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Hamlet's character traits
How shakespeare has developed the characters in hamlet
Hamlet's character development
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Even though women’s rights has evolved drastically, today and throughout history, women still largely adhere to men’s demands. Men, who withhold most of the power in relationships, tend to expanded their own power at the cost of these women, displaying that anybody in a position of power can become uncontrolled. A similar scenario of imbalanced power appears throughout Hamlet, Shakespeare portrays women as pawns in a mostly male world, due to their desire for acceptance from men, women are led to their downfall, showing that in seeking a man’s approval, they often fall victim to men’s greed and manipulation.
In the play, the females accept an inferior position by letting them be controlled by the male characters. An example of this is in Act 3 Scene 1, when Polonius and Claudius are about to spy on Hamlet, Claudius commands Gertrude to leave the room. Without any hesitation and protest, Gertrude responds by saying, “I shall obey” (3.1.37). When Gertrude uses the word “obey” she establishes her inferiority in her relationship with Claudius. By using such language Gertrude is putting herself below Claudius, in a master-to-servant type of relationship. Being the queen of Denmark and technically the rightful heir to the
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throne after her husband’s death, Gertrude is willing to submit to Claudius's rulings, even though he is not the rightful beneficiary of the throne. Because of the time period they live in Gertrude cannot accept that a woman can be in a position of complete authority, so she choses to follow under Claudius's rule. Women in this society, have become accustomed to following, not leading. Readers are shown more insight into their relationship in Act 4 when Claudius and Laertes confront each other about Polonius's death. When Laertes enters the kingdom and physically threatens Claudius, Gertrude takes action to defend her husband by physically restraining Laertes. Claudius, is shocked by his wife’s sudden exhibit of power and repeatedly tries to stop her by saying, “Let him go, Gertrude” (4.5.137-142). Right away, Gertrude lets go of Laertes and falls back into her place below Claudius. As a queen, Gertrude should represent power and assertiveness, but instead she seems to be comfortable staying in Claudius's shadow and the created gender roles of her society, instead of fully taking advantage of her power. Another character that conforms and accepts a lowered position in her environment is Ophelia. In Act 1 Scene 3, Polonius, Ophelia’s father, strictly states his doubts about Hamlet and her relationship with him. Ophelia, confused and disappointed, says, “I do not know, my lord, what I should think” (1.3.113) to which Polonius hastily replies by saying, “I will teach you [what to think]. Think yourself a baby...” (114). By saying this Polonius tells his own daughter that she cannot think for herself and needs the help of a man to be guided. In contrast Polonius gives his son minimum instructions about leaving home because he is a man and Polonius expects him to be independent. Yet, he calls Ophelia a “baby”, suggesting she is an inexperienced, incapable, and dependent person who cannot deal with problems until a man deals with them for her. Ultimately, Ophelia avoids resistance and defeatedly answers, “I shall obey, my lord” (145). Once again, the word “obey” puts Ophelia into an inferior position compared to her father. In the play, the women seem to use this word repeatedly whereas the men seldom use it. Shakespeare directly uses the word “obey” to show the obvious willingness of women to submit and settle behind the male characters. These women are portrayed as people comfortable with being lesser than men in society. Both Gertrude and Ophelia strongly seek the approval of the men in their lives and it is their desire for this acceptance that leads to their fall. After her husband’s death, Gertrude remains queen.yet she still chooses to marry Claudius. An explanation for this remarriage could be Gertrude’s desire for a powerful male figure. Even though it seem unnatural that Gertrude would marry immediately after her husband’s death, she could have been seduced by Claudius before King Hamlet’s death, and he most likely manipulated her to get the throne. In the beginning of the book, when Hamlet first sees the ghost of his deceased father, King Hamlet, it reveals to him the truth about how he was killed. The ghost exclaims, “Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,/With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,/O wicked wit, and gifts that have the power/So to seduce!--won to his shameful lust/The will of...my queen” (1.5. 49-52). The ghost is accusing Claudius and Gertrude of committing adultery, very strongly implying that they had an affair. Thus, Gertrude’s desire for Claudius’s love and his approval leads to him being able to take advantage of her, and satisfying his greed for power. Claudius ends up with the throne, and Gertrude lets herself be manipulated, desiring his approval. Gertrude makes women look decidable because she is not directly aware of his intentions, and her submissive nature lets Claudius conduct his plans. In the end, Claudius’s true intentions are exposed when Gertrude is about to drink the poisoned wine, because he does not stop her in fear that she will ruin his plan to kill Hamlet. Gertrude dies, exclaiming, “The drink! I am poisoned” (5.2.341), fooled by the man she trusted and loved. Gertrude shows how women become victim to man’s manipulation and greed because of her strong desire for his affection. Likewise, Ophelia goes after the approval of Hamlet and her father and when she loses them, she falls into madness. When Ophelia returns Hamlet’s gifts, Hamlet, acts insane in front of Ophelia and shouts at her, saying, “If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry...Get thee to a nunnery, go. I say, we will have no more marriages” (3.1.146-160). Hamlet denies his love for her, ultimately humiliating her in the process. Ophelia, who loves Hamlet dearly, is dumbfounded by his denial of their relationship. Unfortunately shortly after, Polonius, her father is killed by Hamlet. With both men out of her life, she becomes unable to think for herself and begins to go insane.Due to being dependent on her father, she is not prepared to handle control over her life. Even Claudius says that Ophelia is “divided from herself and her fair judgement” (4.5.92) after Polonius’s death, showing that her father was, in fact, her sense of sanity and fair judgement. With his death, Ophelia is left without a person to tell her what to do. In addition, she herself has to accepts the dependence she had on her father. Now that he is dead, she begins to lose herself and says to Laertes, “I would give you some violets, but they all withered when my father died” (4.5.207-209). Violets representing innocence in the play, Ophelia is saying that her innocents has withered with her father’s murder, and has fallen prey to the men around it. In the end, Ophelia dies a casualty of the men in her life. Thus, both women fall as a result of their desire for the approval and acceptance of the men in their lives. Through the death of Gertrude and Ophelia, Shakespeare attempts to shine a light on society’s oppression against women.
