A Feminist Theory on Hamlet

A FEMINISTS THEORY ON HAMLET - Taine Buchan

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 of view we can certainly understand how the 16th Century western world portrayed women.

Even though she is typically read as a inconsequential character in Hamlet, Ophelia reveals the struggle of the female character that endeavors to have a voice of her own. A character whose importance to her family thrives because of her beauty and naivety . Her character is a mirror to Elizabethan society who were depicted as Weak, and dependant on men. These were common reflections of women. Her idea of leadership and worthiness is to always obey her father and abide by his rules. When her father orders her to stop seeing Hamlet, she comes to terms and says "I shall obey my Lord" (1.4.10). Her father Polonius and her brother Laertes also expect her to be sexually pure in order to keep their imperial, superior name in just. When Polonius and Laertes are lecturing Ophelia on how to remain a virgin they remind her of how important it is to keep her chastity. In reality her brother and father want her to ab...

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...ividuality. She lacks the strength and courage to be able to speak for herself and she is weak and treated as an object for men to abuse and alter. Her character is a way to glorify men in the sense that she is a slave to their needs.

Through a feminist’s point of view, I can clearly understand how the tragedy can unfold the hidden truths about this heavy portrayal of an Elizabethan woman through this lens. Gertrude and Ophelia both lacked independence and individuality. They had no real dominance or courage because of the way they were treated by the men that owned them. The story clearly showed the weakness that they were riddled with. The tragedy helped me understand how women were portrayed. Not only to me, but the audience also. Even from reading from my own perspective, I can understand the portrayal of these two women in a sense that it has to be the truth.