Social Norms In Hamlet And The Color Of Water

Have you ever felt limited or excluded from something because of your gender? In both "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, which depicts a heartbroken and betrayed prince, Hamlet, who is going through the loss of his father and being called mad for it and "The Color of Water" by James McBride, which speaks about his childhood filled with racism being a black person and comparing it to his mother, Ruth’s, childhood. These writing pieces depict gender otherness, which is when people are separated and grouped based on their gender, often leading to them being excluded or treated harshly. Shakespeare and McBride show how social norms can have a great impact on someone's identity, including gender roles through the use of tone. Shakespeare carries out

Similarly, McBride utilizes a tone of seriousness and trauma when in "The Color of Water" to depict Ruth McBride's experience being a girl. Ruth remembers, “When we’d go to the beach in Portsmouth, he’d get into the water with me, supposedly to teach me how to swim, and hold me real close to his body near his sexual parts and he’d have an erection.” (McBride 42) This quote directly shows how Tateh feels as though he is entitled to use Ruth since she is small and too weak to defend herself as a girl. Truly a tragic scene to read, but an important one in order to describe the effects of gender otherness. Furthermore, both texts show gender otherness by having a tone of objectification. In Hamlet, Polonius' rude words towards Ophelia speaks badly about her character as a woman, Polonius scoffs, "Affection,

Similarly, in "The Color of Water", McBride mentions Ruth's description of her father's treatment of her mother, recalling him saying “I get sick of looking at you,’ and ‘why do you bother trying to look pretty?’”. (McBride 41) Ruth's depiction of her father's demeaning treatment of her mother shows how women were only seen for as good as their looks. Ruth's mom would be what was considered a “good Jewish wife” by cleaning and cooking but was still treated like garbage because of a disability, showing how as a woman, slight imperfections are what can be the most noticeable features. To add on, Shakespeare employs a tone of depression in "Hamlet" to show a moment of self-discovery. Hamlet's soliloquy, "To be, or not to be," shows how he was in a terrible mood and he was even wanting to commit suicide, if not for the fear of hell if he did so. This was caused by his emotions and mourning of his father's death being ignored since he is a man and should not be feeling those things. This was also put alongside his responsibility as the Prince of England, he had to act manly and be prepared to take the