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Sexism In Hamlet

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Sexism has prevailed all throughout the world for all of time. Constantly deemed inferior to men, women have filled the position of the second class citizen. Accordingly, many of William Shakespeare’s plays are male dominated and fit this timeless mold. This mold assures that women are merely tools and are nearly never allowed to work for themselves. In Hamlet, Ophelia and Gertrude, fit this idea perfectly. Because of this, Ophelia and Gertrude are no more than tools to explain and progress the male agenda. Men not only assert their power physically, but also mentally over these two women. All throughout the male dominated world of medieval Denmark, women are used to explain men. Ophelia and Gertrude, however, did not exactly sign up for …show more content…

They are not held in high regards by their male counterparts. These men frequently use Ophelia and Gertrude for personal gain, making them the men’s most valuable tool. The majority of the time, the women are used for their personal connections. Hamlet is usually the butt of this force due to his connections with both women, but at some points he joins the game. One such example comes from a conversation with his mother. “O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain” (3.4.157). Gertrude says this when Hamlet is trying to convince her of Claudius’s guilt. While Hamlet is not completely successful in his goal to weaken Claudius through Gertrude, he does try. Another of Gertrude’s connections, only this time with Hamlet, is used by Polonius. He states, “Let his queen mother all alone entreat him… and I’ll be placed, so please [the king], in the ear of all their conference” (3.1.185-188). Polonius is using this tactic as a way to prove what he believes to be the cause of Hamlet’s madness. Polonius even uses his own daughter to uncover his version of the truth. So, when Hamlet’s pretend madness is first revealed, Polonius decides to “loose [his] daughter on [Hamlet]. Be [the king] and I behind the arras…” (2.2.163-164) in an effort to convince the king of his understanding towards the

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After Hamlet's dissolution with Ophelia, the main character carries a misogynistic personality towards all women in the play. QUOTE. In this quote, Hamlet accuses Ophelia (and the entire female population) of being a "breeder of sinners" and orders Ophelia to a "nunnery". Of course, this brash attitude stems from Gertrude's decision to remarry not even two months after the death of the King. Hamlet also believes that if Ophelia were to marry, she'd turn her husband into a "monster" (A "cuckold") because she would inevitably cheat on her spouse.

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In particular, he displays a strong preoccupation with female sexual desire, as he perceives it to be the root of ethical corruption. When Hamlet shouts at Gertrude, “Frailty, thy name is woman!”(1.2.150), he expresses his distaste for her sexual habits, for he believes that is why she married the new king, Claudius. Hamlet not only extends his misogyny and hatred towards his mother, he also applies it to the innocent and confused Ophelia.. Through the uses of his language and speech, Hamlet often implies that he solely views Ophelia as a sexual object and a deceitful and treacherous whore. After encountering Ophelia in the palace of Elsinore, Hamlet tells her to, “ Get to a nunnery…get thee to a nunnery…to a nunnery go

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Shakespeare’s deliberate diction demonstrates society’s view of the superiority of man’s aspects and the inferiority of women as nothing more than a commodity. Following from his own advice of “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” (quote), Polonius makes the decision to not lend her to Hamlet as he thinks Hamlet’s “heat” for her will go “extinct”. (quote) By contrasting these two interactions, Shakespeare establishes Polonius’s control over Ophelia’s life as he believes her to be

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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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In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir writes that “from patriarchy’s earliest times [men] have deemed it useful to keep woman in a state of dependence” (193), and indeed, nowhere is this intent more evident than in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The Elizabethans were a deeply patriarchal society; women were expected to be meekly subordinate and as such were deprived of any legal independence or right to self-expression. Accordingly, the characters of Hamlet, most notably the titular character, often express extraordinarily misogynistic views. Logically, it would follow that Hamlet’s female characters—Gertrude and Ophelia—would be one-dimensional and submissive, serving only to further Hamlet’s story. However, in actuality, both women defy the traditional Elizabethan standard of femininity—Gertrude in her sexuality, and Ophelia in her madness—serving to create tension in the story and elicit unease in the audience.

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This 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.

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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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