Gender Inequality and Objectification in Hamlet

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“Frailty, thy name is woman,” a quote stated by Hamlet in the award-winning play “Hamlet,” written by William Shakespeare between the years 1599 and 1601. Many people argue the point that women are defined regarding their sexuality, and they typically have no power compared to stand against sexual expectations. Through analyzing the Hamlet text, it is evident that women are mistreated greatly, especially Ophelia and Gertrude, due to being degraded and are affected by Hamlet, and how he is using his actions for his gain.Gender inequality is a prominent issue in the work of Hamlet as the two leading women are portrayed as weak, obedient, and used as tools of manipulation by the male figures in their lives. Shakespeare demonstrates a sympathetic …show more content…

First, he can use Ophelia; Hamlet comes to the realization that the King and possibly the Queen have set him up to find out information from him. He is angry at the King and Queen and wants to throw them off, confuse the, and he wanted to express his feelings of anger towards women (the reason behind his rant against women during this encounter.) Secondly Hamlet can use Polonius for his gain, he once again acts in a “crazy” way, perhaps he may know that Polonius has consulted with the King and Queen without his knowledge.this is only another way to throw everyone off while he is still on the quest to find out the truth about his father’s death. If everyone only thinks he is crazy then they won’t suspect what his actual mission is, and he can continue on his plan with hopes there will be no flaws. Lastly, Hamlet can put together a play of his choosing, surprisingly the play within a play closely resembles the murder scene of his father. He chose to do this play in order to see King Claudius’s reaction; he uses this in a view to determine whether or not his uncle is guilty or innocent. Throughout the play, Hamlet deceives the whole cast into thinking he is a “madman.” He ultimately uses his madness to mask his true intentions of killing the king, although along the way there are an additional seven deaths. These are just a few examples of characters that Hamlet manipulates to achieve …show more content…

Hamlet is one of the most prominent plays that has this theme. While going through the Hamlet text and many credible resources it is easy to find that women are degraded by hamlet, affected by his actions, and they are used for his own personal gain, along with many other people in this play. All throughout the play hamlet finds out nits and pieces that he should not necessarily know, and he is able to use that against the

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