Roles Of Women In Hamlet Research Paper

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The two women in the book Hamlet by Shakespeare are Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, and Ophelia, Polonius’s daughter. Gertrude married Claudius after Hamlet has father, King Hamlet, was killed by a serpent in the ear. Claudius happens to be King Hamlet’s brother, as well as Gertrude’s brother in law. From just hearing this, it sounds like Gertrude may have was coaxed to marry Claudius. Marrying your husbands brother after your husband has been killed doesn’t sound like the morally right thing to do. I would expect someone in this situation to being going through the grief stages. The role of women in Hamlet is to reveal qualities of characters, opposing to be a significant component of the play. Gertrude and Ophelia roles of women are depicted as …show more content…

Women were portrayed as frail people who answered to and did anything that was said to them. This prototype of women is present in Hamlet, but to an extent. For example, Claudius sending Gertrude’s son, who she admired and would do anything for, to England. Claudius’s reason for this decision was to protect Hamlet for the people of Denmark for killing Polonius, but Hamlet was liked by the public. Claudius implemented what he was going to do with Hamlet, without consent of Hamlet’s own mother. Which confirms the ideal women of Shakespeare’s era were being treated as if their indifferent to their surrounding environment. Another prototypical idealization of woman is that they can’t be without a companion, because they have “extremely dependent personality” (Ouditt 59). Hamlet had a challenging time adjusting to life after his fathers unexpected death. Accusing his own mother of a wrongful deed of remarrying soon after King Hamlet’s death. Hamlet believes “You cannot call it love”, implying she married out of lust, but she may have remarried so soon after King Hamlet’s death to have someone to be with (III.iv.78). Gertrude doesn’t try to refuse what Hamlet says, but she sorts of agrees, “Thou turn’st my eyes into my very soul” (III. iv.100). Characterizing Gertrude as a sex object rather than a caring mother trying to put her family back together. There are moments in the play where Gertrude makes her own decisions, and not following behind Claudius’s thought. One example is when she took a sip of wine for Hamlet’s victory in the fencing match against Laertes. Gertrude ignored the shouting of Claudius not to drink, which ended her life. But it did show that Gertrude did have some sense of control over her

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