Oppression Of Women In Shakespeare's Hamlet

The article talks about that men always play an important role in this society. She discusses that women will always be manipulated by men even they are full of knowledge and success in the academic. She also talks about the feminine mystique. The academic success women in the office still projecting sexual allure which cannot be taught by others, this can proof that the differences between men and women are from the instinctive recognition. Next, Camille Paglia thinks that the natural division of labor cannot change because it had developed over thousands of years. Although nowadays, most of the female are working in a safe, clean and quiet environment and can also get the high salary, only man can do the dirty and dangerous work, such as

building roads, laying bricks and hanging electric wires. These jobs are essential in our daily lives and they can provide the benefit for our lives. So, man is more powerful than women.
The first theme that I would like to talk about is that women always rely on men. The woman who is the winner in academic does not mean she is the winner in her life. Some female who did success in academic still not happy because in first page of the article, it says that after women’s academic success, “chronic uncertainty or anxiety about their prospects for an emotionally fulfilled private life”. It discusses that women cannot have a sense of women when they do not have the strong men in their lives. This also demonstrates that women are dependence.
In hamlet, there are only two women in the entire play Gertrude and Ophelia.

The fact that there are only two females in the play represents the weakness of the female sex. Throughout the play, both women are told what to do and barely participate in decision-making process. In Act I, scene ii, lines 145 and 151. Hamlet is upset that "within a month" of his father's death, the Queen "married with Hamlet's uncle." Queen Gertrude cannot stand to be alone for even two months after her husband passes away, this is a sign of weakness and dependence. When Hamlet cries out in frustration "frailty, thy name is woman (I, ii, 46)." This one sentence can be used to summarize the role of women in the play. Gertrude cannot spend the time to grieve over her last husband, she wants to find someone to depend and rely on, and this person is her husband's brother, Claudius. Gertrude also exhibits the ignorance and a lack of independence. In Act II, scene ii, the King and Queen are welcoming their Guests, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. After Claudius says "Thanks, Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern (line 32), the Queen remarks, "Thanks Guildenstern and Gentle Rosencrantz," in line 33. If she is able to think, she can say something different, but she just mimics what her husband has just said. She exhibits indecisiveness again in Act III, scene 4, line 182, in which she is talking to Hamlet and asks him "What shall [she] do?" Once again, she is a queen and she is a symbol of royalty and power.

However, a strong, independent queen does not need help from her son.
After Hamlet kills Poloynius. Ophelia is alone, her brother gone abroad, hamlet rejects her, and now, her father died. Due to the fact that Ophelia cannot live without a man in her life, she becomes crazy. Claudius aware of this, as he states that Ophelia's insanity "springs all from her father's death (III, v, 75)." Gertrude, the other female in the play, does not lose her sanity after her husband's death because she immediately replaced her husband with Claudius. The source of Ophelia's thought process, Polonius, is dead; she has been "divided from herself and her fair judgement (III, v, 85)." If Ophelia had not been so dependent on her father for every single decision, she would still be able to think for herself, this express the fact that men is more powerful than women in Hamlet.
In the Oedipus rex, the expectations of women in society are presented at the end of the play. Oedipus says, "But my little girls, that stricken pair of orphans whose place at table never missed being set with mine, who ate with me, drank from my cup-ah!."(77) Also on page 78, Oedipus says “and then one day a marriage time will come, but who will merry you? Who on this earth will face the destiny that dogs our line?” (78) These lines all show the expected of women in the society. Daughters are expected to marry, and if they are unable to marry, the women are worthless. Without a husband, a woman cannot survive; furthermore, a woman does not have the option to try to support herself. Sons, on the other hand, have more freedom. Oedipus does not worry about his sons since he knows that they are men who can find ways to support themselves and find success through future endeavors.
Second theme is that the natural division of labor cannot be changed. Man’s job is to make money and women’s job is to take care of the baby. For example in the second page of the article, “most women and children will be expecting men to scrounge for food and water and to defend the home turf”. Demonstrates that man is the pillar in a family and their duty is to work hard and support his family.
In hamlet, Ophelia asks Polonius in act 1 scene iii, that she does not know "what should think." This represents that Polonius is the decision maker for Ophelia.

Polonius states that he will "teach" Ophelia what to think in line 105. The power that Polonius has over Ophelia in this scene is enormous and infinite. Ophelia, almost embracing the demands, tells her father that she "shall obey (line 136)." Polonius is Ophelia's trusted person because she even shares her love life. Despite the possibility that she may have strong interests in Hamlet, she obeys Polonius' command to "repel his letters," and then "denied his access" to her in Act 2, scene 2, lines 108-109. Everything in Ophelia’s life is controlled by her father, this is same as the theme in the article, the role of man in a family is really important because man is the decision maker and it will never

changed.
In Oedipus Rex, The actual role of women is repeated throughout the play. Women have little responsibility in the workings of society and are basically seen as child bearers. For example, Jocasta in this play is the bearer of children. In the first scene, Oedipus describes how indebted he is to Laius. "Since I am now the holder of his office, and have his bed and wife that once was his, and had his line not been unfortunate we would have common children". Jocasta is not presented as a woman; instead, she is described as Laius' property that had come into Oedipus' possession which are same as the throne, land, and power. A similar instance occurs in the third scene when Chorus says, "This is his house and he is within doors. This lady is his wife and mother of his children" Instead of presenting Jocasta as the queen of Thebes, Chorus introduces her as the belonging to Oedipus. As can been observed throughout Sophocles' play Oedipus, women are not seen as being equal to men. Women are nothing more than child bearers and wives.
Just as the author says in this article, “The modern economy is a male epic, in which women have found a productive role, but women were not its author” Because of women’s dependence and their nature division, women cannot live without man when something serious happened. Although everyone promotes the gender equality, the major victims are still women.