Katherine Thompson Dr. Schott EN 407 8 April 2024 A Comparison of Gender Roles in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Twelfth Night William Shakespeare, arguably the most notable playwright in human history, is known to have taken unpopular stances on different issues during his life and to have expressed his opinion through his writings. While Shakespeare never explicitly lectured the public on politics, he certainly found ways to embed his politics through his characters. One scholar, in an essay on the politics of Shakespeare, argued that Shakespeare “held personal views of all kinds; and inevitably expressed these views in his writings to a moral purpose” (Friesner 1). There are multiple instances of this over his many plays. For centuries, scholars …show more content…
In Act 1, Scene 2, Hamlet addresses his own masculinity through the form of a soliloquy. He is reflecting on his father’s death and his mother’s remarriage to his father’s brother, and says, “.My father’s brother, but no more like my father than I to Hercules” (1.2.153-54). Hamlet deliberately compares himself to a famous figure of masculinity, but as something he is not. In the first half of the speech, Hamlet recognizes his father as this figure of masculinity that he could only strive to be, but one that he will never reach. He seems to have emotional outbursts because of his inability to compare himself to his father or even to his uncle. Over and over, these tensions surface between Hamlet and the other characters of the play, and all of the tensions seem to make Hamlet question his masculinity. Related to Hamlet’s masculinity and his strange relationship with his mother, is an interesting study by Sigmund Freud, renowned neurologist and psychoanalyst. Freud believed that the biggest reason Hamlet questioned his masculinity relates back to his uncle but is driven by his sexual …show more content…
In Part V of his larger work, “The Interpretation of Dreams,” Freud writes, “Hamlet is able to anything but take vengeance upon the man who did away with his father and has taken his father’s place with his mother- the man who shows him in realization the repressed desires of his own childhood” (The Material and Sources of Dreams). Freud’s theory, commonly known as the Oedipus Complex, suggests that Hamlet questions his masculinity because of his unconscious desire for her affection. Again, this theory has been debunked by most scholars today, but it does give some explanation for this strange relationship seen in the play. The only other female Hamlet has any type of relationship with in the play is with his lover, Ophelia. As with the relationship between Hamlet and his mother, readers do not get much background on the emotional connection between the two before the setting of the play, however, there are many instances where the characters hint at Hamlet and Ophelia’s past and their possible future together. Apart from her relationship with Hamlet, Ophelia also falls victim to the strange gender roles Shakespeare presents across his
Hamlet is one of the most controversial characters from all of the Shakespeare’s play. His character is strong and complicated, but his jealousy is what conduces him to hate women. He sees them as weak, frail, and untrustworthy. He treats Ophelia, the women he loves, unfair and with cruelty. Similarly, he blames his mother for marrying her dead husband’s brother, who is now the King of Denmark. Hamlet’s treatment for women stems from his mother’s impulsive marriage to his uncle who he hates and Ophelia choosing her father’s advice over him.
In the play Hamlet, Ophelia’s downfall is dependent on love. Being one of the two women in the play, Ophelia lives in a very male dominated society. When the ties are broken between her relationships with the significant men in her life, it breaks Ophelia to
The story of Hamlet is a morbid tale of tragedy, commitment, and manipulation; this is especially evident within the character of Ophelia. Throughout the play, Ophelia is torn between obeying and following the different commitments that she has to men in her life. She is constantly torn between the choice of obeying the decisions and wishes of her family or that of Hamlet. She is a constant subject of manipulation and brain washing from both her father and brother. Ophelia is not only subject to the torture of others using her for their intentions but she is also susceptible to abuse from Hamlet. Both her father and her brother believe that Hamlet is using her to achieve his own personal goals.
The reader is left guessing on Hamlet’s true feelings for Ophelia through his various insults, sexual innuendos, and admitted desire. Hamlet’s claim, “God hath given you one face, and you / Make yourselves another.” (3.1.155-156) is laced with irony and hypocrisy given Hamlet’s own deception regarding true feelings. This proclamation comes at the end of a lengthy tirade against Ophelia and womankind in general for their conniving deceit leading men astray. The fact that Hamlet cannot see this duplicity in his very own actions shows the double standard he holds for females. Ophelia’s immediate reaction is one of shock and defense due to the aggressive nature of Hamlet’s attack. She calls out “O, woe is me!” (3.1.174) in distress to the ferocity of Hamlet and is unable to form a particularly coherent response akin to the ones seen against Laertes and Polonius. She does show her intelligence and rebellion from this assumption of power by Hamlet in her songs while Hamlet is gone. While many attribute her madness to the death of her father, a large portion of her instability should be attributed to Hamlet and his earlier actions. In her first introduction as insane she sings, “And I a maid at your window, / To be your Valentine. / Then up he rose and donned his clothes / And dropped the chamber door, / Let in the maid, that out a maid / Never departed more.” (4.5.55-60). Due to her references to sexuality and deceit the
In a critical essay, Judith Cook[1] noted that in many of Shakespeare’s plays major women characters ‘die because of direct association with the fate of a tragic hero’. This could be seen as Shakespeare trying to convey women’s fate being a ‘by-product’ of the fate of men- men are superior. On the other hand, Ophelia is crucial in understanding Hamlet as a character and gives an insight into different motifs of the play. Some may argue that Ophelia is one of the causes of Hamlet’s ‘madness’ and his recoil from love.
