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In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, commonly referred to as Hamlet, the majority of the play focuses on men and their desire for violence and control. In this play the characters internalize social norms in the society they live in. However, when those beliefs are questioned, it creates chaos in both the story and society. Despite the male-centric cast, women are still able to play a crucial role in developing the plot-line. Although they are important to the turn of events within the story.
This essay will discuss how women are portrayed as naive, fragile, and dependent characters that alter the course of love and emotion.
The most obvious example of a woman being controlled by the men of the play, is Hamlet’s love interest, Ophelia. The first introduction the reader gains to this perspective is when Ophelia is being told how to live her life by both her father, Polonius, and her brother Laertes when they tell her to spy on Hamlet and later to stop seeing Hamlet.
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Ophelia gives in to defeat and agrees to obey their request. However, as a male himself, Hamlet is aware of Ophelia’s obedience to her father and uses this knowledge to his own advantage. He knows that the loyal Ophelia will tell Polonius that Hamlet is acting mad, therefore aiding him in his plan to eventually kill Claudius. Ophelia relies on the security Polonius provides to her, and she is comfortable with that. This means she accepts her naivitity in the world.
Even through Polonius’ death Ophelia remains reliant on him, which ends in her committing suicide by drowning herself. Essentially Ophelia is designed to be an ideal embodiment of the control on femininity. She whole heartedly obeys the social system in place and thrives within it. Ophelia does not attempt to speak for herself, so she obeys all orders, as an ideal woman would. She is admired for her youth, beauty, and purity, overall representing the ideal female. Her fragility as a woman leads her to be dominated by men. Both Hamlet and Polonius use Ophelia to get what the want. Hamlet abuses their relationship in an effort to kill Claudius, while Polonius uses her in order to find out why Hamlet is acting mad. Hamlet even goes so far as to blame her looks for his madness and seems obsessed with her sexuality, as he is with his mother. Under the influence of these men, Ophelia has no control over how they treat her or her choices.
The depiction of Ophelia is fundamentally how men regard all women in the story. As stated by Rani Abdul, “Ophelia is surrounded by powerful men and these men in her life ultimately become the cause of her madness.” They are believed to be weak, dependent, or make good decisions. This is what causes Ophelia to question her own beliefs in doubt of others, allowing for her to be easily manipulated by men. This is further proven in the observation that “Ophelia symbolizes the nineteenth century hysterical female or 'child‐woman'. Discourses of femininity construct her pubescent body as enticing sexual woman and as innocent child/daughter. Her father and brother warn her about her vulnerability and demand that she stay away from Hamlet. For Ophelia, hysteria serves as a language through which her adolescent body articulates an unspeakable wound, the death of her father as well as the loss of Hamlet, and which delineates her body as ‘other’'. Overall, Ophelia is the epitome of the mistreatment of women by men in Hamlet.
In contrast to Ophelia, there is Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude. One may first think she is seemingly simple, but Gertrude does not represent the traditional standard of femininity. Many readers and playgoers would argue that she is just as oppressed by men as Ophelia, however there are numerous examples that prove this is not the case. “Was Gertrude a weak, conniving wench; an unwitting victim of an oppressive culture; an intelligent, soft-hearted woman; or some more complicated collection of attributes?”. Her character does not accept the sexist expectations placed on her by her time, so she defies them through her actions. Due to her high standing political ranking as queen, she is responsible for the downfall in the power structure, which brings about her own end. It is her independence from what was conventional for a women at the time that causes power to collapse within the story’s political structure. Her actions do not only affect those in power, but also those who are powerless and therefore defenseless once the system collapses. Being the only independent woman in the play, Gertrude’s role stands out greatly from the rest of the more compliant characters. She is both older and never objectified for her beauty, and is not compliant to men. She does not make her decisions based on what her husband or son want her to do. For example, Hamlet expresses that he does not want her to marry Claudius, however she does it anyway despite his disgust. She is even open about her sexuality, unliked Ophelia, who represent less a pure idealistic woman. This is shown as Hamlet berates her about engaging in sexual relations so soon after his father’s death. Although hurt, Gertrude does not deny his accusations and does not attempt to disguise herself as an ideal woman, but instead accepts herself for who she is. It is clear that Hamlet considers his mother to be vulnerable when he says, “Frailty, thy name is Woman.” He is obsessed over female control and exposing their weaknesses.
