One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Comparison Essay

Gender relations and differences have been a part of society since the birth of civilization. Gender relations in the past have been mainly dominated by men. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, women are lower that men. Women are never really apart of the play and when they are a part of the play, they are usually expressing stereotypical women behavior. In Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, women are mainly expressed overpowering men. Both pieces include patriarchal elements. Kesey and Shakespeare use various stereotypical female characters as a metaphor for the different roles that women have in society, to express the views society holds on these roles.

In One Flew over the Cuckoo’s, women are expressed as powerful people, but there are also women who are submissive to men. Women are held to the expectation of men as sex objects, but to society have the expectation of being virgin and wholesome. “...spinning his tale on how it would be, with all the men scared and all the beautiful young girls panting after me.” (Kesey 187) These whores have been placed into the role of appeasing men, and doing what men want. This outlines how women are treated as objects. “‘A woman like this. A cheap! Low! Painted-’ ‘Courtesan’” (Kesey 266) In this situation Billy took advantage of Candy, and the

Women are stereotypically viewed as leeser to their male counterparts, as mainly portrayed in Hamlet. Women can also hold the general role of men as the powerful leaders, expressed in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Views on gender roles are also changing in society today. The one woman who was truly respected and liked, was the asian nurse in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. She was both compassionate and caring, but was also powerful and a