Gender Inequality In Hamlet Essay

She is unable to define herself and through her responses to other it clearly shows on the inside Ophelia is having a hard time. “I do not know my lord, what I should think” (I.iii.104). This quote describes how her farther manipulates her and it is very evident that he brings his daughter up under his control. She is also manipulated into doing things she does not want to “her father and myself will bestow ourselves that seeing unseen we may of their encounter frankly judge and gather by him as he behaved be thaffliction of not his love or no that thus he suffers for” (I.i.32-36). This quote describes the fact that Ophelia is incapable of resisting, she has to take part in the plan to test Hamlet because her father and Claudius manipulate her to do so. Hamlet also talks down on her “I have heard of your paintings well enough; God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another: you jig, you amble, and you lisp, you nickname God’s creatures, and make your wantonness your ignorance” (III. i.144-148). This quotes shows how Hamlet talks to Ophelia and brings her down, but no matter what he says to her she will still love him because Hamlet has Ophelia

Throughout the play, Gertrude’s honour is constantly attacked and damaged. Following the death of her beloved husband, a hasty marriage to her former brother-in-law, Claudius, commences. “Although the memories of my dear brother Hamlet’s death are fresh…with sadness and delight do I marry my former sister-in-law” (Shakespeare, pg.10). Gertrude’s integrity and honour is brought into question as she weds the unknown murderer of her deceased husband. A basis of respect for the deceased is an important statue in the court of Denmark. In the courts of Europe, there have been many precedents in which the widow of a deceased king does not remarry and remains in solitude for the remainder of her life. Gertrude’s marriage to Claudius dishonours her relationship with the past king.

Over the course of Hamlet, many of the main characters engage in role play as a mechanism to achieve their own interests. Prince Hamlet is one of these characters, and his act proves to be one of the most important aspects of the play. Throughout the play, role-play (especially Hamlet’s) significantly affects the plot, and ultimately strains the relationships between several characters.

In the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. Moreover, these significant events are categorized as new awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax which associate with their external action.

“Frailty, thy name is woman!” (1,2,148)- women are weak and fragile,they can not fend for themselves they are brittle and easily broken, this is what some people see women as and Hamlet is one of them ; some men like Hamlet are misogynist as well. But we can not blame him for this. He has been betrayed by his own mother, Gertrude. A mother should show compassion, love, and stick up for their child and she has not shown any of that in the novel Hamlet by William Shakespeare. For this we see misogyny built throughout many of the scenes and it gives us reasoning as to why Hamlet can not love Ophelia the way we ourselves view love.

For the duration of the play, Ophelia was portrayed as a naïve and submissive woman. Her passivity and powerlessness reinforce the voicelessness of women during the Elizabethan era. For example, “I shall obey, my lord” (I.iii.134) shows that Ophelia concedes to her father’s will, even though she believes Hamlet’s love is genuine. She is willing and expected to obey her father despite the fact that she still loves Hamlet, which emphasizes her character’s submissive nature. Furthermore, in Act I Laertes warns Ophelia that it would be shameful of her to love Hamlet, and she responds with “I shall the effect of this good lesson keep as a watchman to my heart” (I.iii.45). She is assuring Laertes that she will remain obedient and follow his advice.

Hamlet Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare is a deep dark revenge tragedy of love and family betrayal. The revenge that Hamlet wants for the death of his father at his uncle’s hand consumes him so much that he loses his mind and causes everyone including the innocent to die.

During the Elizabethan period, the role of women in society was very different from what it is today. According to the system of patriarchal society that dictated that women were inferior to men, they had to obey the male figures in their lives. The woman was seen as the weaker sex either physically or emotionally which meant that it was entirely dependent on her husband if married and members of his family if single. Moreover, in the Elizabethan theater, women were not allowed to play because of this hierarchy. Therefore, they were replaced by men disguised as women. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, published in 1601, women play a very special role. First, it should be noted that there are only two women in the room: Gertrude and Ophelia. By developing the role

Hamlet by William Shakespeare is considered to be the apogee of canonical texts. Hamlet who is seen to be the hero, seeks revenge of his uncle for killing his beloved father and marrying his mother. In the finale, all characters find an unfortunate end and leave the kingdom of Denmark to prince Fortinbras who coincidentally passes through to invade Poland. The play Hamlet has received great stricture from feminist critics due to the actions and behaviors of many of the characters in the play. Feminism is “the advocacy of woman 's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men” (Dictionary.com). It is clearly evident that the female characters in Hamlet are ill fully treated due to the

Hamlet’s dislike of women is shown through his behavior and language toward his mother, Ophelia, and women in general. In the play it is very obvious that he is heartless towards the opposite sex by the actions that he takes and the words that he speaks. During the time that this play was written women were viewed as insignificant human beings. Hamlet found himself having feelings for a woman and he does not know how to portray these feelings because he holds his mother responsible for his inability to love Ophelia.

"When a man gives his opinion he is a man. When a woman gives her opinion she is a bitch."- Bette Davis Throughout time society has used woman as a scapegoat for societal issues that have occurred. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare uses character and rhetoric to display how ones hatred and anger are impulsively taken out upon woman, from this the reader learns how misogyny is difficult to acknowledge, but rather easy to practice.

Shakespeare is often referred to as a man before his time, or even called a feminist. He revered amongst many audience members for his use of the woman in his plays. Others disagree, saying Ole Willy Shakes is a misogynist who hated women. Neither of the extremes is completely accurate, and neither have claims that could be taken very far. Shakespeare lives somewhere between being a feminist and being a misogynist, he uses female character radically; for his time at least. As explained by Bianca-Oana Petrut, “Despite the relative insignificance of women in Elizabethan social order, Shakespeare uses them in many significant ways. He seems to be extremely sensitive to the importance of women in society even though they are often overlooked. The idea that men are often a product of the women in their lives is indirectly suggested in the significant impact women have on the men in plays.” (Petrut) Stating the obvious; Petrut is saying that it is the women in Shakespeare who run the plays, not the men. It may seem like Shakespeare treats his female characters worse than his male characters, but it is his female characters that drive the plot

Feminism has gained a new definition a new understanding of female roles since the Elizabethan Era. Hamlet, a play written by William Shakespeare, is about a young prince, Hamlet, being visited by his father’s apparition urging him to avenge his death by murdering Prince Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. All the while, Hamlet is enraged by his mother’s hasty marriage to Claudius and is showering his supposed love, Ophelia, with gifts and words of affection. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia are blindly obedient to male authority due to the influence of the social standards that require women to be submissive to men. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia’s actions and outcomes as characters are affected by male influence, the social norms of this time, and the females’ consequences of following these norms.

Feminism has erupted over the past century. The theme of patriarchy has ruled over women for centuries. With the uprising of the critique of patriarchy, more feminists have analyzed Shakespeare’s literary works as in favor of the male gender roles. In Act 1 scene 3, the station of Polonius and Laertes reveals their patriarchal position over Ophelia by constructing advices that molds their expectations of her and degrading her in ways that exemplify the oppression of women during the 1600’s.

In the book Hamlet, the author uses characterization to show the themes of misogyny, deception in the court, and religion.