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The portrayal of women in shakespeare plays
Shakespeare in elizabethan era gender roles
The portrayal of women in shakespeare plays
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Hamlet is vicious to the women in this play. He orders Ophelia, to “get thee to a nunnery!”(III.i.121), and he tells his mother Gertrude, “Frailty, thy name is woman,”(I.ii.146) even though Hamlet is not very strong himself. Heroism does not always involve taking heroic actions. Hamlet’s inaction is his own form action. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Claudius has and uses power, Hamlet has power but mostly chooses not to use it, Polonius has less power than he imagines himself to have, and Ophelia and Gertrude have no power.
Ophelia is depicted as a tragic, romantic, completely powerless heroine, following the mythology created by Gertrude when she describes Ophelia’s death in extensive detail, “Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide,
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He describes man as “in action how like an angel”(II.ii.284). Then he shows that this image of angelic man is inaccessible to him, even repellent, saying “and yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust?”(II.ii.290) In the middle of the play Hamlet lectures the traveling players about how best to act, however Hamlet does not act for scenes to come. He only acts when he stabs Polonius who, while exasperating, is innocent. Hamlet tells Horatio “There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now”(V.ii.204-205) This quote does not seem like a man who is about to avenge his father’s death. When Hamlet does act it is at the last possible moment. Killing Claudius only because he has learned that Claudius was planning to kill him, and the realization of the death of Gertrude, and Laertes. He stabs Claudius with the poison sword and forces him to drink from the poison cup. Killing him “twice”. He also insults Claudius, calling him “thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane,”(V.ii.325) which in Elizabethan terms is quite the insult. However taking action does not resolve or integrate Hamlet’s character. As he dies, Hamlet charges Horatio with telling his story, as though only in death will Horatio be able to make a coherent narrative out of all of his delay and wavering and
...She had lost her father and her lover while her brother was away for school, and she was no longer useful as a puppet in a greater scheme. Ophelia was displaced, an Elizabethan woman without the men on whom she had been taught to depend. Therein lies the problem - she lacked independence so much that she could not continue living without Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet. Ophelia's aloneness led to her insanity and death. The form of her death was the only fitting end for her - she drowned in a nearby river, falling beneath the gentle waters. She finally found peace in her mad world. That is how Ophelia is so useful as a classic feminist study - she evokes imagery of the fragile beauty women are expected to become, but shows what happens to women when they submit as such.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is set in the late middle ages, in Denmark. A time in history when women were not respected and thought of as the inferior sex. There are two women characters in Hamlet; Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, and Ophelia, Hamlet’s love interest. Magda Romanska the writer of “Ontology and Eroticism: Two Bodies Of Ophelia”, argues that Ophelia represents the typical idea of women in the nineteenth century. I agree with this, but argue that it is not the only aspect of Ophelia’s character. Ophelia becomes the bearer of Hamlet’s hatred toward the world, and is also the character of lowest status because she is an average women. Ophelia surrenders herself to the cruelty of those around her, and sacrifices her sanctity to please and conform
One single moment or event during the course of an individual’s life can effectively alter their priorities and transform their identity drastically. In The play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare introduces the readers to the protagonist Hamlet who is draped in anger and emotions and has a new-found mission in life. Initially, Hamlet is portrayed as an individual in mourning over his father's death and his mother's haste in remarrying to her brother-in-law and Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. However, Hamlet’s character and personality were drastically altered after meeting the Ghost and discovering the true nature of his Father’s death. Hamlet is now a man with a lust for revenge and a willingness to do anything that will enable him to accomplish this goal. When burdened with the task of killing Claudius, Hamlet chooses to sacrifice all he holds dear by transforming his identity in a noble effort to avenge his father’s death.
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.
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.
“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.
If women were the ones to have power over men, it would change the plot completely. Gertrude wouldn’t have even considered marrying Claudius, Hamlet would not seek revenge, and Ophelia would be the one playing with Hamlet's mind. In all, since this is a fictitious story, Shakespeare is to blame for this horrid portrayal of women. In reality, women weren’t as dependent on men as the play states. They were obedient, but they wouldn’t so insane and drown themselves if their father died.
Just like in society the men in Hamlet follow the rules for a patriarchal society. The three most masculine characters in Hamlet are Claudius, Polonius and Laertes. “Man is supposed to be strong, courageous, rational and sexually aggressive; while woman is weak, timid, emotional, and sexually passive” (De-Yan 1). The first identifiable masculine characters are Laertes and Polonius as they are introduced in the play conversing with Ophelia. In this scene they tell Ophelia what she is allowed to do and command to her to not be with Hamlet, “For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor, Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, A violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward not permanent sweet, not lasting...” (1.3.5-9). After Laertes leaves, Polonius enters the scene and rebukes Ophelia for believing Hamlets words of affection. As in a patriarchal society the males of the household are the leaders. First in command is the father, and then the brother. Therefore just like in Act one scene three, Ophelia has to do what her father and brother tell her. Claudius is another masculine character in Hamlet. He shows this by murder...
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.
Ophelia’s betrayal ends up putting Hamlet over the edge, motivating him in his quest for revenge. Ophelia is one of the two women in the play. As the daughter of Polonius, she only speaks in the company of several men, or directly to her brother or father. Since we never see her interactions with women, she suppresses her own thoughts in order to please her superiors. Yet, however weak and dependent her character is on the surface, Ophelia is a cornerstone to the play’s progression.
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.
As illustrated through his speeches and soliloquies Hamlet has the mind of a true thinker. Reinacting the death of his father in front of Claudius was in itself a wonderful idea. Although he may have conceived shcemes such as this, his mind was holding him back at the same time. His need to analyze and prove everythin certain drew his time of action farther and farther away. Hamlet continuously doubted himself and whether or not the action that he wanted to take was justifiable. The visit that Hamlet recieves from his dead father makes the reader think that it is Hamlet's time to go and seek revenge. This is notthe case. Hamlet does seem eager to try and take the life of Claudius in the name of his father, but before he can do so he has a notion, what if that was not my father, but an evil apparition sending me on the wrong path? This shows that even with substantial evidence of Claudius' deeds, Hamlet's mind is not content.
Hamlet seems incapable of deliberate action, and is only hurried into extremities on the spur of the occasion, when he has no time to reflect, as in the scene where he kills Polonius, and again, where he alters the letters which Rosencraus and Guildenstern are taking with them to England, purporting his death. At other times, when he is most bound to act, he remains puzzled, undecided, and skeptical, until the occasion is lost, and he finds some pretence to relapse into indolence and thoughtfulness again. For this reason he refuses to kill the King when he is at his prayers, and by a refinement in malice, which is in truth only an excuse for his own want of resolution, defers his revenge to a more fatal opportunity, when he will be engaged in some act "that has no relish of salvation in it."
The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.
Hamlet is the best known tragedy in literature today. Here, Shakespeare exposes Hamlet’s flaws as a heroic character. The tragedy in this play is the result of the main character’s unrealistic ideals and his inability to overcome his weakness of indecisiveness. This fatal attribute led to the death of several people which included his mother and the King of Denmark. Although he is described as being a brave and intelligent person, his tendency to procrastinate prevented him from acting on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle’s ascension to the throne.