Hamlet, the Man-Child: Denial of Subjectivity, Violability, and Ownership in Shakespeare’s Hamlet In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the main character is someone who is fairly immature for his age. Hamlet, although being around thirty years of age, has numerous childish tantrums throughout the play. A major character flaw of Hamlet was that he was never able to figure out how to interact with women. Hamlet doesn’t know how to respect the women who are in his life. He believes they are just there for him to do with what he pleases and to make him happy. This is the case with both his relationship with Ophelia and with his mother, Gertrude. Once his mother breaks from the role he viewed her in, his entire opinion and attitude towards his mother changes. This is what also changes his opinions on Ophelia based solely on the fact that she is a woman. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, he …show more content…
With Ophelia, in act 3, scene 1, he tells her that if she would ever marry, he would curse her marriage as his present to her. If he truly means for her to get herself to a convent, then he is forcing her to never be with a man. He will never accept her being married. Hamlet goes as far as to declare that there will be no more marriage. “will have no moe marriage. Those that are married already, (all but one) shall live, the rest shall keep as they are” (Line 145-147). Hamlet here is not just showing that he has ownership over Ophelia herself. Rather he feels like he has power over the rest of the people in Denmark. Hamlet is trying to tell every single person in Denmark that if you are not already married, you can never do so. That is something that only a person who thought that they had the right to control someone could do. Hamlet’s sense of ownership over Ophelia in this scene is just one of many times throughout the play where he displays this
When Ophelia returns all his letters and gifts he tells her that he has never loved her and that she should “get thyself to a nunnery.” This is one example how his mood changes throughout the play. Then after all this her father, Polinous, is murdered by Hamlet. The Hamlet is sent away to England All of these actions result in her feeling such stress that she becomes insane in the end.
In conclusion, it can be proven that Hamlet truly does love Ophelia. He pretends he isn’t in love with her kind of like in real life. Sometimes people pretend they not care for the people they really care for the most, just like Hamlet did to
I didn 't finish the story, and I was not able to understand most of the readings, however, reading the first act pushed me to wonder: why did the mother marry one month after hamlet’s death?, and why did she choose to marry his brother? Was she in a fare with her husband’s brother before her husband has been murdered ? Did she cooperate with Claudius to kill her husband, or it was the instinct of a mother who is afraid to lose her child, or was it the fear of losing kingship? And finally, why did Ophelia’s father and her brother warn her not marry Hamlet?
Every modern society since the beginning of time has painted the female as frail and individuals at the mercy of men, unable to reap the same freedoms and aspirations as their male counterparts. The English Renaissance is no different as women were not allowed to play themselves on stage, and more often than not were seen as weak characters in their portrayal. In Shakespeare's “Hamlet”, all the female protagonists all have flaws that eventually leads to them meeting their deaths. The characters of Ophelia and Gertrude are two different women trapped in the same predicament, partly being due to the inefficacy of being taken seriously, and are therefore perceived as feeble women; looking at the persona of Ophelia, she tends to follow the direction
Hamlet once again fails to understand that Ophelia much like himself is only trying to stay loyal to her father, much like what he is doing himself. In addition, Hamlet blames woman for giving birth to such evil and deceiving men like Claudius and himself. When he was talking to Ophelia he told her "Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better
He resents his mother because she did not hesitate to remarry immediately following the passing of King Hamlet; in Hamlet’s eyes, she cannot live independently because she is a fragile, powerless woman as all women are. Hamlet says, after complaining about Gertrude’s hasty remarriage, “frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2 150). His judgment of his mother’s character led to his generalization of all women being frail and helpless. Hamlet extends this judgment to his evaluation of Ophelia’s character. He believes that because she is female, she must be deceitful and adulterous.
Throughout Hamlet, the thoughts, intentions, and actions of all of the characters can be explained through predisposed gender roles in the play. Hamlet is a tragedy in which the main character, Hamlet, attempts to seek vengeance for his father’s murder, while the relationships with him and around him begin to strain. In the play, gender plays a huge role in assuming the capability and worth of people. Women are most commonly depicted as being weak, powerless, and confused, while men are commonly shown as being strong, analytical, and intuitive. Hamlet features Ophelia and Gertrude as the only two female roles, and even then they show little independence from the males.
Ophelia is grieving the loss of her father after Hamlet kills him. Ophelia doesn't know that Hamlet killed her father. But Ophelia has gone mad from learning about her father's death. Also, after Hamlet telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery, Ophelia is a little bit discouraged. She is discouraged because Hamlet had told her before that if Ophelia would sleep with him that they would get married.
Throughout the play, Hamlet is forced to make difficult decisions; as he is conflicted with almost every decision he makes, his uncertainty and unsophisticated thoughts will eventually lead to his downfall. Man vs. Self is a common theme in Shakespeare’s work, and Hamlet is no exception. The most distinct example of this sophisticated concept is Hamlet himself. When analyzed thoroughly, Hamlet is his greatest obstacle and enemy. The earliest of his internal conflicts is when his mother married his uncle, Claudius, in such a short window of time after his father’s death.
Gertrude’s actions make Hamlet fearful of Ophelia because of the potential for betrayal. Hamlet thinks all women are unfaithful because of the actions of his mother. Hamlet projects the anger he has for Gertrude onto Ophelia. Hamlet treats Ophelia in a disrespectful manner.
Hamlet confesses to Ophelia, “If thou dost marry, I'll give thee this plague/ for thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as/ pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a/ nunnery”(pg.66, 136-139). Within the
This quotation illuminates Gertrude’s act of incest which can be classified as an aspect of adultery. Hamlet’s views of marriage are potentially destroyed because of Gertrude’s remarriage and women in general as he states to Ophelia: “Of if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them” (3.1.138-140). Although Gertrude is to blame for Hamlet’s negative outlook on marriage, his misogynistic attitude comes to light as he classifies all women (including Ophelia) as cheaters and liars. Moreover, Hamlet confronts Gertrude for her incestuous and adulterous crimes and speaks: “Nay, but to live / In the rank sweat of an enseamèd bed, / Stewed in corruption, honeying and making love” (3.4.91-94).
Hamlet surely thought that his mother Gertrude dearly loved his father Old King Hamlet, now he may feel like his mother never loved his father. This may result in why he feels like he may not love Ophelia. We are also aware that Hamlet has trouble with his own happiness and this probably reflects on the way we feels towards people mostly women. Hamlet thinks that the reason real love does not exist is because of the female gender. Hamlet blames both his mother Gertrude and Ophelia for portraying men as monsters.
Ophelia’s love for her father means she is obliged to listen to and obey his every decision, resulting in her ending her relationship, with Hamlet, which she cherished. Ophelia’s and Hamlet’s relationship was supposedly very strong, as evidenced through their love letters, from act 2 scene 2, where Hamlet says, “To the celestial, and my soul’s idol, the most beautified Ophelia—”, unfortunately Ophelia’s response to the letters is,“I did repel his letters and denied His access to me.”, just to please her father’s wishes. Her blind obedience to her father’s wishes shows how she is
254-256) During this scene, he jumped into Ophelia’s grave and fought with her brother over who loved her more, expressing how he is stricken with grief from her death and angry at his decisions that led her to this. Hamlet’s love for Ophelia clouded his judgment on what would be a better way to protect her from danger and interact with the people around