Women In Hamlet '

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,

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.

The feminist school has various goals when being used to scrutinize a piece of literature. As Gillespie points out, historically texts were written by males with primarily male protagonists, and thus, the male sentiment is most dominantly expressed in many works of literature. The lessened representation of women in literature is usually confined to typical stereotypes of the historical period. This can be seen in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, and this will be further explored and discussed. Through the feminist lens, women’s presence and portrayal in the play, as well as the common stereotypes about women in Shakespearean society, can be studied carefully, despite the centuries that have passed between the play’s conception and the present. Additionally, as stated in Literary Theories: A Sampling of Critical Lenses,

While we humans live in a society governed largely by men we have little idea of what a matriarchal society would be like as it clearly doesn’t exist in today’s society. For centuries we have fought for gender equality, but we are reminded in films, plays and novels that Women are submissive and the weaker gender. Shakespeare’s written tragedies had clearly showed his patriarchal perspective with his character Ophelia from Hamlet, whose motivation and dominance is powered by Her father Polonius. Gertrude is another women from Hamlet who is represented as a weak minded, dependant character who has no power or control over what she does. If we look at these two characters from a Feminists point

“Frailty, thy name is woman!” (1.2.145). Hamlet utters these words in soliloquy after his uncle, King Claudius, and his mother, Queen Gertrude, request that he does not return to school and instead, stay and take a place in Claudius’ court. This also comes after King Claudius and Queen Gertrude berate and fuss at Hamlet for mourning for his recently passed father. Hamlet is angry at his mother for marrying his uncle and her brother-in-law only a few mere months after King Hamlet’s death.

Female Characters in Hamlet "Frailty, thy name is woman," quoted by prince Hamlet, implying the weak and delicate human natures of women characters in Hamlet. Throughout the play, the characters of Queen Gertrude and Ophelia's are portrayed to be frail and manipulative, which opposes the image of independent women at Shakespeare's time. Queen Gertrude is the epitome of this womanly frailty, and her weaknesses are shown in moral, spiritual and physical aspects. Ophelia, on the other hand, is portrayed that her actions are largely governed by the requests of the people around her such as Polonius and Laertes. Gertrude and Ophelia's death, in addition, are also directly or obliquely related to the frailty of their characteristics.

The powerful define the everything beneath them because their downfall leads to the destruction of the will of the powerless Lenses influence the ideas of approaches that could help define societies. The idea of a lens leads to reflections of cultures, just as Marxism does through literature. Marxism focuses on the idea that whoever controls the most power controls society. Division of the social classes introduces the idea that to end the conflict between those classes, it must be with the literature that reflects the culture. Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, relates to class division through the dialogue between characters and the own thoughts of Hamlet. Looking through a Marxist lens at Hamlet is part of Marxist literature due to the the portrayal of the relationship between the royalty and the less important characters while also showing the alienation of the less fortunate working class.

Marriage is regarded as a sacred union between two people. In the Shakespearean era, the union consisted of a man and a woman permanently bonded in the eyes of God, solidified by the church. Hamlet adored the connection between his mother and late father. However, following his father’s murder, the lack of sympathy from his mother alters his outlook on the institution of marriage. Consequently, this changes how Hamlet views Ophelia and women in general. There once was love between Hamlet and Ophelia, but the union of Claudius and Gertrude shifts the strength of their relationship. Hamlet can no longer trust women or the endurance of marriage, which were two concepts he once cherished. Instead, he now views the institution of marriage, and

Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism Elaine Showalter Though she is neglected in criticism, Ophelia is probably the most frequently illustrated and cited of Shakespeare’s heroines. Her visibility as a subject in literature, popular culture, and painting, from Redon who paints her drowning, to Bob Dylan, who places her on Desolation Row, to Cannon Mills, which has named a flowery sheet pattern after her, is in inverse relation to her invisibility in Shakespearean critical texts. Why has she been such a potent and obsessive figure in our cultural mythology? Insofar as Hamlet names Ophelia as “woman” and “frailty,” substituting an ideological view of femininity for a personal one, is she indeed

In life, women are oppressed and seen as inferior to men. Throughout Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, one can see how men oppress women such as Gertrude and Ophelia. One can see how Ophelia is mistreated, how Hamlet thinks less of his mother, how Gertrude uses female roles against Ophelia, and how men look down on women.

In Shakespeare’s plays Macbeth and Hamlet, Shakespeare gives a detailed examination of both Lady Macbeth and Gertrude. He determines if whether or not these particular characters were free from the boundaries of their society, or if they were content with its oppressive grasp. Notably, Lady Macbeth and Gertrude did not overstep the bounds of their gender, but, instead, ended up suppressing them. Their earnestness for equality and power disguised their future into a dreary downfall. Both of them lack remorse, which leads them to a blind future of deceit. Their inability to pull themselves out of their desired dreams has put stress on the other character’s lives. Lady Macbeth and Gertrude both want to obtain success, but

women’s rights and the portrayal of women, the belief that men are superior to women in all

No matter where you look patriarchal society is around us in our minds, culturally, through the media and in plays like the story Hamlet. A patriarchal society is one in which men hold or want to possess the positions of power. The play Hamlet takes place in-between the 1600’s and 1602, during these time men are not supposed to have the characteristics of a woman in any shape or form. Men are supposed to be masculine, strong-minded, brave and assertive. The woman, on the other hand, is supposed to be submissive, weak and emotional. Through the play Hamlet, most of the male characters uphold the patriarchal image. Some of the men who are good examples are Polonius, Laertes, and Claudius. One of the characters that seem to go against the patriarchal characteristics at some points is the main character, Hamlet.

The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, contains numerous themes. Feminism is one of these prominent themes. It is set in a time when men ran the society. Thus, the women are oppressed because it is believed the man is superior.