Stereotypes In Hamlet

“Frailty, Thy Name is Woman!”

Within Shakespeare’s plays, he portrayed messages and lessons that can still be found relevant today. One of his most famous plays, Hamlet, told the story of the King of Denmark who died and the events that occurred after wards. The King’s brother Claudius then assumed the throne and married his brother’s wife Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark. These events, along with other more minor storylines such as his relationship with Ophelia, and the mistake of killing her father Polonius, cause Prince Hamlet to seek revenge by killing Claudius and some even argue that they caused him to go mad. Many of the events in the play revolve around the female characters, and although they are not always portrayed in the best light,

Just as good mothers have the potential to affect men’s conceived notions of women positively in this manner, when men have mothers that treat them badly or make uncomfortable or out-of-line decisions, men’s perception of women can be shifted in a manner that reflects those emotions. In the case of Hamlet, one half of Hamlet’s distraught nature is a result of Gertrude’s quick remarriage after her husband’s passing. This was a large contributing factor to Hamlet’s anger, madness and desire for revenge in the play, and in the fourth act, he

(Shakespeare 59)

When the reader first observes their relationship during this scene near the beginning of the play, Gertrude is trying to calm Hamlet down and is basically calling him overdramatic, which could be a way to cover up her guilt in the situation. Nonetheless, Hamlet exasperates his bitterness loud and clear. From this, the reader understands that Hamlet’s attitude is sexist and he is repulsed by his mother’s sexual nature. Hamlet becomes critical of women because he believes that their sexuality and actions upon it constantly lead them to betray men, and he has seen evidence of that in his own life.

Sometimes referred to as the “pawn” of the novel, Ophelia, while more of minor character relatively, plays a significant role in the novel when looking at it from a feminist perspective. A quote by Jacques Lacan, a Freudian critic, states “What is the point of the character Ophelia? Ophelia is obviously essential. She is linked forever, for centuries, to the figure of Hamlet” (Felman). This point, although made in psychoanalysis, can be applied to this situation because it counterpoints the notion that the novel presents, that the female characters are not as important and should remain in the background. This quote, however, says otherwise because without Ophelia, a large chunk of the storyline would be missing. She is the initiator of many pieces of the plot, and she affects Hamlet in large ways and can be attributed to a