Sex in Othello and Hamlet Essay

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.

In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare, the author, creates female characters that occupy very different roles than in his other plays. In this play, Hamlet plays opposite two women who are used by the men around them in order to further their own interests. One woman is named Ophelia. In many of Shakespeare’s other plays, he creates women that are very strong and play a very real role in the life of the protagonist. In Hamlet, however, Ophelia occupies a very different role-she exemplifies a pawn of the men around her. She is used not only by her father and his associate the King, but also by her supposed lover, Hamlet. This is a very different role for a woman in a Shakespearian play. Also, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude,

Perception of Women in William Shakespeare's Hamlet In Hamlet, Shakespeare carefully represents Getrude and Ophelia. Individually, Gertrude is essentially seen as weak and immoral whilst Ophelia is seen as meek and a victim of society. Collectively, they are seen to fulfil a conventional 16th century role, and it is as our beliefs and views of women change that we are able to perceive the characters in a different angle.

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.

Both Gertrude and Ophelia’s sexualities are seen as detrimental things by the various men in the play, with Hamlet especially focusing on this. For Hamlet, the women in his life are seemingly put on pedestals, and the worst thing they could be are sexually impure. Hamlet begins losing his sanity when Ophelia is kept from him, and when she tries to talk to him, he denounces her crudely and insults her sexuality (“Get thee to a nunnery!” (3.1 135)). After this instance, for Hamlet Ophelia represents “merely a spectre of his psychic fears. This spectre of the dishonest woman figures, in his neurotic projections, as a duplicitous whore.”(Dane, 410). This is another contributing factor to his downfall. Hamlet’s obsession with Gertrude sleeping with Claudius is also a major conflict for him. After the Ghost implores him not to harm his mother, Hamlet internally still blames her for her ‘incestuous act’ with Claudius, saying “O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!” (1.5 106-107). Hamlet’s disgust with his mother is a recurring theme throughout the play, and it all stems back to the fact that women, to Hamlet, must be kept pure. Since Hamlet is an idealist, he cannot deal with his ‘perfect’ mother “in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stew’d in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty” (3.4 92-95). Dealing with this internally, Hamlet becomes more erratic and physically acts out against his mother. Hamlet’s obsession and subsequent rage with his mother’s sexuality also directly affected him in the sense that he, in a fit of passion, killed Polonius who was spying on them. Ophelia went insane after finding out, and Claudius was thus able to convince Laertes to kill Hamlet. This physically led to his ultimate downfall - his

William Shakespeare constantly filled his plays with cultural and mythological references that engulfed viewers in the story. He was well educated and progressive for his time; however he still had a few downfalls. His main one was that he often portrayed women as objects. Take Othello, for example; Desdemona is rarely seen as a person and often referred to as an object. Thus Shakespeare portrays women as mere possessions and deprives them of their humanity.

Whether playfully resolved in the comedies or brutally exposed in the tragedies, at some level, all Shakespeare's works symbolically explore the conflict between male and female, or control and emotion, within society and the individual self (Novy 3); however, it is in the tragedies that Shakespeare moves beyond merely reflecting a woman's need to transcend socially imposed limitations to an in depth exploration of the dangers inherent in a worldview that prescribes the extreme devaluation and expulsion of the feminine in order to maintain masculine power and domination (200). In particular, Shakespeare's Macbeth is a play in which the masculine-centred world of the protagonist metaphorically and literally reflects the miserable alienation of both men and women when a fear of the feminine within society and themselves leads to chaotic disorder and the death of the soul.

William Shakespeare highlights the theme of gender throughout Hamlet. Shakespeare argues that Ophelia is truly mad while Hamlet is pretending. The theme of gender plays a role in madness because considering women are more inclined to express their emotions, this describes Ophelia’s insanity. On the other hand, Ophelia’s madness is brought on by not being able

Many literary critics have presented theories on the meaning of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, ranging from claims of Oedipal Complexes to insinuations of homosexuality. Though most such interpretations can be considered true at some level, there seems to be some basic theme - some driving force - that underlies all other interpretations.

However, in Othello, the character of Desdemona surpassed the norms of gender set for women of that time. There is no doubt to consider Desdemona is violating the social norms because she is willing to breach her social roles as a daughter and even as a wife at times. Through her “incorrect” gender performance, Shakespeare portrays Desdemona as a strong, independent woman who breaks away the gender barriers of patriarchal society. But at the end of the play, we know it is the consequence of her actions that have led her to death.

Formidable women have always found a way to be a force in their world, and to subvert the cliche. William Shakespeare’s plays often put emphasis on the role of the female characters and their influence on the male protagonists. From the impact that Ophelia’s insanity had on Hamlet, to the traumatic result of Romeo’s love for Juliet, or the horrid behavior of Macbeth under Lady Macbeth’s influence, the women play an important role.

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.

Shakespeare was possibly the first writer to portray women as strong, crafty, and intelligent. However, he has still received criticism from feminists about his representation of women. Some have even accused him of misogyny. There are only two female characters in the play Hamlet - Gertrude, Hamlet's mother and Ophelia, daughter of Polonius. Any debate based upon gender roles must therefore focus upon these two characters.

In my readings of Hamlet, sexism was a immense element in the story. It is not fairly unambiguous where the incest comes in and who is involved, but the unorthodox relationships that have taken place shows how things were during the Elizabethan Age, or were they? My goal in this paper is to research the gender roles between the males and females in the story and to prove how women were treated during these times, and to determine who was involved in incest and sexism. The characters in focus will be Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and son of the deceased King Hamlet; Polonius, counselor to Claudius; Laertes, Polonius’ son who has returned home due to King Hamlet’s death; Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother and Queen of Denmark; and Ophelia, daughter of

Main Idea: Shakespeare was not a sexist: All though the main three females in the play were seen as important and contributed tremendously towards the plot of the play. The readers see Shakespeare pushing the ideology of men and women being equal with the slow occurrence of many plots towards the play, and how it all unravels itself. These were proven in the play by when;