The men in the book use women to accomplish their plans and the women, who are continuously seeking the men’s approval, fall into their trap and obey the men. Claudius uses Gertrude to get his throne, which ends up leading to her death. As well as, Hamlet, in addition to killing her father, does not to tell Ophelia of his plan to act mad; which leds to her into thinking that he hates her. Hamlet’s mistreating of her combined with the loss of her father on whom she was very dependent leads to her suicide. Both of the men do not respect the women enough to not use them or to not play with their trust for their own
gains. Shakespeare uses this development of characters to suggest that women were often reduced to being vulnerable and gullible beings who were manipulated by men in 15th century society. His depiction of clearly discriminatory gender roles in Hamlet reflects the attitudes of actual societies in which women could almost expect their own deterioration as men became more powerful. By showing the exaggerated and tragic ends that befell the women of Hamlet, Shakespeare concludes by saying that a life of obedience and compliance for women led to nothing but crippling dependency and eventually, an untimely demise. Ultimately, the woman's tragic ends and stories serve to communicate a powerful message about gender roles in Shakespeare’s society. By showing how dependent, innocent, and susceptible to being exploited the two women in Hamlet where, Shakespeare hints at what society around him actually looked like. Men used woman's submissiveness and willingness to comply to their advantage and even hurt women in the process. Meanwhile, women remained clueless and trusting, still desiring a man’s approval.
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.
One way that feminism is shown is through how the characters think that the men in the book act like women. Since the beginning of the book the author subtlety hint that the way Hamlet acts loses his respect because of the way he acts. Such as when the king states” ‘Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, to give these mourning duties to your father.... but to persever in obstinate condolement is a course of impious stubbornness. 'Tis unmanly grief. It shows a will most incorrect to heaven, a heart unfortified, a mind impatient, an understanding simple and unschooled” (1.2.90-92; 96-101). For this reason just because he shows his emotions he gets called a girl. Meanwhile hamlet soon starts making horrible comments about how he acts.
The role of women in this (). To obey and be dictated by men.This concept ultimately drove Ophelia to madness in that she lost the men in her life, Laertes going back to school, the loss of Hamlet's love and future, and finally Polonius being murdered is her breaking point in which breaks her and leads to her death.
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.
Hamlet takes control of the conversation from the very beginning of the scene although it is Gertrude who was meant to be rebuking him and doing much of the talking. Hamlet succeeds in shaming her until the point when she begs him to stop. Hamlet having the upper hand in the conversation, asks his mother to change her ways, which she agrees to and asks for his advice, showing that she has submitted herself to her son. Hamlet does not really show much respect for his mother while reproving her and forcing her to sit down but he does love her. Some critics believe that his love shows sexual connotation and that is a reason why he gets so upset at her remarriage. There is a point in this scene when Gertrude thinks her life is in danger of Hamlet and gets frightened, which shows us that she considers him to be mad and harmful. After this scene she becomes aware that Hamlet isn't mad and starts trusting him as opposed to Claudius. This is exactly how Shakespeare has presented women throughout the play: they are easy to convince, very meek and become submissive to the men (as we can see Ophelia and her response to her father and brother). They are depicted as weak and inferior in comparison to the male figures, who control their lives. After the closet scene Gertrude keeps faith to her son and lies to her husband Claudius for Hamlet saying he killed Polonius in his madness:
Do the males in Hamlet’s society feel that women are inferior to them? It certainly seems that way, but is it possible that the males behave in this manner due to their own self-loathing? Hamlet by Shakespeare is considered to one the most tragic plays ever written. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, has one of the worst mothers. She knowingly marries her husband’s murderer, Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle. In one of the most convoluted plots in literature, Hamlet is on a mission to avenge his father’s murder, punish Gertrude, and rid himself of Ophelia, whom he has driven to madness. In the end, Hamlet’s intense need for revenge is his ultimate downfall. Even though Hamlet seems to be the victim, in some ways, he is actually the villain because of the ways that he treats his mother, Gertrude, and Ophelia. The women meet their fate due to their lack of independence. After a closer examination, there is evidence to show that the women's actions, or lack thereof, are the reasons behind their demise. In particular, three factors come into play in terms of a Feminist standpoint. First, upon closer examination of the text, it becomes apparent that women lack wise decision-making in matters of love. Secondly, women's feeble minds deter them to make shrewd decisions, as they are immature and weak. Finally, a male-dominated society affects the females’ decision making ability because they are being controlled by the men around them. Therefore, an obvious focus for the audience in Shakespeare’s, Hamlet is the prince’s indecisiveness; however, what is more noteworthy is the overt suggestion in this play that females are incapable of reaching wise decisions. Clearly the patriarchal values displayed by the men in their conversations with women in Hamlet, u...