Perhaps even more illustrative of Gertrude’s defiance of the control of men is her rebellion against both her powerful husband, and even her religion. Rather than her relying on a man, it is Claudius that must rely on Gertrude for his power. In order to gain authority he had to kill his brother and marry Gertrude, making him completely reliant on her defiant attitude in order to achieve his wish. By marrying Claudius, Gertrude transgresses against her religion, where marrying a brother-in-law is labeled as incest. While Gertrudes independence does lead Claudius to momentary success, it also leads to his downfall. He actually relies on her betrayal of family and God, but blindly assumes she will not betray him as well. Her final moment of defiance comes when Claudius instructs Gertrude not to drink the wine that he has poisoned, but she does so anyways and dies. This allows for Claudius’ master plan to fall apart and assure his impending death. Gertrude’s decisions cause the hierarchy to collapse, proving that she is a powerful woman, with the ability to instigate extreme change. It is her own actions that lead Hamlet to finally kill Claudius. Although Gertrude may appear strong in her role, she is still subject to constant diminishment by men.
While discussing such an outdated play, one might wonder why discussing the gender roles at that time is important. It is obvious that the adolescent Ophelia is mistreated, which can affect the young readers who typically read Shakespeare’s Hamlet in school. Despite her best efforts to be defiant, the way that Gertrude is treated by the men is no better than Ophelia. They attempt to control her, sexualize her, and enforce guilt on her. However, the men in Hamlet repeatedly degrading women is not often discussed. The main plot line of Hamlet’s madness and internal struggles are what drives the play for many readers. So as we read or watch the play we are almost subconsciously exposed to the misogyny that is carried throughout it. For a reader, especially an adolescent female, having these kind of messages portrayed without an explanation can be destructive to oneself; “this representation of adolescent femininity is part of a larger discursive framework in which psychological vulnerability and femininity are linked” (Marshall 1). As old as Shakespeare’s work may be, sexism is still just as prevalent in today’s society. The opinionated male viewpoint in the play places both Ophelia and Gertrude in a negative predisposition, just as many women are faced with today.
The social order in the time Hamlet takes place is strongly rooted in the compliance of women. That being said, the two main female roles in this play have drastically different ways of living in such an oppressive society. This is illustrated when Wendy Jones states, “The patriarchal nature of the social order reinforces and rewards the compliance of women. Ophelia dies by her own hand because she lost her father, for her, the source of both order and authority. Gertrude dies because she was unwilling to bow to authority. She rejects her role as a woman, destroying herself. Through her defiance and rebellion, she takes the order down with her, “women who comply with the social order are lost without it; those who defy it can know no other fortune than to be lost within it.” (Rogers 1). Gertrude completely dismisses the role given to her by society and rebels by destroying all order. Ophelia is lost without social order, while Gertrude destroys it from the inside out. Although they are minor characters, the women of Hamlet add definition to the story that would not otherwise be achievable. They add important romantic relations and connect other characters to each other’s storylines, which allows to the plot to easily progress among men. Overall, the weak portrayal of women in Hamlet, though fitting for its time, is a disgrace. It is important that those who read and watch the play are aware of the mistreatment of women and learn how to progress in today’s society.
Works Cited
1.Abdul Rani, Zamila & Muhamad, Siti Hawa & Zin, Siti. (2016). DISCOVERING FEMINISM THROUGH GERTRUDE AND OPHELIA IN SHAKESPEARE'S HAMLET.
2.Marshall, Elizabeth. “Schooling Ophelia: Hysteria, Memory and Adolescent Femininity.” Gender & Education, vol. 19, no. 6, Nov. 2007, pp. 707–728. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1080/09540250701650656.
3.Rogers, Wendy J. 'Female Norms and the Patriarchal Power Structure in Shakespeare's Hamlet .' Inquiries Journal/Student Pulse 1.11 (2009).
4.Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. New Folger's ed. New York: Washington Square Press/Pocket Books, 1992.
5.Townsend, Jane S., and Barbara G. Pace. “The Many Faces of Gertrude: Opening and Closing Possibilities in Classroom Talk.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, vol. 48, no. 7, Apr. 2005, pp. 594–605. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1598/JAAL.48.7.5.
The Portrayal Of Women In Hamlet. (2024, Feb 08). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-portrayal-of-women-in-hamlet-essay
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