Shakespeare conveys various aspects of the social disparities regarding men and women in his tragedy play Hamlet. Despite the play only portraying few female roles, the impact of the male-controlled Shakespearean world is evident. Hamlet tackles the divide between females and males by showing the workings of the patriarchy, the stereotypes surrounding women, and the misogynistic views held during the play’s timeframe. Despite having few female roles, Hamlet still illustrates the hardships, expectations, and roles of women in a world revolving around the importance of men. Examples of Hamlet’s patriarchal society putting women second can be seen through Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia. Hamlet arguably views Ophelia as a beautiful object rather …show more content…
These conclusions often revolve around his misogynistic views of a woman’s place in a male dominated culture. For example, Hamlet believes that femininity equates to weakness; “‘...frailty, thy name is woman!’” (1.2.150). Gertrude marrying Claudius quickly after the king’s death creates Hamlet’s first misogynistic view. The prince sees Gertrude as a self-centered coward for “needing a man” to become happy and successful again. “‘...our dear brother’s death the memory be green… with wisest sorrow think on him together with remembrance of ourselves’” (1.2.1-7). Hamlet’s pain over his mother’s marriage leads him to form another stereotype: women are immoral. Before Hamlet presents his play to the royal court, he comments that a woman’s love is brief. During the play, Hamlet points blame at Gertrude by countering her opinion that the player queen protests too much. He says that although this may be true, at least the player queen would remain loyal to her king. Earlier in the text, Hamlet refers to his mother as a “pernicious woman” (1.5.112). for marrying Claudius. In addition, Hamlet speaks poorly of his mother: ‘“...she, even she—O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer!—married with my uncle’” (1.2.153-156). Hamlet says that the queen holds so little morality that even a beast would be more morally correct
Hamlets ridiculed feelings for women was because of his mother’s disappointing action. Hamlets mothers’ marriage with Claudius not so long after his father’s death did not show her devotion to her husband’s memory in the way a loving wife should. ”O god a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer” (l.2.150) degrading Gertrude, as he believes an animal would find the loss of its mate more upsetting than the queen did when she lost her husband. In his mind women are frail and weak this is why he says that women is just another name for weakness. “Frailty, thy name is woman” (l.2.148) generalizing that all women are frail and incapable to withstand temptation. His bitterness has lead him to believe that all women are dishonest and untrustworthy because his mother easily moved on from the husband she so thought to have loved and worse married his brother a month after his death. Hamlet starts to torment his mother by telling her that she is sleeping with her husband’s killer. “But you live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stewed in corruption and making love over that nasty sty” (3.4.100) trying to make her realize the wrong that she has done, being easy to fall in love with another man because she required comfort. To Hamlet his mother is weak, surrendering to lust, changing Hamlets view and sparking his hate for women, seeing how they are not loyal. “When the compulsive ardour gives
The power that the men have over the women in the play provides for the comparison between the two genders. The women are portrayed as weak and submissive, so when Hamlet is accused of becoming a “woman,” it greatly offends him. Because revenge and violence drive the play it revolves around the men.
In my readings of Hamlet, sexism was a immense element in the story. It is not fairly unambiguous where the incest comes in and who is involved, but the unorthodox relationships that have taken place shows how things were during the Elizabethan Age, or were they? My goal in this paper is to research the gender roles between the males and females in the story and to prove how women were treated during these times, and to determine who was involved in incest and sexism. The characters in focus will be Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and son of the deceased King Hamlet; Polonius, counselor to Claudius; Laertes, Polonius’ son who has returned home due to King Hamlet’s death; Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother and Queen of Denmark; and Ophelia, daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes, also Hamlet’s girlfriend.
William Shakespeare incorporates many themes and ideas into his play, Hamlet. Of the multiple important ideas, one potentially overlooked is the role of women. Only two of the characters in the play are female. Their lines are scarce, but hold huge importance in relation to the progression and plot of the play. Ophelia, the implied lover of Prince Hamlet, and Queen Gertrude, his mother, do not appear significant, but their actions and characters allow for other events to unfold. 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.
