How Does Gertrude Present Ophelia's Feelings Towards Women In Hamlet

During Act III, scene 1, when Ophelia is returning all of her old letters to Hamlet, he becomes furious and sends insults back at her. Hamlet tells Ophelia that she should not of believe that he loved her because humans are all naturally rotten at the core. Hamlet says to Ophelia, “You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so (inoculate) our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not” (III. 1, 127-129). In this scene Hamlet expresses false feelings only to upset Ophelia. By telling her that all humans have a naturally horrible nature, no matter how hard they try to be virtuous, he gets her to admit that she was deceived, thus proving her weak mental state. Due to Ophelia’s weakness and the fact that she lets people walk all over her, Hamlet is also able to tell Ophelia that he never really loved her. These comments made by Hamlet cause Ophelia to become upset proving the feminine stereotype of weakness. Due to the fact that Ophelia listens to Hamlet’s opinion in which he says that he never loved her, Ophelia does not get angry at him, showing that she is indecisive over how she feels about

At one point in time, Ophelia was one who Hamlet truly loved and trusted. Ophelia comes and speaks to hamlet to return his gifts from her but Hamlet immediately realizes that something is wrong and finds out that Ophelia is being used by Claudius and Polonius to spy on him to find out the real reason of Hamlet’s facade of madness. After realizing this, Hamlet is incensed and acts as if he is truly insane. Hamlet is clearly hurt because of the fact that Ophelia has been as a pawn in Claudius’ game. The effects of the matter cause him to verbally abuse Ophelia and rejects her love by saying that they will never get married and also degrades women. At this point Hamlet is raged and does not understand how harsh his words can be to a woman, especially a human being in general. In conclusion, the death of Hamlet’s father had looked like as if it has not even affected his mother which he so dearly loved and the one true love he thought he had, seems to him as deceiving and just a pawn for his enemies. These factors continue to diminish the subordinate attitude that Hamlet has towards

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 observed and I, of ladies most deject and wretched, that sucked the honey of his music vows, now see that noble and most sovereign reason, like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh; that unmatched form and feature of blown youth blasted with ecstasy; o woe is me, to have seen what I have seen, see what I see!” (2671-2672). The general love and relationship that was administered between Prince Hamlet and Ophelia were not only complicated but problematic. Throughout the play, the reader gains a deeper insight into their overall involvement and what lead to the total turmoil of their love. Arguably, it might be perceived by the reader if Prince Hamlet even loved Ophelia or if she was only a part of his mind games. Furthermore, the heightened debate of their relationship can be strengthened either way by numerous opinions, but I believe far in Prince Hamlet’s twisted mind he cherished and loved Ophelia.

Hamlet seems to be kind towards Ophelia when Polonius reads Hamlet’s love letter. Hamlet professes to Ophelia, “Doubt thou the stars are fire, / Doubt that the sun doth move, / Doubt truth to be a liar, / But never doubt I love” (2.2. 124-127). Unfortunately, these words towards Ophelia mean nothing. In response to Ophelia returning his love letters, Hamlet responds with, “I never gave you aught” (3.1.105). Any hint that Hamlet truly loved Ophelia is undermined when he outright denies writing those letters to her. Hamlet further insults Ophelia when he says to her, “Or if thou wilt needs marry, / marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what / monsters you make of them” (3.1.149-151). Absolving himself from any accountability for his moody temperament, Hamlet instead puts the blame on Ophelia.

Although Hamlet loves Ophelia, as he clearly indicates when he bursts out at her grave and exclaims, “I loved Ophelia,” he confuses her with harsh comments. When Hamlet encounters Ophelia with the knowledge that someone is watching, he acts cruelly, telling Ophelia “I loved you not.” Hamlet’s emotional games with her, regardless of whether he intends to hurt her, create conflict and feelings of heartbreak in Ophelia. Moreover, Hamlet’s killing of Polonius amplifies his negative effect on Ophelia, leading to her descent into madness and eventual death. Comparatively, Polonius and Laertes affect Ophelia less directly, but they still influence her negatively by contributing to her emotional struggle regarding her relationship with Hamlet.

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.

Ophelia, ever since her introduction, has been introduced to be a sweet and sympathetic person, providing the play with emotional moments, but her death was used as a bait and switch by Shakespeare towards audience members who had expected her to change the play’s somber mood to more hopeful one, which in turn makes the play even more tragic. After she had been visited by an apparently crazed Hamlet, she tells Polonius about the visit, prompting him to believe that the young prince is crazy in love, and goes out to tell the king. After it was explained to Claudius, and Hamlet’s former friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern failed to find the underlying cause of his madness, Polonius makes Ophelia approach Hamlet while he and the king hide and monitor his behavior.

Eventually Ophelia goes insane, after being treated so poorly by the man that she loves, and commits suicide. When Hamlet

Hamlet aids, if not casts, Ophelia into insanity. She becomes torn between two men, her father and Hamlet. Her father believes that Hamlet would use her. He believes Hamlet would taint her and not marry her. Ophelia, with a dashing prince batting his eyes at her is convinced that Hamlet loves her, though he swears he never did. To Hamlet she is a sexual entity, a whim for him to indulge momentarily in (Chapman). Hamlet vowed to Ophelia that he never loved her, but he did so with the intentions of Polonius and Claudius getting wind of it. Ophelia not knowing this began going mad. No man would love her and she was torn between the men she loved. To top it all off the man she intimately loves kills her father. Such a heinous act, thought unintentional, crosses a line far too dreadful to even approach. Now she must choose between Hamlet, her father’s murderer and her father, the man disapproving of her love life.

Hamlet confirmed that he did love Ophelia when he told her to go to a nunnery. Although it is a harsh statement, he tried to throw everyone else off so he had to make it seem like he never loved her. Throughout his letter he mentioned that everything else around her may not be true but his love is real. Hamlet explained that Ophelia was too naive and if Polonius read the letters, he had to act mad to protect her. Near the end of the session, Hamlet described the scene in the graveyard and how he still proved his love for Ophelia. His behaviour changed from extremely upset to more relaxed and reasoned.

Many thoughts and questions are wondering did Hamlet really love Ophelia or was it just a fake? Hamlet shows he really loves Ophelia throughout the story. Some people may disagree to Hamlet not loving Ophelia, but all he was trying to do was make the other think he was crazy. He really was trying to seek revenge for his fathers’ death and to not give himself away; he just acted crazy and did

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.

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's attitude, after seeing the ghost of his father, to Ophelia suggests that he is not fully in control of his actions- even if he knows Polonius and Claudius are listening, and that Ophelia, like his mother, is faithless; it is still hard to explain that, if he loves Ophelia, why he is so cruel to her.  Ophelia's response to his harsh words are immediate, that he is mad- suggesting that their love does run deep, for she cannot bear to conceive that his words are from sanity and that he could be so cruel and unloving to her. 'Now see that noble and most sovereign reason, like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh' (Act 3 Scene 1).