Pawns In Hamlet

In today’s day and age, a controversial topic of discussion is gender. Traditionally, there are only two genders: male and female. However, many people are starting to recognize and identify as more than 50 different genders. People are slowly attempting to disassemble gender roles in an effort for equality. However, when Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, women were rarely seen as anything other than a wife, mother, and in the case of some a pawn that could be used to manipulate for the good of someone else. Ophelia and Queen Gertrude are two examples of women who are used as pawns by the men in Hamlet.

When one observes the effects of gender roles in Hamlet, Ophelia is an example of character who is heavily affected by the oppressive standards of her day. Women like Ophelia were expected to remain as pure as the day they were born until the night if their marriage. Just before he leaves for France, Laertes finds Ophelia advises her, “If with too credent ear you list his songs,/or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open/...And keep within the rear of your affection, out of shot and danger of desire.” (Ham. I.iii.31-35). The purity of woman was considered so valuable that one’s own brother felt it was necessary to lecture his sister to ignore the Hamlet’s pursuits towards her in an effort

to remain pure. In modern standards, virginity is still considered valuable, especially in some cultures; however, the topic would not generally be discussed between a brother and a sister.
Ophelia in her obedient manner follows the advice of her brother and father and stays clear of Hamlet in an effort to maintain her purity. Whether he was insulted by Ophelia’s avoidance of him or he desires to get under Polonius’ skin in an effort to get revenge, Hamlet ridicules Ophelia by proclaiming, “Get thee to a nunnery,/ go; farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a/ fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you/ make of them.” (Ham. III.i.137-140). By refusing him to keep herself pure, Hamlet has become so offended that he believes that she teased him and is nothing better than the common whore, which is why he suggests she reside in a nunnery or brothel. Hamlet’s perspective on marriage stems from the rushed remarriage of his mother and he has associated her with the root of the problem, therefore he has been conditioned to believe that women create monsters of the men they marry. Society’s belief in the Elizabethan Era believed that it was important for women to remain pure and that if not properly controlled, they would step out of line and alter their husbands for the worse.
Society’s belief in the Elizabethan Era also required that women obey their fathers, brothers, and husbands; therefor, women made excellent pawns because it was their job to obey their dominant male figure.

In Hamlet, Gertrude and Ophelia are constantly being used as Polonius’ and Claudius’ pawns. When Claudius and Polonius are in the throne room, they dismiss Gertrude due to her uselessness in the situation and order, “Ophelia, walk you here/...Read on this book/ That show of such an exercise may colour/ Your loneliness.” (Ham. III.i.43-46) while they hide behind a tapestry. Polonius and Claudius feel that they are so superior to Ophelia that they have no regrets using her as

bait.
The men in Hamlet spend a decent portion of their time trying to defend their masculinity and declaring that their emotions are nothing more than womanly moments of weakness. A common reaction to one’s father passing away would be a generous amount of mourning; however, Claudius scolded Hamlet in the exposition of the play by saying, “‘Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, to give these mourning duties to your father...‘tis unmanly grief.” (Ham. I.ii.87-94) in efforts to get Hamlet to stop grieving as a woman does. Laertes even scolds himself, for crying over his sister Ophelia, in the resolution of the play by saying, “And therefore I forbid my tears: but yet/It is our trick; nature her customs holds,/Let shame say what it will: when these are gone,/the woman will be out.” (Ham. IV.vii.188-191). In both of these sections the Elizabethan Era expectations of men falls short because Hamlet and Laertes are letting their emotions show and not suppressing them.
While no human is perfect and it is expected for emotions to shared, Hamlet can be seen constantly degrading himself for normal human responses. In the midst of Hamlet’s plot for revenge he proclaims, “Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,/...Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,/And falling a cursing, like a very drab,/a scullion!” (Ham. II.ii.580-584) in an effort to come to an understanding with why he feels so cowardly for not being able to avenge his father. This can be related back to the exposition of the play when Hamlet also exclaims “Let me no think on’t-Frailty, thy name is woman!” (Ham. I.ii.146). In the Elizabethan Era, to be a woman meant you were weak, cowardly, and nothing more than a pawn in your male authority figures life. Hamlet clearly supports this belief by expressions that claim to be a woman is to have a disadvantage.
Despite the fact that Hamlet was written and performed over four hundred years ago, society has not drastically changed in that time. Now in the 21st century, women have gained more rights and are not subjected to manipulation as often; however, a large portion of the male population still believes that women are inferior to them. Slowly but surely, today’s society is moving away from treating women like then men in Hamlet did. Eventually, the world will be a place where one’s gender will not decide how they are treated or what colors they wear, but a place where gender is just a description of what body parts a person was born with.