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Sweet Innocent Ophelia's Treatment Of Women In Hamlet

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Set in early Denmark, Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, specifically victimizes the two major female characters by succumbing to the repercussions of Hamlet’s vicious cycle of vengeance through unfortunate death. Shakespeare’s misogynistic portrayal of Queen Gertrude as lustful and weak for affection causes an unwanted drift between her relationship with her son. Although the queen’s intentions are illustrated as naïve and pure, Gertrude’s motives throughout the play are driven by her infatuation with Claudius and motherly love for Hamlet. On the other hand, sweet innocent Ophelia serves as the epitome of how young women behaves in the 11th century; Ophelia only acts upon the demands of her father and brother, equivalent to a hostage confined to
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1792 Words | 8 Pages

It is far too often that women, in even the most modern of literature, are portrayed as nothing more than snivelling cowards, used merely to motivate the inevitably male heroes. Certainly, this is still the case in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which is inarguably a product of its time; sexism runs rampant, as Ophelia, the female lead, is told by Hamlet himself to “Get thee to a nunnery” (3.1.121), with not a batted eye nor consideration of why this would be wrong. In this day and age, such blatant disrespect for women would be greatly frowned upon by a modern and discerning audience, no doubt filled with cultured women who would take offence. Bonham-Carter’s Ophelia is far from the frail and tragically beautiful flower that she is often interpreted as; “ she's like a rag doll losing its stuffings” (Hinson).

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1366 Words | 6 Pages

Hamlet’s “madness” inspires speculation amongst King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, and their loyal companions, and they hypothesize that he is the unhinged, shattered product of Ophelia’s seemingly unrequited love and rejection. To confirm such suspicions, Hamlet is set up and drawn into a conversation with Ophelia, with Claudius and Polonius observing, hoping to catch the cause of his newly planted insanity. Though it appears that Hamlet is far ahead of their scheme and develops a tactic of his own, to protect his beloved Ophelia and to mislead his superiors, towards a conclusion that’ll relieve their distrust, allowing him to plot with ease. Under first impression, Hamlet may appear arrogant and vile towards Ophelia, bellowing at her to “get thee to a nunnery” and slandering her femininity, “God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another”, but there are expressions of affection and prayers in his language (3.1.121, 3.1.142-43).

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921 Words | 4 Pages

In Hamlet, Shakespeare relies on male figures like Laertes to emphasize how men often serve as means to control and direct women. This is evident when Laertes warns Ophelia by saying, “And keep you in the rear of your affection out of the shot and danger of desire.” (1.3.34-35) Women are expected to be obedient to men, and this expectation grants men an advantage in dictating how women should lead their lives. In the case of Ophelia, Laertes serves as a means to control and constrain her, ensuring she adheres to traditional gender norms of purity and virtue. In contrast, Williams challenges traditional gender roles as discussed before, through female figures like Blanche.

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513 Words | 3 Pages

"Before you begin the journey of revenge, dig two graves. " In the play Hamlet, Hamlet needs to get revenge on the person who killed his father. But, on his road to revenge, Hamlet affects many people in the path. When people seek revenge, they often at times affect others more than the person they wanted to take revenge on in the first place. Hamlets revenge impacts and affects many major characters throughout the play.

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532 Words | 3 Pages

When examining Act IV’s of Shakespeare’s Hamlet through a feminist perspective, it becomes evident that Ophelia is a clear symbol for the oppression women faced by the male patriarchy during the time period Hamlet was written in. Through the marginalization of Ophelia’s independence (The Ophelia effect), Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia and Ophelia’s subsequent death, Shakespeare shows the types of oppression and malpractice women faced. Throughout the entire play, Ophelia consistently has decisions made for her by men and this is demonstrative of how women were “puppets” of men, lacking any individuality/independence. For example, her father, Polonius, dictated much of her relationship with Hamlet by telling her what to do and how to act around Hamlet.

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651 Words | 3 Pages

Misogyny, by definition, is the dislike towards women for a particular motive. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Shakespeare elucidates his misogynistic tendencies through the characters in the play—particularly Hamlet. The role of women in Hamlet is little short of misogynistic as Hamlet consistently displays throughout the play evidence of misogynistic behavior through his views of women being cruel, adulterous, and frail. Fundamentally, there are merely two female characters in Hamlet; Ophelia and Gertrude. Though Ophelia does not intend on wounding Hamlet emotionally, she does so for being submissive to her father which conforms to the misogynistic attitude of women being powerless and pathetic as Ophelia is under control by

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870 Words | 4 Pages

In “Hamlet” William Shakespeare uses the character Ophelia to get to the men around her. She’s portrayed as a weak, trusting woman that tells her father and brother everything. They see her as a virtuous, unsuspecting, loyal daughter. Hamlet sees her differently. He sees her as an object, easily disposable.

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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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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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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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1370 Words | 6 Pages

Hamlet: The Tragedy of Female Oppression Feminism has erupted over the past century. The theme of patriarchy has ruled over women for centuries. With the uprising of the critique of patriarchy, more feminists have analyzed Shakespeare’s literary works as in favor of the male gender roles. In Act 1 scene 3, the station of Polonius and Laertes reveals their patriarchal position over Ophelia by constructing advices that molds their expectations of her and degrading her in ways that exemplify the oppression of women during the 1600’s.

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698 Words | 3 Pages

A Rue for You, and Some for Me William Shakespeare is a renowned playwright widely known for writing dozens of plays. Hamlet, a play about a son who plans to avenge the death of his father by his own uncle, is one of his most retold plays as it is acted out time and time again over the centuries. His characters, predominantly male, are three-dimensional figures whereas the females in Hamlet are condemned by many shakespearian critics for failing to be strong characters. However, in Elaine Showalter’s article, “Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism”, she describes Ophelia, Hamlet’s love interest, as a character who is more than what modern culture depicts her as.

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910 Words | 4 Pages

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet there are many male characters, but the only two significant female characters are Ophelia and Gertrude. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius, a high ranking official in the court in Denmark who serves as a love interest and an object of desire for Hamlet, although it is often unclear which at many point during the play. Gertrude is the wife of King Claudius, the widow of the former king, King Hamlet, and the mother of Hamlet. In Hamlet the women often appear as if they do not have a significant role in the play. However, Ophelia’s interactions with Hamlet exaggerate his apparent madness and by being a foil to Hamlet.

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396 Words | 2 Pages

Shakespearean Misogyny In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the two women in the play, Gertrude and Ophelia, are repeatedly manipulated and exploited by the men in their lives. They submit to male authority and oppressive societal customs because they have no other options. Gertrude and Ophelia are placed in this situation because of a male-dominated society that blames women for sexual immorality and corruption. Hamlet’s views about women are consistent with the commonly-held views of his peers.

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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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