Women's Role In Hamlet Essay

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In the Shakespeare novel Hamlet, the role of women in the book could be discussed in many different forms. Women have always been overlooked or unappreciated in novels but in Hamlet there seems to be a different type of appreciation. In the novel the women in the story drive the men to do the things that they’ve done in their own form of way. But it does also discuss how women can be extremely weak and revolve their whole lives around the men in their lives. It shows how women will allow love consume them and lead them to their own death as well. The prime examples of women who affect the men are Ophelia and Gertrude.
Novels created in Shakespeare time have always revolved around the men in the story while the story of Hamlet changed that …show more content…

Ophelia for example becomes consumed in madness all because of Hamlet and their odd relationship. Since Hamlet does use Ophelia for his own tasks it shows how men did use women for their own needs instead of considering the feelings that may have been damaged on the way. Such as in the scene where Hamlet uses Ophelia as a form of messenger. Gertrude is a considered a weak woman as well because of how she involves herself into the marriage. “I find it improbable that Claudius would kill his brother if he were not reasonably sure that he would be able to marry the queen. For Gertrude to marry Claudius so soon after the death of the King indicates that she was most likely pressured into the arrangement.” Stated Kristic Sandra on http://www.academia.edu/. This quote shows exactly how Gertrude was weak enough to allow herself be manipulated most likely by Claudius. Even though the novel doesn’t go into detail about the reasoning of the marriage many different assumptions could be made one being mostly about Gertrude being a weak woman. Ophelia and Gertrude may influence the men in their lives but they also allow them to control the women’s lives. Ophelia allows her love for Hamlet to literally drive her into insanity. She could not accept the fact Hamlet claimed he did not love her and didn’t want to be involved in a marriage at all. It became

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