Women in the Patriarchal Society Women today have way more rights than those about 100 years ago. Unlike the story Hamlet, women are able to have independence and do not have to depend on men today. While in the past, women were seen as housekeepers and mothers. They had to listen, respect and obey their husband or the man of the house. This was the normal for them in those days, so they had no choice, but to obey and do as told. Women in the time of Ophelia and Gertrude had little autonomy, having their lives towards only their father or husband. They live in a patriarchal society, which is where men made the decisions for them and hold great power. There are two main female characters in the play, Hamlet. They are Gertrude, the queen of Denmark and the mother of Hamlet, and Ophelia, Hamlet’s love. Both of these women’s role played in the play set up a cause and effect type of system. Also they live in the shadows of the men, …show more content…
Ophelia represents on how women are treated. Ophelia is a young women that is an obedient daughter who depends on the men in her life, especially her father. She would do anything to please her father, even to make personal sacrifice that she does not agree on. She did have a few choices in her life. Ophelia is able to criticize her brother, Laertes to some extent. When Laertes is talking to her to have fear about her losing her virginity, she says this to him, “Whiles, a puffed and reckless libertine, / Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads, / And recks not his own rede” (I.iii.49-52). Then when it comes to her father giving her the same lecture and tells her not to accept anything from Hamlet, her simply reply, “I shall obey, my lord” (I.iii.136). Since Ophelia is very obedient, she is easily manipulated and used by the guys in her life. Hamlet uses her to give the image that he is filled with madness still, which he knows that she would go tell her father about
Ophelia was the daughter of polonius, the love interest of hamlet who was brutally torn up mentally throughout the novel. At the beginning of the novel all was well for her as well, her boyfriend was off at college and she was perfectly fine at home with her father. It was until her father took away a note from hamlet to her that things started going downhill. She was a weak person not like hamlet who when faced with injustice takes thing into his own hands to seek justice or revenge. She was a quite simple girl who had a gentler soul.
Feminism has gained a new definition a new understanding of female roles since the Elizabethan Era. Hamlet, a play written by William Shakespeare, is about a young prince, Hamlet, being visited by his father’s apparition urging him to avenge his death by murdering Prince Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. All the while, Hamlet is enraged by his mother’s hasty marriage to Claudius and is showering his supposed love, Ophelia, with gifts and words of affection. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia are blindly obedient to male authority due to the influence of the social standards that require women to be submissive to men. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia’s actions and outcomes as characters are affected by male influence, the social norms of this time, and the females’ consequences of following these norms.
Despite the Elizabethan era being a time of progress in comparison to previous decades, women were still thought to be less than men in almost every aspect of life. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, there are two main women characters Gertrude and Ophelia. Both fall victim to the patriarchal society of the time. In “Discovering Feminism through Gertrude and Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet” the two women Gertrude and Ophelia were disrespected
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.
In Hamlet, Ophelia and Gertrude are the only two female characters. This already shows the imbalance of power and influence the female characters start with. On top of being so limited in numbers, the female characters in Hamlet are very limited in obvious character development. Characters like Claudius, Hamlet, and Laertes are all given obvious goals and desires, whereas the female characters never have the opportunity to take affirmative actions for their needs. Despite not having much influence in the storyline, there are situations where the female characters are able to stand up for themselves.
Though gaining the approval of her father and others who believe in the patriarchal system, Ophelia makes herself extremely vulnerable by doing this. It’s almost as if she is begging someone to manipulate her, which is exactly what happens. “The king, queen, and Polonius continue their plan of uncovering the reason for Hamlet's madness by using Ophelia as a decoy” (Wright). In the end, by obeying her family
For the duration of the play, Ophelia was portrayed as a naïve and submissive woman. Her passivity and powerlessness reinforce the voicelessness of women during the Elizabethan era. For example, “I shall obey, my lord” (I.iii.134) shows that Ophelia concedes to her father’s will, even though she believes Hamlet’s love is genuine. She is willing and expected to obey her father despite the fact that she still loves Hamlet, which emphasizes her character’s submissive nature. Furthermore, in Act I Laertes warns Ophelia that it would be shameful of her to love Hamlet, and she responds with “I shall the effect of this good lesson keep as a watchman to my heart” (I.iii.45).
The patriarchy often slut shames people into believing premarital sex is wrong but, only if you are a female. From the beginning of the drama Ophelia is told to not take part in sexual intercourse. Her brother warns her against trusting Hamlet. Laertes implies that Hamlet is just using her as a target for his lust.
Hamlet: a Feminist Perspective Hamlet by William Shakespeare is considered to be the apogee of canonical texts. Hamlet who is seen to be the hero, seeks revenge of his uncle for killing his beloved father and marrying his mother. In the finale, all characters find an unfortunate end and leave the kingdom of Denmark to prince Fortinbras who coincidentally passes through to invade Poland. The play Hamlet has received great stricture from feminist critics due to the actions and behaviors of many of the characters in the play. Feminism is “the advocacy of woman 's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men” (Dictionary.com).
Ophelia is a beautiful young lady, the youngest daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and Hamlet’s lover. In the plays, Ophelia is confused, she is among the obedience to his father and his love
As a young woman of the 1600’s Ophelia is most likely unaware of the patriarchy that shadows above her. “I do not know my lord, what should I think?”. Ophelia is so unsure about her affair with Hamlet that she
Hamlet does not value Ophelia 's feelings he belittles her. In Hamlets defense this is the way he was brought up to treat women, during that time this was a common way to treat a women. Even though in today 's society it is not at all ok to treat women with such disrespect. He also likes for everything to go as planned and this may result in why he can not have a stable relationship with a woman. This also causes him to have many stumbling blocks in his life that causes some emotional pain
Hamlet’s treatment of women in the story hamlet is disrespectful, but loving. The women in the story are both treated terrible by hamlet, but sometimes treated them with love. Hamlet’s girlfriend ophelia was constantly told by hamlet that he doesn't love her but sometimes he would tell her how he loves she is important to him. Hamlet’s mother he hates her for getting married to his father's brother in less than a month, but still loves her because she is his mother.