“Frailty, thy name is woman” (I.ii.150). The most significant reason for Hamlet’s first soliloquy is based on how he feels about “woman”, mostly referring to his mother. Hamlet shows no respect towards his mother. Shakespeare tries to show Hamlet and other male characters as assertive men. However, in Shakespeare different plays women play a variety of roles. Throughout the play Hamlet, Shakespeare demonstrated brutal treatment towards women by the male characters in the play, whether it be verbally or with emotional abuse. Not only were the women manipulated by the male characters, but they were also controlled by their beloved ones.
Ever since Eve was fashioned from Adam’s rib, men have viewed women as objects that they use and abuse like an extension themselves. This idea exists because over time men have become to see themselves as superior beings. This idea has been reinforced by years of culture and tradition; it can be found in the media, the workplace and has even made its way into literature through the mind of William Shakespeare. In his play Hamlet, he explores themes of sexuality and how men view women. One of the ways he does is through the character, Hamlet, who has the idea that men are superior to women. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare the main character Hamlet, displays characteristics that proves that he is misogynist. These
In Hamlet, gender plays a huge role in the assumed capability of people. Queen Gertrude had to remarry instead of rule the kingdom by herself. If she wouldn’t have gotten remarried, it would have been likely that her kingdom would have been usurped by a chauvinist male ruler; who felt that women couldn’t rule a kingdom.
William Shakespeare incorporates many themes and ideas into his play, Hamlet. Of the multiple important ideas, one potentially overlooked is the role of women. Only two of the characters in the play are female. Their lines are scarce, but hold huge importance in relation to the progression and plot of the play. Ophelia, the implied lover of Prince Hamlet, and Queen Gertrude, his mother, do not appear significant, but their actions and characters allow for other events to unfold. Gertrude and Ophelia are manipulated and belittled. In their weak will, they end up betraying Hamlet. Observing their manipulation by other people, Hamlet is able to justify and go through with his actions.
Another significant female character is Ophelia, Hamlet's love. Hamlet's quest for revenge interferes with his relationship with Ophelia. There is much evidence to show that Hamlet loved her a great deal, but his pretense of madness drove her to her death. Ophelia drowned not knowing what was happening to her. This can be deduced by the fact that she flowed down the river singing and happy when in truth she was heartbroken. Ophelia was very much afraid when she saw Hamlet "with his doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle" (Act #. Scene #. Line #). She described him as being "loosed out of hell" (Act #. Scene #. Line #). In addition to that he scared her when he left the room with his eyes still fixed on her. She is especially hurt when Hamlet tells her that he no longer loves her and that he is opposed to marriage. He advises her to go to a nunnery and avoid marriage if she can.
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.
In Shakespeare’s dramatic works there is no room for the heroic or the strong woman, and therefore many of his plays can be perceived as being antifeminist. Often he portrays women as weak, mad, sexual, and as even witches. Hamlet is no exception. The only women in the play, Ophelia and Queen Gertrude, are given confined and limited roles. These roles are from a male-dominated viewpoint and only add focus to the male characters instead of incorporating the insight and the impact of the women as well.
Throughout Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” women are used as method for men to get what they want. The men in Hamlet, either directly or indirectly continuously use women to acquire something from other men. The only two women in the entire play are Gertrude and Ophelia, who are consistently used by the current king, Claudius, Polonius, and Hamlet. Ophelia is exploited by Polonius and the King (mainly together), and is also used by Hamlet. Gertrude is used by the King, as well as Polonius. In “Hamlet,” the women throughout the play are used as pawns for men to get what they want, mainly from the other men.