Essay On The Role Of Women In Hamlet

During the Elizabethan period, the role of women in society was very different from what it is today. According to the system of patriarchal society that dictated that women were inferior to men, they had to obey the male figures in their lives. The woman was seen as the weaker sex either physically or emotionally which meant that it was entirely dependent on her husband if married and members of his family if single. Moreover, in the Elizabethan theater, women were not allowed to play because of this hierarchy. Therefore, they were replaced by men disguised as women. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, published in 1601, women play a very special role. First, it should be noted that there are only two women in the room: Gertrude and Ophelia. By developing the role

Contextually, Gertrude is Hamlet's mother and the wife of Claudius, brother of her late husband. His stage presence is reduced because it appears that in nine out of twenty scenes and its appearance is often had to his royal status. In addition, Gertrude is a woman represented as being inert, does undertaking any real action during the play. Indeed, it does not come to the aid of his son Hamlet all throughout history and finds deleted before men dominate the work. Gertrude is a dependent character of men, especially Claudius. Indeed, she married Claudius barely a month after the death of her husband, which suggests several things. First of all, this means that it constantly seeks a male figure to lean on, it is in need of affection and desire for attention. It also suggests the possibility that she wants to keep her Queen status. Subsequently, Gertrude takes no real decision for himself because it follows the choice made by the men around her. Seen when in Act I, Scene 2, Gertrude repeat what Claudius said about the fact that he does not want Hamlet returns to