William Shakespeare 's A Midsummer Night 's Dream, And Twelfth Night

The equality of men and women has been a controversial topic throughout various eras of time. Previously observed as delicate and feeble individual’s incapable of independence, women have not always had to opportunity to voice their own opinions. This is clearly demonstrated within the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare by two prominent female characters, Queen Gertrude and the love interest of Prince Hamlet, Ophelia. Depicted as a reserved leader who favors luxury and affection over loyalty and strong morals, Gertrude often seeks guidance from the male figures around her. Similarly, Ophelia has a malleable personality built upon the opinions of her father and the endearment of Hamlet,

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.

Women, the ones who can easily be marginalized have always been the problem with one’s issues. In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the figure of women as an unacceptable foe. The women are seen as less than a person of living and more as of an object, one that can be sexually used. The continuous dominance over Ophelia and Gertrude has caused their judgment to cloud. Hamlet has easily labeled the women as weak, two-faced and a foe to men due to the unpredictable actions of women. While Ophelia continues to act as a puppet of her father and brother, Gertrude gets stuck in the same position through the use of Claudius. The cause of misogyny and harsh treatment from Hamlet reveals the sensitive and meticulous side of him, through the

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the question of sexuality and the role of women becomes a substantial component in analyzing Hamlet’s character and behavior. The motif of misogyny occurs intermittently throughout the play shown largely through Hamlet's relationships with both Gertrude and Ophelia. Clearly hurt by Gertrude’s marriage to Claudius so soon after his father’s death Hamlet becomes cynical of women and surmises that they are all immoral creatures. He develops a particular obsession with female sexuality and incestuous relations. Hamlet forms a connection between women and immorality, thus using his his mother’s incestous actions as a basis to surmise that all women are

In William Shakespeare's play, “Hamlet”, the main character, Hamlet, has a very extensive and philosophical view about women. In his view, women are treacherous, untrustworthy and frail. For example, Hamlet is disappointed in his mother Gertrude when she married Claudius, his uncle, after the untimely death of his father. Disappointment in his mother leads to distrust to Ophelia, the woman he loved. All actions of the women in this play lead to hatred and disgust in Hamlet towards women and ultimately prove him to be sexist towards this weaker sex.

In any history textbook, there will most definitely be at least one example of a royal leader overthrown by their citizens. But why is it that some royal leaders, or any very powerful leaders, have trouble controlling their power? The answer is found in the amount of power the leaders possess, and how they choose to control it. The historic leaders found in history books often lose control of their power because their amount of power is too large, so it is very difficult to use it effectively. Oberon and Puck, characters in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, learn this the hard way, and use their power to attempt at solving the problems of the four lovers. Oberon and Puck are the characters with the most power in the play because of their supernatural advantage, similar to how a royal leader is born into their position. They create many unnecessary problems while doing this, such as Nick Bottom and Titania 's strange love, and Helena’s supposed mockery.In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a large amount of power is proved as difficult to control, and too much power in the hands of only a few characters can create more problems than there originally was, because of miscommunication and poor planning of the characters in power.

What is true love? True love is the wind, you cannot touch it, but you can feel it. True love is a gamble, it is the greatest of all risks. True love is a precious and ineffable sensation among human beings. The concept “true love” is defined “as caring about the health, well-being and happiness of another person to a greater degree than your own health, well-being and happiness” by Dr. Neder. He explained, “When you carefully consider your words, thoughts and actions, and specifically how they will benefit that other person, you’re in love.” In A Midsummer Night 's Dream, William Shakespeare intertwined each individual characters. Through the concept of true love and presented to the audiences a twisted yet romantic love story.

In any society there are rules and conventions that must be followed in order to uphold the established ideas of normality. These rules are imposed with the intentions of maintaining order and harmony; without them many would believe that society would fall into chaos. Within Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ these rules can be undermined in the confines of settings in which the supernatural reigns, allowing the characters to grow and develop before returning to society as changed people. Through this creation of comedic disorder, characters of authority are often displaced from their positions within a social hierarchy, thus making the supernatural an integral part of Shakespeare’s comedy. Without the supernatural elements that

From the first act of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, women are cast in a less than pleasant light. Hamlet’s famous utterance of “Frailty, thy name is woman -,” (1.2.146) predisposes the reader to view the female characters of this tragedy as fragile and not to be trusted. During Shakespeare’s time, women in general were felt to be fickle, emotional creatures; the weaker sex physically as well as mentally and therefore subject to the men in their lives. However, are Gertrude and Ophelia truly “frail” or are they simply limited by the mindsets of their day? The difference between the actions of Hamlet and the actions of the women is that Hamlet has full disclosure of all that has transpired within the realm of this tragedy while the women do not. The women act in accordance with their station and limited knowledge but it does not mean they are weaker. On the contrary, the actions of Gertrude and Ophelia reflect characteristics we view as quite desirable today.

