Oppression In Hamlet Analysis
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. 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 …show more content…
“Tender yourself more dearly, Or not to the crack of the wind of the poor phase, running it thus, you’ll tender me a fool”. Polonius is not interested in love, or what is best for Ophelia’s wants. Polonius does not want Ophelia to make him look bad. Polonius would like Ophelia to choose a partner who would benefit him, but Ophelia feels that Hamlet is mad for her love. Whatever will benefit Polonius’ reputation is his only incentive to keep Ophelia informed about men. Ophelia is able to reveal to Polonius that Hamlet has affection for her. “‘He hath my lord, of late made many tenders of affection to me!’... ‘do you believe his tenders as you call them?” Ophelia wants to believe that Hamlet is being sincere revealing a feminine way to look at an affair, but Polonius shuts down her perceptions about Hamlet. Feminist analysis comes into play with the male intentions versus the female emotions. The difference between Polonius and Ophelia is that Ophelia’s intentions are emotional and Polonius’ intentions are more social. “Women’s nurturing capacities are distinct from men’s testosterone-driven engagement in the world around them” (Hall, 200). Ophelia thinks that there is hope for love, but Polonius contradicts her with the social and economic norms of the
Examples Of Mental Illness In The Elizabethan Era
1349 Words | 6 PagesMental illness was highly disregarded and an under-researched element in the Elizabethan Era. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet, the main character, is commonly analyzed and discussed regarding his mental state. However, another important character with a questionable mental state is Ophelia. Shakespeare utilizes the indirect characterization of Ophelia and the theme of patriarchal conflicts in order to comment on Elizabethans’ views on madness in women. He emphasizes the suppression of women and the detrimental effects associated with said suppression.
Hamlet Self Respect
1234 Words | 5 PagesThere is a direct link between self respect and an individual's response to injustice. When someone treats us poorly, we might feel the need to fight back because of our self respect, but if we don't we’re letting people control and take advantage of us. It's about proving our self worth and equality amongst our peers. In the novel “Hamlet”, Shakespeare has created this man Hamlet who's father the king has been slain by his uncle Claudius, who is now wed to his mother Gertrude. Before all of this happened hamlets life was perfect, he was going to school and had a lovely girlfriend, heir to the throne.
Hamlet-Feminist Lens
589 Words | 3 PagesOphelia rebuffed the advice, yelling at Laertes to stop instructing her how to live and to go about living his own life without interfering with hers. He tells Ophelia not to be afraid (Act 1, Scene 3). Hence, he portrays the patriarchal idea by demonstrating his lack of regard for Ophelia and her thoughts. In Hamlet, Ophelia was treated like an object in addition to the patriarchal purpose.
Feminism In Hamlet Essay
1441 Words | 6 PagesFeminism 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.
The Oppression Of Women In Shakespeare's Hamlet
930 Words | 4 PagesEvery 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 A Misogynist Analysis
937 Words | 4 PagesThis provokes him to say that god gives women one face, but they use make up to paint on another one. This quote suggest that Hamlet sees woman as naive and gullible creatures, as he sees Ophelia as nothing but an object that is owned by her father, as she is helping him with all of his dirty work. Hamlet believes that woman cannot be trusted as they have are deceiving. He also sees Ophelia as a grown women who is unable to make her own decisions. Hamlet is utterly disgusted by how feeble Ophelia is as she was following her father's scheme.
Psychological Events In Hamlet
1140 Words | 5 PagesIn the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. These significant events can be awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a dutiful
Examples Of Misogyny In Hamlet
396 Words | 2 PagesHe 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.
Ophelia's Double Standard Essay
478 Words | 2 PagesAfter the death of her father and departure of Hamlet, Ophelia arrives at the castle and pays an unsolicited visit to the royal majesties. She sings, “Young men will do’t, if they come to’t./ By Cock, they are to blame” (4.5.60-61). This passage is often interpreted as Ophelia airing the grievances that Hamlet has committed toward her--namely, he used her solely for sexual pleasure and discarded her when he lost interest. In summary, Ophelia exposes the double standard prevalent in her society: to a man, a woman’s value lies only in her virginity. She blames “Cock”, which represents the patriarchy at large, for society’s willingness to excuse male lust and irresponsibility.
Hamlet: The Cause Of Ophelia's Suicide
745 Words | 3 PagesOphelia’s death results from Hamlet's madness, his telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery, and Polonius's death. Hamlet telling Ophelia to go to a nunnery made Ophelia feel insecure. Especially when Hamlet told Ophelia that he would marry her just so she would sleep with him. Then, Hamlet comes back to Ophelia telling her that she needs to go to a nunnery. Which is basically calling Ophelia a whore, because a nunnery is like a whorehouse. Ophelia at this point felt very insecure about herself and she questioned her relationship with Hamlet.
Internal Events In Hamlet
1410 Words | 6 PagesIn the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. Moreover, these significant events are categorized as new awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax which associate with their external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes, who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a
Feminist Perspective In Hamlet
1259 Words | 6 Pages/Set your entreatments at a higher rate/Than a command to parley" (Act I, Scene III, 120 - 123).When looking at Polonius ' interactions with his daughter he is depicted to be a very conservative father who advises Ophelia not to engage in immoral acts with a silly boy and to keep her chastity safe. He goes on to tell her that she must obey her father and that it is important for a women to stay 'pure '; but when we look at Polonius ' interactions with his son Laertes he says, "Give thy thoughts no tongue,/ Nor any unproportioned thought his act./ Be thou familiar but by no means vulgar./ Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,/ Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel,/ But do not dull thy palm with entertainment/ Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade.
Hamlet's Attitudes Towards Women
1056 Words | 5 PagesHamlet 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
Roles Of Gertrude And Ophelia In Shakespeare's Hamlet
932 Words | 4 PagesFurthermore, knowing that Gertrude and Ophelia are dependent and obedient towards their male authorities, they are a little more than pawns for the scheming men in their lives. For example, when Polonius discovers Hamlet 's craziness from Ophelia, Polonius says, " Come, go with me: I will go seek the king / That is the very ecstasy of love / Whose violent property fordoes itself / And leads the will to desperate undertaking / As oft as any passion under heaven / That does afflict our natures"(2.I.101-106).
Ernest Jones Hamlet Misogyny Analysis
1656 Words | 7 PagesHe did not innately hate all women, but slowly as he reserved rejection after rejection he snapped. Hamlet’s relationships differed between Gertrude and Ophelia, but both had the same goal of Hamlet having someone to love and care about him. With the goal of compassion being accomplished, he spiralled in a growing hatred of the female population. Hamlet’s misogyny is not the result sexual repression , but rather his environment and the interactions with women. Ernest Jones argues that Hamlet’s misogyny stems from the sexual repression of Gertrude and Ophelia.
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