Hamlet A Misogynist Analysis

644 Words2 Pages

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

More about Hamlet A Misogynist Analysis

Open Document