Shakespeare's Hamlet-Feminist Criticism Of Gertrude And Ophelia

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Feminism has been defined by many scholars on the basis that is used to advocate for political, social as well as other rights of women and ensure that they are equal to the rights men. Feminists are involved in literary criticizing texts and depict the power of women. Through feminist criticisms from different authors, a certain degree of respect is developed for both women and men. As “Hamlet” is critically analyzed through Gertrude and Ophelia who are the only women in the play, some differences can be drawn from the way they interact with men in speech and actions. Various authors have published their views on feminism criticism.
Callaghan(15-18),uses the approach of how Shakespeare displayed the image of women comparing it from Renaissance to the modern world in criticism of Hamlet. The author criticizes the text through the description of how Ophelia changed during different periods of time. According to the author, the changing face of …show more content…

“Hamlet” has a special interest in the popular opposition between males and females. Hamlet is a confirmation of the division. The world of fathers is defined by public roles, reason as well as duty while for females; their world is defined by true self and emotion. Hamlet performs what is expected of males by playing the public role as the prince to perform the duty of avenging his father. Hamlet plans on how to find evidence that his uncle was responsible for his father’s death and then executes his plan on the final scene. The women in Hamlet, however, are not represented as having the capability to carry out such duties. Ophelia and Gertrude are made to appear to be completely emotional beings. An example can be drawn from the bedroom scene where Hamlet is showing anger towards his mother. Instead, both the mother involving the son to reason with her she only passionately begs his son not to speak negatively about

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