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Over a course of time; some things change. As humans, we have to adapt to those changes over time. Many would say that so much has changed since Shakespeare’s time, which is very true, but some things also have remain the same throughout those hundreds of years that passed. Currently in our world today, a large amount of small-minded men still belittle women like they did back in the sixteen-hundreds. As shown numerous times in the play Hamlet; Ophelia, as a woman, was controlled and had no say for herself. Throughout the play, Ophelia was always suppressed by one man after another. She was forced to obey her father, Polonius; undervalued by her brother, Laertes, and downplayed by her so-called beloved, Hamlet. Poor Ophelia had not much power to do anything back then, but has that changed at all? Starting off near the beginning of the play, Laertes was demanding that Ophelia would stay away from Hamlet. He started off by hinting that Hamlet, who is a royalty, is up to no good and will never respectfully love someone like her. After giving Ophelia the impression that Hamlet might never love her how she wants him to; Laertes starts telling Ophelia that Hamlet will not be with her for long. Laertes compares Hamlet to temporary things that are admired …show more content…
Men from the beginning believed that they have more power and women will always be underneath them. The way the men, Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet, in Ophelia’s life treated her is a prime example of how most women were descended back then. Although women are more independent now in the twenty-first century, women are still not considered to have equal value as men. Because so many women, like Ophelia, did not speak up and defend for themselves; men continue to belittle women. One of the many ways that can be changed starts with how women allow themselves to be treated in that manner. If people spoke up and took
Throughout the play, Laertes is as an extremely caring member of his family. His strong emotions for family have an opposing side to it, a shadow that has repressed feelings of anger which cause him to add to the disaster in Denmark. An example that depicts this is when Laertes attempts to request more rites for Ophelia’s funeral. After he is denied, he starts a commotion by calling the priest “churlish”, explaining that Ophelia will be “A ministering angel” while the priest will “liest howling”(5.1.217-218). His compliments to Ophelia shows how much he loved her, while his nasty insults to the priest show his repressed rage. While this is occuring, Hamlet hears Laertes’s mention of Ophelia during the commotion and throws himself into a brawl with Laertes. It is the conflict built up from there that causes Claudius to target Laertes as his next weapon to kill Hamlet with. Laertes’s deep anger for Hamlet makes himself the best candidate for Claudius’s manipulation. Once Laertes’s sides with Claudius, he shows his dark intent by requesting Claudius to not “o'errule me to a peace”(4.7.58). On the day of the duel, Laertes undergoes a confrontation of his shadow while he clashes with Hamlet. His realization of his shadow comes too late into the duel when both Hamlet and Laertes are struck by poison, as this happens he declares that he is “ justly killed with mine own treachery (5.2.337).” In the moments that he is still alive, he dismisses his shadow and ends the circle of murder by announcing the true nature of Claudius. Laertes’s repressed anger guides the play into the duel where many deaths occur including Hamlet’s.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare is one of the world’s most revered literature. The main character, Hamlet, is arguably one of the most intriguing characters the playwright ever developed. Hamlet is daring, philosophical, mentally unstable at times, and clever. Throughout the play though, these characteristics change and/or diminish as Hamlet is put through a plethora of unfortunate events. His father is murdered by Claudius, his mother soon after marries Claudius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern betray him, and his girlfriend most likely commits suicide. While Hamlet is incredibly philosophical, indecisive, and full of resentment in the beginning of the play, he becomes violent, instinctive, caring and sympathetic towards the end of the play.
People have mostly seen women inferior to men because women have been thought of as simple-minded and could not take care of themselves. Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows how men treated and thought of women during the 1500s. There was an order most did not interfere with; however, some did. In the 1500s, women were supposed to conform to men’s wishes. Throughout the play, Ophelia first obeyed her father and brother’s wishes, ignored the social norms later, and then went mad, which caused her to never gain her own identity.
Ophelia’s father and brother instructed her to cut off all relations with the Prince of Demark because if any word about their affairs were to get out it would most likely ruin their family reputation in the land. Laertes explains to Ophelia that, “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” (I.iii. 33-35). The aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid afor Laertes takes the time to discuss with Ophelia the importance of why she should cut off the dangerous relationship with Prince Hamlet. He explains to her how there is no possible way the two could ever truly be with each other due to the difference in social status and power he warns her to clear out before she gets caught up and things get too deep. Along with social class and power, the men represented in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet are portrayed as more powerful and dominant than the women in their play.
