The Awakening And No Fear Shakespeare Hamlet Analysis

In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the character Ophelia is very controversial due to the fact that Shakespeare places her as the focus inside the minds of all the men in her life such as Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet. Although Ophelia may appear to just be a beautiful, weak girl, she has the ability to gain power and attention over all of the men in her life. Throughout the play, Ophelia does not have much of a voice while also being mistreated and emotionally abused by her boyfriend Hamlet. Although Ophelia does not express her opinions and emotions publicly, she propels the plot along by influencing major events. Ophelia’s weak, indecisive, and obedient personality allows her to progress the plot by Shakespeare making her the focus of the men in

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

In the beginning of the play, Ophelia was like any other obedient young woman during the time. In Understanding Hamlet, Richard Corum shows that Ophelia is obedient. He writes, "Though Hamlet has been courting her, Ophelia willingly obeys her father when he tells her to discourage the prince's advances" (Corum 26). Ophelia obeys her father's demands because it was expected during that time of women to comply with men's wishes. In Hamlet, Ophelia disregards her own feelings towards Hamlet. Ophelia does as she is told:

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,

Hamlet can be viewed through a feminist lens by focusing on Ophelia and Gertrude and how various other male characters treat them. Ophelia and Gertrude are dismissed as characters through the entire play because they are women. Hamlet refers to women as “frailty,” implying that they are weak and are dependent on men. Reason suggests that with out the males, Ophelia and Gertrude would simply have no story.

She is casted as a very Intense, profound character because of her situations whose voice goes unheard and actions are controlled by her father Polonius and Hamlet. In Scene 7 act 4, Gertrude informs Claudius and Laertes that Ophelia drowned in a brook. Prior to this, Ophelia is described as a “sister driven to desperate terms” you can say that she is playing the stereotypical role of the damsel in distress. Ophelia genuinely needs Hamlet to love her. She is embedded the idea from her own tretury that without him she can't survive. We see that Ophelia becomes an emotional mess when Hamlet tells her he doesn’t love her. Her submissive, reliance on men tells us that she is weak without support, but she will obey what her father says She acts as a puppet for the people who are dominant to her. They control her and mold her to what they want her to do and be. It’s really interesting how uncaring and unsupportive Polonius is towards her. Even to her own blood, she is treated with the utter most disrespect. This clearly tells the audience how women were portrayed in the Elizabethan era.

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 Elizabethan times, Ophelia is restricted as a woman. She is obedient to the commands of the men in her life although she often attempts to do the right thing. Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet all have a grasp on Ophelia and who she is. She does not have the freedom to change her fate as Hamlet does.

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

In the play Hamlet written by Shakespeare, a young prince is trying to avenge the untimely murder of his father. Later on, Hamlet pretends to be insane, when finding that his father is dead and then uses others to get what he needed. As this happens a girl about Hamlet’s age struggles with Polonius her father and Laertes her brother. Poor Ophelia is unable to fight back all those against her as she slowly goes insane. Ophelia has the idea that she doesn’t like to be undermined and tries to create this new image of herself. When this play is read from a feminist perspective, the way it is interpreted the work is in the mindset of advocating for women 's rights. The feminist side of things shows how women are represented, but we would rather have a fair representation. Ophelias’ death was caused by the raging madness of Hamlet.

     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.

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

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

Also, Hamlet allows Ophelia to believe she is the reason of his misbehavior and madness, by saying "Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me" (3.1.123-126). Feminism would proceed this as abuse of a women and abuse of an image of

Shakespeare and Webster represent the female characters in ‘Hamlet’ and ‘The duchess of Malfi’ by using general themes such as the patriarchy and the social control, the female identity and its independence, this institution of marriage, the expressions of sexuality and finally women shown to be either conformist or transgressive. Men were firmly in control in the Elizabethan and Jacobean era, and the expectations for women were to stay home, cook, clean and raise a family. Women’s status and roles were subject to the Tyranny of patriarchy, they were given strict disciplinary rules to follow whether by law or unspoken norms to prevent from rebellion. Women’s rights were restricted, legally, socially and economically, unlike today were women are more powerful and independent. Today women and men are seen to be equal and women can do pretty much everything a man can do (voting, working, becoming president) although there are many people still today who disagree with women having these rights.