The Shakespearean play of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is easily criticized from a feministic perspective due to its pronounced gender roles and its pervasively patriarchal biases throughout every scene. The feminist criticism focuses on the relationships between genders and the malicious dominance men have over women both physically and psychologically. It examines the patterns of behavior, power, values, and thought between the sexes. The damage that male dominance has on the females in Hamlet is prominent when considering feminist criticism. It forces these women’s given situations to go from bad to worse. The societal viewpoint held hinders or prevents the female characters from attaining a true sense of identity. Without their own cultural
Hamlet’s vernacular and tone towards woman was completely different his vernacular and tone towards men. This is a result of the intense and angered relationship between Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude. Hamlet addresses his mother with a sense of disgust. The idea that Hamlet was lead to believe that women would and could be controlled by their sexual appetites can be ascertained. As a result from past experience, Hamlet releases a rage of anger and frustration out on
For many years in the past women played a small role socially, economically, and politically. As a result of this many works in literature were reflective of this diminutive role of women. In Elizabethan theatres small boys dressed and played the roles of women. In contrast to this trend, in Shakespeare's Hamlet the women in the play are driving factors for the actions of many other characters. Both Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, and Ophelia, Hamlet's love, affected many of the decisions and actions done by Hamlet.
William Shakespeare’s famed tragic, Hamlet, is a story centered around sin, suffering, and death. This popular piece is a highly controversial work of interest for critics concerned in regards to gender rights. Hamlet is a play, written from a male-centered viewpoint, and that which primarily stresses the male characters and their experiences as a replacement instead of assimilating the views and impacts of the women as well. Gender inequality is a dominant theme in Hamlet, in which women are considered and labeled as feeble and submissive because control and manipulation use them, by male dominance.
In this argument, Hamlet is being both mentally and physically abusive to his mother. She even tells Hamlet that he has “cleft [her] heart in twain” (3.4.lines). However, Hamlet does not seem to care, and continues insulting his mother as if she is of a lower value than he is. Hamlet denounces Gertrude's actions by exclaiming, “Frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2.lines). But, instead of Hamlet only insulting Gertrude, he is insulting all women.
(Female friendship alliances in Shakespeare, 63) But, for Hamlet, this motherly image has been starting to fall apart and to lose relevance. The fact that Gertrude has married with Claudius very soon after her husband’s death affects her maternal image and changes Hamlet’s perception about
Just like in society the men in Hamlet follow the rules for a patriarchal society. The three most masculine characters in Hamlet are Claudius, Polonius and Laertes. “Man is supposed to be strong, courageous, rational and sexually aggressive; while woman is weak, timid, emotional, and sexually passive” (De-Yan 1). The first identifiable masculine characters are Laertes and Polonius as they are introduced in the play conversing with Ophelia. In this scene they tell Ophelia what she is allowed to do and command to her to not be with Hamlet, “For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor, Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, A violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward not permanent sweet, not lasting...” (1.3.5-9). After Laertes leaves, Polonius enters the scene and rebukes Ophelia for believing Hamlets words of affection. As in a patriarchal society the males of the household are the leaders. First in command is the father, and then the brother. Therefore just like in Act one scene three, Ophelia has to do what her father and brother tell her. Claudius is another masculine character in Hamlet. He shows this by murder...
In Shakespeare’s dramatic works there is no room for the heroic or the strong woman, and therefore many of his plays can be perceived as being antifeminist. Often he portrays women as weak, mad, sexual, and as even witches. Hamlet is no exception. The only women in the play, Ophelia and Queen Gertrude, are given confined and limited roles. These roles are from a male-dominated viewpoint and only add focus to the male characters instead of incorporating the insight and the impact of the women as well.
These are the words spoken by Hamlet which have gone on to define the role and the disposition of female characters within Hamlet and, through extension, the majority of female characters portrayed within the collected works of Shakespeare. It is often argued that the women within these plays are drawn in fainter lines than their male counterparts. Critics of this work are therefore urged to sharpen their analysis through speculation. When examined critically, Hamlet contains some impressive feminist issues when it comes to the representation of Ophelia. She plays a very small part in the action of the play and is almost exclusively defined by her relationship to the men in her life.
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).
The Degrading Nature of Hamlet William Shakespeare is one of, if not the best writer to ever live. He wrote many celebrated plays and poems and quite literally shaped the english language. He was many years ahead of his time in terms of the content and thematic depth of his plays, a truly forward thinker. Despite being a pioneer of modern entertainment Shakespeare still fell victim to the sexist attitudes that were prominent during his lifetime (1564-1616). He reflects this sexist state of mind in Hamlet through his use of characterization, tone, and ambiguity.