Ophelia's Treatment Of Women In Hamlet

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Women make up approximately fifty percent of the world’s population. Despite this fact, in William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, the cast of over twenty characters consists of only two females: his mother, Queen Gertrude, and his lover, Ophelia. With the majority of the plot focused on Hamlet and the other male characters of the play, the readers are forced to rely on Hamlet’s ideas and treatment of women to gain a better understanding and perspective of the two female characters. However, Hamlet proves to be an unreliable source due to his biased opinion as seen through his presumption that women are weak based on his mother’s actions. Gertrude is portrayed as a villain in Hamlet’s eyes while Ophelia, a mere bystander, often faces the backlash …show more content…

He remembers their love in a way where, “[Hamlet] magnifies his father's protective concern for his mother … and her attachment to him” (Levin 1). This is shown through his fond memories of the way his father would pray daily to protect his wife’s cheeks from the harsh winds and his mother would hang from her husband, feeding off of his love. By contrast, Hamlet exhibits a strong dislike for his mother’s current relationship with Claudius. Besides his disapproval of the hastiness of the marriage, Hamlet feels a sense of betrayal by his mother who was able to move on instantly from the vivid love he saw between his parents. This sense of betrayal is further deepened by Hamlet’s conversation with the Ghost where the Ghost proclaims, “O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there/From me, whose love was of that dignity/That it went hand in hand even with the vow/I made to her in marriage, and to decline/Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor/To those of mine!” (1.5.47–52). The Ghost expresses his wife’s betrayal of their wedding vows and her decision to be with Claudius who he sees as inferior to him. This conversation with Hamlet further solidifies Hamlet’s belief that women are evil. Therefore, because of the way he sees Gertrude’s remarriage as a betrayal to his father, Hamlet develops trust issues towards all women. This shift in trust is clearly displayed through his relationship with Ophelia. In the beginning …show more content…

Some people portray the relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet as sexual and incestuous with the belief that Hamlet wanted the Queen to stop having sex with Claudius because he was jealous of him for being able to. While Hamlet did hate Gertrude’s sexual relationship with Claudius, probably due to his dislike of their marriage, it is more probable that he wanted her to stop because he wanted to see the innocence and purity in her that he lost sight of when she married Claudius. Hamlet is unsure about his mother’s role in the murder of his father, because of this, “Hamlet torments Gertrude about her involvement because he loves her and wishes for her to be innocent, but he cannot shake his suspicions.” (Rosenberg 1). By remaining celibate per Hamlet’s request, it could be all the proof he needs that his mother is the good woman he once knew and is innocent in regards to the murder of his father. On the other hand, because of his disgust for his mother’s sexual relationships, Charles Boyce, author of Critical Companion to William Shakespeare: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, finds that Hamlet, “ has displaced on [Ophelia] much of his anger with his mother, the Queen. [Ophelia] has become for him simply a stimulus for his disgust with women and sex, and he no longer really sees her as an actual person” (Boyce 1). Since Hamlet associates

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