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Cultural Effect In Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Often times literature is greatly affected by the culture that it is cultivated in. A great example of cultural effect is in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. In Hamlet, there are only two female characters presented during the entire duration of the play, Gertrude and Ophelia. The play reflects how women are portrayed during the 1600s through Gertrude and Ophelia by the way the men treat them, by the role that they play, and by their characteristics. The Cultural view of women is apparent through Hamlet in the way that the men treat them. At all times, Gertrude and Ophelia were being manipulated. Claudius manipulated Gertrude into quickly marrying him. Polonius manipulated Ophelia into helping them spy on Hamlet. Even Hamlet manipulated Ophelia’s …show more content…

Shakespeare was strategic in giving Gertrude and Ophelia the personality traits that he did. Gertrude is a very mysterious character. She speaks very little, so the only personality traits that can be concluded about her is based on what is said about her. Based on the text, Gertrude can be described as very sexual, two faced, lustful, and full of care. Ophelia on the other hand, speaks and is spoken about many times. From the eyes of her father, Polonius, Ophelia is supposed to be some vessel of morality and purity. In her father 's eyes, she should be described as only an obedient, dutiful, and steadfast servant. Hamlet’s description of her is very different. He refers to her as two faced and thinks of her as a sexual object and whore. Ophelia had to deals with these two expectations of her and was never able to make any decisions for herself. She is too obedient and drives herself to madness because she can’t find any equilibrium. From the characteristics of Gertrude and Ophelia, you can see that women in the 1600’s were viewed as co-dependent, weak, and are held to unrealistic standards while being continuously degraded. It is made obvious that the culture in which a piece of literature is cultivated in effects the writing greatly. The portrayal of women during the English culture of the early 1600s is shown in Shakespeare 's, Hamlet. The play reflects how women

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