare's father died and also one of his generous patron and friend imprisoned due to the failure of a rebellion led by Lord Essex. Shakespeare himself had also taken part in the plot by authorizing a performance of Richard II on the eve of the events.

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,

As the play progresses, the audience is introduced to Queen Gertrude, who was had married the murderer of her first husband, and Ophelia, Hamlet's love interest. Throughout the play, the interactions and words of Hamlet and the other male figures surrounding the two ladies contribute to the overall message about gender hierarchy that Shakespeare seems to be expressing to his audience. Throughout the play, Hamlet's diction and tone in his soliloquies, Laertes' tone and action, the foil developed between the characters, as well as the actions of the women themselves serve to emphasize Shakespeare's and his time period's views towards women. Hamlet reinforces the Elizabethan idea that women, being weak emotionally and mentally, require the guidance of a strong male figure to guide them through their

From the outset and throughout, Shakespeare in his tragedy ‘Hamlet’ presents the plight of women through the leading ladies of the play, Ophelia and Gertrude. In the patriarchal society Shakespeare presents, misogyny is far from uncommon, as both women are treated as puppets and pawns in the games of the men central to their lives. As per the context of the play, Ophelia is under the control of her father as she is not yet married, her youth also leaving her vulnerable to foul play. However, when a woman becomes married she is now under the direction of her husband which is evident in the treatment of Gertrude by Claudius. The passive acceptance of things these women endured all their lives eventually leads to their own destruction, and as

    Gertrude and Ophelia occupy the leading roles for females in the Shakespearean drama Hamlet. As women they share many things in common: attitudes from others, shallow or simple minds and outlooks, etc. This essay will delve into the various facets of what they hold in common.

Throughout the Elizabethan era, women were often considered insignificant and were never granted important parts in the plays. However, during the 1600’s, women gained an appreciation for the existence of their characters and played major roles in which impacted the progress of the play as a whole and other characters involved. This is evident in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where two major female characters, Gertrude and Ophelia, contributed as crucial roles to the development of the tragedy. The plot of the play could not have been developed if it weren’t for Gertrude’s, the Queen of Denmark and mother of Hamlet, marriage to Claudius. Her hasty actions further worsened her relationship with Hamlet, and ultimately brought negative

One of the main arguments surrounding the famous play, Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, is focused on whether the main character Hamlet was actually insane, or just pretending to be. Shakespeare does not directly state Hamlet’s madness but rather he hints at it throughout the play and this lets the reader decide on their own interpretation. Hamlet’s insanity can be seen in his reckless decisions, extreme mood swings, and daring manner in which he speaks to the king. However it can be judged reasonable because being mad temporarily satisfies his conscience, gives him some protection from Claudius, and it buys some time for Hamlet to prove Claudius’s guilt. In the play as a whole, Hamlet’s choice to be mad characterizes him as intelligent

Most productions present Gertrude and Ophelia as sympathetic victims of Hamlet’s cruelty. As your starting point, refer to either the closet scene or the nunnery scene and, paying close attention to the language, show how it reveals the interaction between Hamlet and the women characters here and throughout the play.

“To be or not to be” (3.1.64)—not whether to live or to die, but the use of “to be” is an important question. Shakespeare uses the simple infinitive of “to be”, in the opening of the most famous soliloquy in Hamlet, or perhaps all of Shakespeare, as opposed to the more complex phrase, “to live or to die”. Before Hamlet, the speaker of this soliloquy, analyzes all of mankind’s reasoning behind the subject of life, something both painful and long, and death, something both inevitable and muddied in mystery, he uses the simplest and shortest of infinitives. Seemingly, a simple phrase cannot give justice to some of the more complex and mysterious questions human nature asks; finding answers to why humans suffer through life when they

In William Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Hamlet, each character stands out in unique ways. Madness is one of the crucial themes as Shakespeare depicts the chaotic turbulence in the Hamlet family and the court of Denmark. Though she is generally read as a minor character, Ophelia’s madness reveals the struggle of the female character that attempts to have a voice of her own. Ophelia’s life certainly seems tragic based on Aristotle 's definition of tragedy, which says that “A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; inappropriate and pleasurable language;...in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions (1).” Throughout the play, Ophelia’s character demonstrates a three-phased change from a timid daughter who lacks the will of her own, to a temptress on a mission who suddenly reveals the bawdy part of her nature, and finally to the mad woman who liberally expresses her oppressed feelings and sorrow with lyrics and songs.

Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, focuses on the life of Prince Hamlet and his quarrels with: death, despair, deceit with the demented definitions of our dimension. Shakespeare, rather than reduce his Hamlet to simply a ‘melancholy prince’ enables him to slide along the spectrum of melancholy and joy, celebrating the différence of that binary, moreover bringing the character to a death he both craves and fears. Hamlet lives in the extreme of death notwithstanding deceit: with his uncle/Claudius, killing his father/Old Hamlet, his love/Ophelia, being lost and ultimately dying, him killing Ophelia’s father/Polonius, killing Polonius’ son/Laertes, killing Claudius and Claudius killing Gertrude/Hamlet’s Mother, ultimately Hamlet dying, then after it all we find out that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern died. Above all the black bile of his own creation, Hamlet thoroughly enjoys himself, going as far as to joke while he is being strangled.

Hamlet, a tragic play written by Shakespeare in the 1600s, portrays the struggle of young Hamlet in the face of avenging his father’s death. While major themes throughout this tragedy include death, loss, madness, revenge, and morality, another important theme to include in discussion is the theme of womanhood. The only two female characters in a cast of thirty-five include Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, both of whom die unfortunate deaths. The importance of womanhood and female sexuality is shown through several literary techniques; though, most importantly, the characters Queen Gertrude and Ophelia are both symbols for female sexuality. Both characters are developed as negative and positive sides to womanhood through dialogue as other characters approach them, their own actions, and most importantly, their individual deaths.

Hamlet has many elements that highlight different topics, misogyny and women’s issues are thoroughly touched on throughout the play. Ophelia and Gertrude being the main female characters throughout the entire play are criticized, humiliated, harassed, misunderstood, and stereotyped simply for being women. Throughout the play Hamlet struggles with his emotions towards women and expresses it through his madness. Although in the time period when Hamlet was written women were viewed as weak and their only purpose was to give birth to reproduce children. In other plays written by Shakespeare women were the weaker beings such as Romeo and Juliet.

Women are truly the backbones of society. They continue to bloom and flourish, helping to further grow and expand communities and the world, but are often cast to the shadows because of stereotypes placed on them dating from centuries ago. It is no secret that Shakespearean plays set basis for these stereotypes, but because of the world views on women's rights in Shakespeare's time, his female characters were allowed to break free from the confines of society. In Shakespeare's most famous play, Hamlet, the two leading ladies, Ophelia and Gertrude, break free from the standard by showcasing various acts of defiance, choosing their own paths and _______________________________. Shakespearean plays often portray women as fragile, negligible and untrustworthy people. Because of the dynamics of Hamlet, the women in the play closely fit the accepted stereotype but, prove to be the strongest characters written in this tragic tragedy by defying the restrictions placed upon them.