What Is The Proper Role Of Women In Hamlet

In the book Hamlet, the author uses characterization to show the themes of misogyny, deception in the court, and religion. There are many occurrences of misogyny throughout Hamlet. For example, Laertes is being misogynistic when he explains to Ophelia that she will not be able to tell apart Hamlet’s true intentions. Laertes’ exact words were, “Then think about how shameful it would be for you to give in to his seductive talk and surrender your treasure chest to his greedy hands” (Act 1, Sc. 3, L. 28-31). This qualifies for being misogynistic because Laertes is stating that if Ophelia were to lose here treasure chest of chastity, it would be shameful because she was definitely lulled into bed by Hamlet’s seductive talk.

Throughout history, stereotypical profiles of what a man or woman should be have determined how they are perceived by others. Men dominate their marriage, prove themselves courageous in the line of battle, and do whatever they need to do in order to achieve their goals. Shakespeare's representation of women, and the ways in which his female roles are interpreted and enacted, have become a topic interest. In one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, Hamlet, a female character by the name, Ophelia, is portrayed as an immensely weak character.

In the 1500-1600s women were not treated the same as men. Shakespeare portrays women a certain way to break the mold of what women were supposed to be. Women are seen standing up for themselves and being bold which was not supposed to happen. Even though Shakespeare was a bit of a revolutionary with the idea of women, the other characters in his plays still view women much like real people in his time.

Living in a patriarchal society, women are constantly looked down upon and even more so following Hamlet’s mother’s decision of marrying his uncle shortly after his father’s death. Hamlet considers his mother weak because she completely lost her sense of reason and failed to remain faithful to her late husband. It is a common belief that women should always remain faithful after the death of their husband and if they don’t they are to be looked down upon. Shakespeare goes as far as to say that she will be punished for her faithlessness. He uses harsh and degrading language to further his belief that women are inferior to men, such as, “frailty, thy name is woman!”

He Becomes She: Acting in Shakespearean Plays Shakespeare capitalizes on the power of women, their varying personalities, and the men who played these female roles. A law barring women from the stage caused Shakespeare to use men to add strength to his female characters. Because of this law, men acted the roles of women, and women disguise themselves as men to have the power to perform. Men who portrayed women played unique roles in Shakespeare’s plays.

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. To begin with, Shakespeare uses rhetoric to illustrate how Hamlet is a misogynist. Throughout the play Hamlet refers to his mother as an incestuous, cold hearted, whore, whose actions are only defined by her sexual desires. This was displayed during his soliloquy when he

In order to understand the gender inequalities in Hamlet, it is important to first understand the feminist movement and the significance of the advocation for gender equality. Prior to current feminism, there are three other “waves” of feminism. Each wave refers to a specific time period and generally focuses on a specific type of issue. (Rampton) First-Wave Feminism officially spans from 1910 to 1950 and its primary focus was legal inequalities between men and women. (Freedman)

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.

Shakespeare encourages the audience to question this male ideal requiring unadulterated masculinity by making Gertrude and Claudius disagree on the merit of Hamlet’s femininity. Gertrude positively describes him, calling him ‘As patient as the female dove,’ while Claudius ‘despises his ‘unmanly grief’’ (Howard, 2007, 18). Hamlet’s femininity is hated by Claudius, a lying murderer, and not by Gertrude, one of the play’s most sympathetic characters (even the ghost of King Hamlet requests that Hamlet have mercy on her: ‘O, step between her and her fighting soul’). The audience is left to wonder if they agree with antagonist Claudius’s traditional views, or the more likeable Gertrude.

Hamlet’s views on women is adulterous which pertains to the misogynistic tendencies in the play; thus, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, sparks up his misogynistic approaches. Hamlet is repulsed with Gertrude since she was quick to re-wed immediately following Old Hamlet’s death and cries: “She married. O, most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (1.2.156-157). Hamlet is shocked that his mother remarries to Claudius, Old Hamlet’s brother, before letting the tears on her cheek to dry.

During the Elizabethan Era, which covers up the late 16th century in England, the right of women was not a priority, considered to be only a trivial matter. Women had a very limited chance of proper education, much less a job, and only a few legal rights. Naturally, women had to rely on men for financial support and was oftentimes ignored in the society. This suppressed women against acting by her own will, as an independent individual. Shakespeare too views women as ignorable individuals whose fate is defined by men and who are incapable of acting independently.

However, their position as chess pieces for the men allows them to be the best possible catalysts through which conflict can arise and flourish. Nearly all conflict arises due to a male character seeking retribution or power, much of which is done because of the women or through the women. For example, the entire play revolves around Hamlet’s feelings of depression, angst and anger, making it only natural that any one thing that may inflict these feelings upon Hamlet will greatly change the course of the play. The main cause of his angst and anger is a female character’s actions; his mother’s marriage and, more importantly, sexual relations with Claudius. Hamlet is constantly tortured by the concept of his mother having sex with his uncle, it seems to be his most crippling issue and driving motive.

His plays often depicted a very vivid image of gender roles in the time, explaining how women were treated and how, as a result, women acted. In one of his most successful plays, Hamlet, he portrays only two women in a very harsh light, mainly from the perspective of a man who hates women. The women of this play rarely think for themselves, and are constantly victimized by the mental

For numerous years in the past, women always play a smaller role in society politically, economically, and socially than men do. This was a norm for everyone living during that time period; everything that people do was reflect by it, including the literature written. In William Shakespeare 's Hamlet, the roles of women are just as society would have displayed them during that time. The leading women, Gertrude and Ophelia, are seen as less valuable than men and insignificant because of their dependence on male authorities, obedience, and are easily manipulated by others throughout the play.

For Shakespeare’s plays, the actors had to meet specific and required standards in order to play important roles in his greatest plays. The usage of younger boys taking on the role of females was especially crucial, due to the fact that no women were allowed to be actors. The young apprentices were bought by someone of higher-ranking among the social class, and they were heavily trained. The writer Christine D. Billy states “the actors retained a place similar to that of a royal servant, which included many privileges and protections of the court. ”(The Renaissance Theatre’s Boy Actresses Paragraph 2) in order to gain entrance into the theatre required a member to leave and to ensure that the open position was bought and could buy out the member