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, women are oversexualized, and are given no role other than to be the item of a man’s desire. The promiscuity of the only two women in the play, Gertrude and Ophelia, detracts from their power and integrity, and allows Hamlet a certain amount of control over them. Gertrude’s sexual lifestyle is often mentioned by her son, Hamlet, and Hamlet uses his knowledge of Gertrude’s sexuality as a means to criticize her. Ophelia’s sexuality initially appears to be controlled by Laertes and Polonius, and Hamlet takes advantage of the naive image that she is required to keep. However, in her later madness, Ophelia taints this image by revealing that her innocence is feigned. By exposing the sexual natures of both Gertrude and Ophelia, Hamlet strips these women of any influence they may have had, and damages their once-honourable names.
Shakespeare’s most famous play Hamlet resonates with the hearts and minds of audiences through the dramatic treatment of struggle and disillusionment. Author, John Green commented, “Hamlet struggles because he is human.” It is these human characteristics and behaviors that have kept an audience transfixed through the years. Hamlet’s disillusionment with women, introduce modern day themes of love and marriage. His inability to act introduces his disillusionment with his uncle. Lastly his disenchantment with himself brings about questions of self-doubt and philosophical ideals of death.
Despite Ophelia’s weak will, the male characters respond dramatically to her actions, proving that women indeed have a large impact in Hamlet. Her obedience is actually her downfall, because it allows the male characters to control and use her in their schemes. Ophelia’s betrayal ends up putting Hamlet over the edge, motivating him in his quest for revenge. Ophelia is one of the two women in the play. As the daughter of Polonius, she only speaks in the company of several men, or directly to her brother or father. Since we never see her interactions with women, she suppresses her own thoughts in order to please her superiors. Yet however weak and dependent her character is on the surface, Ophelia is a cornerstone to the play’s progression. One way that her manipulation is key to Hamlet’s plot is when Polonius orders her “in plain terms, from this time forth/ Have you so slander any moment leisure/As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet,” (1.3.131-133). She complies with his wishes, agreeing to return any tokens of Hamlet’s love to him, verify t...
“Gender hardly determines the nature of a character, in the plays of Shakespeare. It is for this very reason, that his plays are read, viewed and enjoyed by both the sexes equally, even after five hundred years of their composition” (Singh). Gender is not something that defines what a character is going to be like in Shakespeare’s plays. This quote illuminates that in Shakespeare’s writings females and males were on equal level playing fields when it came to their traits. Females during the time period were considered inferior to men.
According to an article on mashable.com, since 2006, the amount of time spent on the internet has more than doubled, from 2.7 hours to 6.9 hours per month. Today, there are so many more available internet based sites accessible to Net users of all ages, making it possible for adults and children to spend their time surfing the internet, watching Netflix, and instant messaging with people all over the world. “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity” (Albert Einstein). With the advancements of technology come the evolution of humanity. Does it help us or harm us? Actually, it has done both helped and harmed the brains, lifestyles, and interactions of our species.
Incest and Sexism What role incest and sexism play in Shakespeare ’s play Hamlet? This complex play exhibits themes such as incest, sexism, death, revenge, and love. The two that we will be focusing on are incest and sexism.
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.
Most of the worlds cultures follow a patriarchal society and this dates back to the beginning of time. In Hamlet the patriarchal society is clearly depicted by the characters throughout the play. Hamlet is portrayed as an indecisive character when it comes to making a serious decision, for example when he contemplates on killing Claudius. This shows the masculinity and femininity aspect of his character, which offends the ideals in a patriarchal society. Claudius, Polonius, Laertes, Ophelia and Gertrude follow the usual gender roles in a patriarchal society, as for Hamlet, his characteristics come from both gender roles.
The only characters to soliloquize in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet are King Claudius and Prince Hamlet, the latter delivering seven notable soliloquies with much psychological content. However, the psychological dimension of others is presented.