Shakespeare’s comedies, like those of most Renaissance playwrights, involve love and its obstacles. Much of the comedy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream derives from the attempt of Lysander and Hermia to remain together while overcoming the adult authority figure who attempts to hinder the love of a young couple. The overcoming of an obstacle functions as a common motif in Renaissance comedy. The audience must wonder, however, whether Lysander and Hermia, as well as Demetrius and Helena, actually love each other. While it is the love potion that alters the objects of the men’s affections, one may interpret the juice as a metaphor for lovers’ inconstancy. The juice only contains magic because the male lovers do not possess a fervent and true love. It is significant that Lysander and Demetrius change their minds about whom they love, but Hermia and Helena never waver; perhaps Shakespeare correlates faithfulness with gender. Audience members generally support the relationship between Lysander and Hermia—partly because her father does not. They are struck by his indifference to his daughter’s happiness: He prefers that she die rather than be happy with a man of whom he does not approve. Egeus, furthermore, provides no reason to Theseus as to why he does not support Lysander; it is as if he disapproves for arbitrary reasons—merely to exert his will. His abuse of paternal authority renders him absurd but dangerous nevertheless. His support for Demetrius colors the audience’s point of

“There’s a remarkable amount of sexism on TV. When male characters are flawed, they’re interesting, deep and complex, but when women characters are flawed, they’re just a mess.” Ellen Pompeo. In “Hamlet” Ophelia and Gertrude are the only females mentioned throughout the Shakespeare’s tragic play. The two women are unappreciated and are considered fragile and weak-minded by the men in the play. Although the women play unforgettable leads, they also lie under the shadows of the powerful male characters in the play. The women and their unheard words and opinions are well kept from us because of the male’s characteristics, tragedies, and triumphs throughout each scene and still praised for their acts. For example, Prince Hamlet is seen as a nobleman and yet he exposes his mother Gertrude and his so called “lover” Ophelia, as the frail and dishonest women they are portrayed as, socially unimportant in the small role they play. Women are more of the filler characters to add a little bit more to the drama. Gertrude, Hamlet 's mother, and Ophelia, Hamlet 's love interest, are affected by the many decisions and actions done by Hamlet.

William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet (1603), was written in a time period in which society was dramatically different than it is today. For the most part, women had subservient roles and were treated as the weaker, lesser gender. Given the contrast in behavior that was considered acceptable, modern day readers struggle to understand the natural feelings of the characters and may have difficulty relating to them. The Tragedy of Hamlet dives into the base of human philosophy, submerged in the emotions and sensitivity of the main character, Hamlet, while he struggles with a devastating point in his life. Due to her subconscious foolishness and innocence paired with unjust social expectations, Gertrude cannot individually be labeled

The female characters were connected to their authoritative male counterparts by a dominated relationship which created the scale for inequality. Ophelia was labeled as a dependent woman. She was always seeking for the instructions and advice of her father on how to conduct her relationship with Hamlet. “Do you believe his tenders, as you call them? I do not know, my lord, what I should think.” (Shakespeare I.iii.103-104) By bluntly stating “what I should think” and referring to Polonius as “my lord”, Shakespeare is demonstrating the obedience and dependence on the male authority figure in the Elizabethan era. These terms of address illustrate a scale of inequality amongst gender roles not only within the play but within the Elizabethan era. Gertrude is also characterized as a damsel in distress who is in need of a man in her life, as demonstrated by Hamlet’s reaction to Gertrude’s hasty marriage to King Claudius. “Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him as if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on; and yet within a month – let me not think on’t – frailty, thy name is woman.” (Shakespeare I.ii.143-146) Through Hamlet’s lens, Gertrude’s “increase in appetite” reveals her dependability on men to be the result of her need to fulfill her sexual desires. Through the explosive declaration, “frailty, thy name is women”, Hamlet extends the judgment of sexual dependence on men to all women and reveals a weakness among women in the Elizabethan era to not be able to live on their own and to be reliant upon men to fulfill their sexual appetite. The strict gender roles and the lack of authority given to women, illustrates the strong need for male dependability by Gertrude and

In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the protagonist suffers from struggles with major characters, especially with the women in his life. While reading the play Hamlet, Hamlet appears to be a disillusioned man. Throughout the play, Shakespeare has only casted two females: Gertrude and Ophelia. Gertrude is defined to be incestuous, naïve and cold-hearted. On the other side, Ophelia is characterized to be ignorant, innocent and fearful. After the quick marriage of his mother and evil uncle, Hamlet’s views on women has completely changed and he begins to define all women to be weak yet manipulative. During the play, we see that Gertrude places a significant influence on Hamlet and his understandings. We can see that as the audience, Hamlet has a hatred for women. Shakespeare often reflects the English Renaissance stereotypes of women and their various roles and responsibilities in society. His understandings on how women were treated and considered during the Elizabethan era (Jane Dall, 2000) are combined through the eyes of Hamlet, nonetheless opposite views are created by Gertrude and Ophelia, towards the end of the play, changing the perceptions created by the audience.

Hamlet referring to his mother says, “Frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2.149), alluding to the claimed inherent weakness of women 's character. In Hamlet, the roles of women are minor yet essential to the plot and flow of the play. They have no standing in the society and their voices are never heard. Gertrude and Ophelia, the prince 's lover are the only two women in the play that have been portrayed as weak, manipulative and can be used. Their actions and fates are greatly influenced by the men 's decisions and are also led by the men 's power which makes them a weak image of dependent women at Shakespeare 's time. Gender inequality is a predominant issue in Hamlet as the two leading women 's are characterized as weak, obedient, and are used as tools of manipulation by the male figures in their lives. In Hamlet, Shakespeare illustrates a sympathetic image of Gertrude and Ophelia as their downfall can be blamed on how demanding men are, how they depend on men’s love, but also how they differ in dealing with death of people they love.