The Value and Consequences of Women as Property

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:

Throughout the play of Hamlet, there is an emerging of events that occur within Ophelia. She believed she would marry Prince Hamlet even though her father and brother advised her to stay away from him because they knew she was not worthy and that Prince Hamlet would only a predicament in her life. Laertes stated, “Hamlet might love you now, he is subject to his birth” (2640). Her brother also told her before he left for school, “Fear it, Ophelia; fear it, my dear sister, and keep you in the rear of your affection, out of the shot and danger of desire. The chariest maid is prodigal enough, if she unmask her beauty to the moon. Virtue itself 'scapes not calumnious strokes. The canker galls the infants of the spring too oft before their buttons be disclosed, and in the morn and liquid dew of youth, contagious blastments are most imminent. Be wary then, best safety lies in fear. Youth to itself rebels, though none else near” (2640-2641). During Laertes speech to Ophelia, he instructed her not to give herself away to Prince Hamlet because no one would seek her anymore, as she would be viewed as used goods. The reader can sense a form of foreshadowing in the play with the domination of men in Ophelia’s life affecting how she handled her various situations with Prince Hamlet. Later, Ophelia is indeed worked by

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

Her father Polonius treats her like a maiden rather than his own daughter. He tells her what to do and looks forward to her obeying his orders. Although he treats his son Laertes differently giving him a more free will, he also expects Ophelia to obey his orders as well. These are tough acts of feminism because Ophelia isn’t allowed to do what she wants, she is only used as a tool for them because they are so focused on Hamlet and what he’s plotting. Ophelia isn’t faced to do much since women during this time couldn’t do much but obey the men.

In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare developed the story of prince Hamlet, and the murder of his father by the king's brother, Claudius. Hamlet reacted to this event with an internal battle that harmed everyone around him. Ophelia was the character most greatly impacted by Hamlet's feigned and real madness - she first lost her father, her sanity, and then her life. Ophelia, obedient, weak-willed, and no feminist role model, deserves the most pity of any character in the play.

In Hamlet, Shakespeare reveals that misogyny also distorts a woman’s decision making by showing that in society, if a woman is constantly told what decisions she should make by her male counterparts, she will continuously depend on their ideas and will be incapable of making decisions for herself in the future. This idea is illustrated in the first scene of the play when Ophelia is describing the tokens of affections she receives from Hamlet. After being told by her father that these tokens are not in fact genuine, instead of sharing her opinion of why she feels that they are genuine, she uses the

Overwhelmed by outside forces and her repressed love for Hamlet, Ophelia is truly a sad and remorseful character in this play, an innocent victim with little essence or depth. An evident victimized woman, ruled by her Renaissance sense of romantic love, it can further be argued that Ophelia was extremely ambiguous. She was too incompetent to decide what she really desired in life. Because she falls in love with Hamlet at a very young age she cannot truly comprehend what love is all about, even though there is strong evidence that Ophelia had sexual relations with Hamlet. Hamlet emphasizes the hypocrisy of his words

In the beginning, of the story Hamlet makes Ophelia believe that she is the main reason for his insanity. Instead of Hamlet showing love or an emotional connection towards Ophelia, Hamlet treats Ophelia as a sexual object. We can see this clearly in the text, “ That’s a fair thought to lie between a maiden legs.” (Shakespeare 3.2.3) This shows how Hamlet sees Ophelia as a sexual object. He would rather engage in intimacy with Ophelia instead of getting to know her on a personal level. This also leads to another character in a story who treats Ophelia as an object rather than family.

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

Similarly to Hero, Ophelia’s inability to speak much and express her feelings to the audience is a perfect depiction of women and their feelings being neglected. What’s more, Ophelia’s is oppressed by her own father, who tells Ophelia that her emotions should be ignored and are less important than emotions men have in a relationship. Despite the disregard for her emotions, Ophelia did have some opportunities to express her opinion on her relationship with Hamlet to her father by asking him questions like, “Do you doubt that?” This question stands out from the norm and is an example of one of Ophelia’s few moments of independence, as she stands up for herself and her feelings of lust for Hamlet during an argument with

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the character of Ophelia is objectified and subjected to the inhibitory rules that the Elizabethan era placed on women, especially those of the noble classes. Since her birth, Ophelia was taught to be completely obedient to any male figure in her life because “men related to women in any sense, i.e. fathers, brothers, or husbands were allowed to decide all matters related to their lives…” (Ahsan 12). Ophelia knows that devoted daughters “...obeyed and surrendered to