Shakespeare Hamlet Feminist Analysis

Furthermore, Feminist Criticism provides a better view of literature because it shows that women can be powerful. When Emilia finds out that her husband has been plotting an evil plan she says,” Tis proper I obey him, but not now”(Othello V.2.195). Emilia refuses to help her husband after she finds the cruel intentions he has despite the expectation of women always being submissive to their husbands. Women also have a voice and feelings, they are capable of defying their husbands commands when they know what he expects is simply wrong. In a literary article,The Role of Women in Othello: A Feminist Reading states that,” Society weighs heavily on the shoulders of women; they feel that they must support the men and defer to them, even if the actions of the men are questionable” (Literary Articles).

In the beginning, Hortensio drops a hint to Bianca’s shallow nature when he professes “kindness in women, not their beauteous looks, / shall win [his] love”. When Lucentio bids Bianca to come see him, she replies that she is busy and will not come. She is grouped with Hortensio’s widow when she is called ‘headstrong’ by Petruchio. Bianca’s bad attitude is presented in a more subdued feminine way; with passive-aggressive and backhanded comments. Kate is outed as a shrew because she is more masculine in her bitchiness; throwing things and insulting the other

Meanwhile, when Polonius and the king think Hamlet does not know he is being spied on but he do that's why Hamlet acts out the way he did to Ophelia. Once Hamlet realizes that Ophelia is being used as bait, he decides to make a scene and say harsh things to her. Hamlet doesn't tell them things to hurt Ophelia because he loves her, but to throw the Polonius and the king off.    Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner  transform honestly from what it is to bawd than

The emasculation of great men led to their downfall; the perpetrators were the women in their lives. As such, Cleopatra and Lady Macbeth are to blame for Antony and Macbeth’s ruin, respectively. Such is the argument of many critics whose basis of accusation is far from grounded. Both women are powerful Shakespearean characters marked with a stain, not of guilt or crime in its entirety, but rather one of womanhood. Through the creation of double standards with their male counterparts, both female characters are subject to sexism and objectification.

Paradox is used when Hamlet tells Queen Gertrude. “You are the queen, your husband’s brother’s wife.” This statement gives us a look into the reason for Hamlet’s anger. Alliteration was used in line when Hamlet says, “Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!” Use of eulogia was used before Hamlet left his mother’s room ‘Once more, good night:

In act 1, scene 5, when the ghost commands Hamlet to seek revenge, Hamlet first curses his mother “That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain!”. Women were expected to instantly obey any male in the family and Gertrude follows orders without hesitation, most likely in fear of being punished she says “I shall obey you” in Act 3. The women in Shakespeare are consistently loyal to the men in their lives, no matter what the circumstances, which is not fair at all to women. By saying women must be loyal to men, even if they treat them poorly makes women completely lesser to men and allows them to walk all over women. Men all over in Hamlet share the same opinion on women and believe their actions are okay.

Gender is a common thread that is woven through most major Shakespearean plays. An argument that follows the story lines of works such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and a more dominant role in Othello. Written in 1603, Othello examines the contrast between female and male characters, and where their place is in society. As this was written in a time where women were seen as the lesser sex compared to their male counterparts. Males take on more power hungry roles, drowning out the roles of females by minimizing their thoughts and actions.

In the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare depicts the role of women, through the ladies of the Capulet household and their suppressed role compared to that of a man which consequently, results in the women being slandered, objectified and being forced to comply with decisions they don’t

Beware/ Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in, / Bear ’t that th ' opposèd may beware of thee./ Give every man thy ear but few thy voice" (Act I, Scene III, 60 -69). , depicting a more liberal character. The differentiated treatment which can be seen in the interaction between Polonius and his children allows the audience to understand the stereotypical views that have been instilled in society and how a women must act in order to be deemed 'pure ' or a 'good girl '. Another instance that depicts the differentiated treatment of men and women can be seen when looking at a dialogue between Hamlet and his mother.

In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir writes that “from patriarchy’s earliest times [men] have deemed it useful to keep woman in a state of dependence” (193), and indeed, nowhere is this intent more evident than in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The Elizabethans were a deeply patriarchal society; women were expected to be meekly subordinate and as such were deprived of any legal independence or right to self-expression. Accordingly, the characters of Hamlet, most notably the titular character, often express extraordinarily misogynistic views. Logically, it would follow that Hamlet’s female characters—Gertrude and Ophelia—would be one-dimensional and submissive, serving only to further Hamlet’s story. However, in actuality, both women defy the traditional Elizabethan standard of femininity—Gertrude in her sexuality, and Ophelia in her madness—serving to create tension in the story and elicit unease in the audience.

With this in mind, if a man couldn’t do something a woman can, he was a disgrace; Lady Macbeth is taunting Macbeth with the gender gap, which makes him want to prove he’s more masculine and can keep it together. Even though, Lady Macbeth is viewed as a manipulative character, towards the end, she changes and shows signs of remorse/regret, which is not like her character. Lady Macbeth begins to feel remorseful because she has made an outright killing machine out of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth starts to ask herself “The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?

The point Jones’ maybe about misogyny being “the inevitable result” is directly reflected by the relationship Hamlet had with Ophelia and Gertrude. The lack of a strong women role in Hamlet, or even a women that loved Hamlet produced a misogynistic mindedness. He only had two women in his life to was “inevitable” who collective destroyed his view of women. If Hamlet would of had a more model mother or a love interest with a woman who loved him back, he wouldn’t have been misogynistic. The result of his mother being a heartless whore and Ophelia being a complete pushover and coward lead to Hamlet hating all women.

What is a Man? The play Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a tragedy that features Hamlet the prince of Denmark. He does not fit into the ideal of a man in Elizabethan times this is shown repeatedly throughout the play. In this play Hamlet’s progression as a character is shown in each of his soliloquies as he offers insight into his decisions this shows us a depth to the avenging hero archetype, as most characters in the archetype are consumed by revenge and focus on solely on retribution.