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Gender Inequality In Hamlet Essay

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From past to the present, Shakespeare 's works have been translated into many languages and been an inspiration for many. In Hamlet gender inequality is a predominant issue as the two leading females are characterized as weak and are used as tools of manipulation by the male figures. This differs in the movie titled “The Banquet", a loose adaption of William Shakespeare 's tragedy Hamlet set in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in 10th century China. Film director, Feng Xiaogang puts bigger emphasis on the role of the women and gives them more power than Shakespeare in his play.

To begin with Gertrude: the very first piece of information we get about her is that she has married her brother-in-law after the sudden death of her husband. …show more content…

Hamlet refers to Ophelias weakness by calling her frail in the play, she does not know how to think …show more content…

She uses her power and position to take care of the Prince, whom she loves and to mistreat young Qing Nu. She can be seen as very vicious and greedy as she decides to poison her husband during the eponymous banquet in order to claim the throne to herself. That 's one of the biggest differences between the movie and the play, she is clearly not afraid to speak up and reach for anything she desires. Eventually goblet of poisoned wine is handed to Qing Nu who dies on stage. Emperor learns about the conspiracy against him and commits suicide by drinking the rest of the poison. The brother of Qing Nu, attacks the Empress, but is interrupted by the Prince and then stabbed. Unfortunately Prince Wu Luan dies poisoned by the blade of the opponent and the Empress is the only survivor of the murderous banquet. As far as the personality of this female character is concerned she is nothing like the quiet and obedient Gertrude. Empress loses her first love, but is still satisfied with her absolute power. She is strong, bold and determines the content of the adaptation which end with her sudden and mysterious

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