Along with protecting his sister from the unlawful Hamlet, Laertes tries to protect the family’s reputation. He believes that Hamlet is to out manipulate his daughter and if he doesn’t put an end to it, entire family will be ruined. Other royals will begin to look down the family if the secrets and between Hamlet and Ophelia are ever
Hamlet is vicious to the women in this play. He orders Ophelia, to “get thee to a nunnery!”(III.i.121), and he tells his mother Gertrude, “Frailty, thy name is woman,”(I.ii.146) even though Hamlet is not very strong himself. Heroism does not always involve taking heroic actions. Hamlet’s inaction is his own form action. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Claudius has and uses power, Hamlet has power but mostly chooses not to use it, Polonius has less power than he imagines himself to have, and Ophelia and Gertrude have no power.
Hamlet is one of the most controversial characters from all of the Shakespeare’s play. His character is strong and complicated, but his jealousy is what conduces him to hate women. He sees them as weak, frail, and untrustworthy. He treats Ophelia, the women he loves, unfair and with cruelty. Similarly, he blames his mother for marrying her dead husband’s brother, who is now the King of Denmark. Hamlet’s treatment for women stems from his mother’s impulsive marriage to his uncle who he hates and Ophelia choosing her father’s advice over him.
"Laertes is a mirror to Hamlet. Shakespeare has made them similar in many aspects to provide a greater base for comparison when avenging their respective fathers' deaths" (Nardo, 90). Both Hamlet and Laertes love Ophelia in different ways. Hamlet wishes Ophelia to become his wife, Laertes loves Ophelia as a sister. Hamlet is a scholar at Wittenberg; Laertes is also a scholar at France. Both were brought up under this royal family of Denmark. And both are admired for their swordsmenship. But most important of all, both of them loved and respected their fathers greatly, and showed great devotion when plotting to avenge their fathers' deaths.
If The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark was to be place in a different time and place it would change major key parts about the play. If Hamlet was placed in the 1920’s New York city, the whole play would be about a mafia family than a royal blood family. With this change so would many Characters personalities and aspects. Not only that but since Hamlet was written in a time where it was king and queens, this change of time will change how people interact and talked to each other. The new mafia family would still consistent the main characters but the way they dressed and acted would be different since in the 1920’s most people are serious and very dark. Many of the side characters would be more silent and wanting to not talk to the mafia
In this reading, as Showalter describes it: "Hamlet's disgust at the feminine passivity in himself is translated into violent revulsion against women and into his brutal behaviour towards Ophelia." Certainly there is a tradition of seeing Hamlet as rather “feminine” and a number of female actors have taken on the role, believing that they could more fully explore this side of his nature. It is also true that Hamlet berates himself for behaving in a too feminine manner asking why he is unable to act but must instead, "like a whore, unpack my heart with
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. Shawna Maki states, “Ophelia’s life is determined by the whims of men who control her” (1). Polonius takes advantage of his relationship with Ophelia by using her to achieve a better relationship with Claudius. Polonius and Laertes teach Ophelia how to behave, therefore, abusing their power in allowing Ophelia to become who she wants to be (Brown 2).
If women were the ones to have power over men, it would change the plot completely. Gertrude wouldn’t have even considered marrying Claudius, Hamlet would not seek revenge, and Ophelia would be the one playing with Hamlet's mind. In all, since this is a fictitious story, Shakespeare is to blame for this horrid portrayal of women. In reality, women weren’t as dependent on men as the play states. They were obedient, but they wouldn’t so insane and drown themselves if their father died.
Gertrude and Ophelia are manipulated and belittled. In their weak will, they end up betraying Hamlet. Observing their manipulation by other people, Hamlet is able to justify and go through with his actions. Despite Ophelia’s weak will, the male characters respond dramatically to her actions, proving that women indeed have a large impact in Hamlet. Her obedience is actually her downfall, because it allows the male characters to control and use her in their schemes.
For a character that only appears in five of the 20 scenes in Hamlet, Ophelia has garnered a great deal of attention from analysts, critics, artists, actresses, fiction writers, psychologists, and adolescent girls alike. Readers are consistently struck by her character that seems relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Ophelia is many times viewed as only important in relation to Hamlet and the effect she has on him. Ophelia is not just important in this respect, but also in respect to what she tells us about the society she came out of and the society we live in today. First analyzing Shakespeare and his precursors then concentrating on the modern day prominence of ...
For many years, in the older eras, women had always been categorized as insignificant, and worthless. Because of this, women were forced to conform to the stereotype of depending on men, and were subjected to what the men said. William Shakespeare demonstrates this in the play Hamlet. The women are portrayed to deserve their fate because of their inability to be independent and their ability to be easily influenced. In the play, Shakespeare demonstrates that both Gertrude and Ophelia deserve their fate.