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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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939 Words | 4 Pages

Ophelia’s character went through quite a large transformation. In the play her father tells her that she is to stay away from Hamlet and she readily agrees. In the movie Ophelia doesn’t disagree with her father but she also doesn’t agree just to please him. This shows that Ophelia isn’t easily persuaded, even by her own father. Despite her father’s warning about Hamlet, Ophelia met with him in secret at her apartment until her father found out.

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932 Words | 4 Pages

Ophelia goes mad throughout the story. She is overwhelmed by the loss of her father and the rejection of Hamlet. Her character is seen spiraling down a dark path that also ends in death. Ophelia is depicted as not having control over her actions; speaking and acting erratically. While Hamlet is speaking erratically and behaving oddly, he still maintains control over his actions and movement throughout the story.

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277 Words | 2 Pages

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).

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1234 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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937 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet has not only become distraught from his conniving and lying stepfather but also his mother, Queen Gertrude as well. The unfaithfulness that Gertrude shows to Hamlet’s father and Hamlet has a toll on him and plays a part in his insanity. The facade that Hamlet displays slowly leads to his insanity, causing him to show mistreated love towards Ophelia. In the beginning of the play, Ophelia displays a very honest

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930 Words | 4 Pages

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

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360 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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1441 Words | 6 Pages

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.

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937 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet views Ophelia as a naive and ignorant girl who is nothing but Polonius and Claudius's puppet. This was revealed when Hamlet said "God has given you one face and you make yourself another. . You jig and amble, and you lisp, you nickname God's creatures and make your wantonness your ignorance." (III, i, 143-146) In this quote Hamlet knows that Ophelia is spying on him for Polonius and Claudius.

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1478 Words | 6 Pages

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.

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396 Words | 2 Pages

His beliefs shape the audience’s perceptions of women throughout the play. Hamlet’s attitude towards Gertrude and Ophelia reflects the prevailing misogynistic values of the time period, stereotyping women as weak and helpless, and condemning them for having opinions.

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933 Words | 4 Pages

William Shakespeare was well versed in the English language, whether it be poetry or playwrights. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and Hamlet are playwrights that entail odd, but heavy struggles for both characters. Using Brutus’s and Hamlet’s interaction with their female counterparts, their thirst for vengeance, and specific character traits, Shakespeare develops two tragic heroes of different time periods. When comparing and contrasting Brutus and Hamlet it is important to note their interactions with women within the play. Both Hamlet and Brutus have significant female influences throughout each of their stories.

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1056 Words | 5 Pages

Frailty, thy name is woman! (1.2.148) Hamlet thinks that all women trap men with their plotted tricks. Situations between Hamlet, Ophelia and Gertrude are far from an appropriate way to treat women. Hamlet has a pressing sexual desire for his mother Gertrude and that is what drives his hatred for women. Hamlet probably feels like he can not trust anyone because his own mother let him down.

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1656 Words | 7 Pages

He 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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932 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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