Ophelia's Double Standard Essay

Was this really Hamlet 's tragedy, or was it Ophelia 's? Often others are not taken into consideration when choices are being made. Throughout the story of Hamlet readers are able to witness the lies, scandals, and emotional rollercoasters as deep secrets unravel. Through the mystery of death both characters Ophelia and Hamlet are pushed to their breaking point. Self-doubt, depression and confusion are all factors leading to not only the tragedy of Hamlet, but the tragedy of Ophelia.

In his tragic play, Hamlet, Shakespeare demonstrates how corrupt the society were in Denmark. Ophelia–the leading female character–is depicted as both innocent and non-politically inclined, but the fact that she has no voice in this patriarchal society, drives her to the point that leads to her inevitable death. In act 4 scene 7, it reveals Ophelia’s burden of living a life to deal with tolerating Hamlet’s manipulation and to be obligated to honor the words of her father’s and brother’s. When reporting Ophelia’s death, Gertrude states that “there is a willow grows askant the brook” (4.7. 190). The “willow” is symbolic to Ophelia’s death because it relates the situation of her death where she is mourning the desertion of Hamlet’s love.

Hamlet: The Tragedy of Female Oppression 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.

He now sees it as his job to disabuse her of the notion that Hamlet could be acting honourable. With good intentions. Despite Ophelia’s defence of the Prince, her father dismisses the Laertes’ words with a cynical metaphor, saying that Hamlet’s apparent earnestness is merely a ply to catch Ophelia, a silly bird Drawing upon his own experiences when he was young, Polonius appears to be judging Hamlet by his own base standards, again echoing what his son had earlier said to Ophelia. A woman should bring honor and fortune to her family, and the image Ophelia gives off for him very much concerns Polonius. Both Laertes and Polonius tell her that the man that she loves is using her.

Similarly in eastern Promises, Nikolai undergoes a destruction of his identity due to his efforts for justice against the Vory V Zakone and his persona of criminality. Additionally, this destruction is depicted through paradoxical parasite imagery between Nikolai and Tatiana. Parasite imagery surrounds Tatiana through the baby that is forced unwillingly upon her by the aggression of the mob. Just as a parasite is an organism that feeds upon a host to the host’s detriment, Tatiana’s baby nourishes itself from her body and causes her death when she gives birth to it. Due to the aggressive circumstances from which Tatiana’s baby was created, Nikolai becomes an underground force inside of the Vory V Zakone that actively seeks its destruction through

Shakespearean Misogyny In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the two women in the play, Gertrude and Ophelia, are repeatedly manipulated and exploited by the men in their lives. They submit to male authority and oppressive societal customs because they have no other options. Gertrude and Ophelia are placed in this situation because of a male-dominated society that blames women for sexual immorality and corruption. Hamlet’s views about women are consistent with the commonly-held views of his peers.

Power: the ability or right to control people or things, as defined by Merriam Webster. Power can play a big role in a person’s life whether they know it or not. Emotion can also play a big role in a person’s life as well. That’s why I think emotions play the biggest role in The Tragedy of Hamlet because it influences several people throughout the play. Hamlet is flooded with emotions at the death of his father and seeks revenge.

“The pangs of despised love” (3.1.72). In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare Ophelia is being emotionally abused by Hamlet and the people she cares about. This abuse causes her to feel fragile, and ultimately leads her to commit suicide. Love can lead to many different passages in life. Ophelia is a gentle, obedient person, who has very limited options as a woman, other than to be docile.

All individuals within society have faced injustice at some point in their lives. When responding to these injustices, an individual tends to stay very passive until they are given no choice but to act upon their circumstance. In “Hamlet” Shakespeare accurately epitomizes, when an individual faces injustice, the individual will show signs of passive aggressiveness which will then lead one to insanity. Hamlet portrays how one will refrain from making a move against the unjust being done until given no choice to take action, due to an emotional burden. Hamlet is devastated with his father’s death and his mother’s hasty decision in marrying his uncle, therefore this causes him to shows signs of passive aggressiveness to his close

The King and Hamlet’s mother Gertrude talk about Hamlet’s depression with Hamlet’s friends. They do not know the cause yet. Hamlet’s friends convince the king and queen to watch the play that night. The king and Polonius later decide to spy on Hamlet’s conversations. They her him say the famous line “ To be, or not to be: that is the question”.