Examples Of Misogyny In Hamlet

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The online dictionary defines misogyny as the, “hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women, or prejudice against women” (“Misogyny”). William Shakespeare was a hard misogynist and his views on women are evident throughout his play, Hamlet. A misogynist posits that men are superior to women and that there is no equality between the genders. Shakespeare’s Hamlet, composed of vengeance between the dynamic male characters, with severely underdeveloped and submissive women, is a prime example of showing Shakespeare’s misogyny because the women serve as victims to the men in their lives. Shakespeare used women in Hamlet to act as the male character’s figurative stomping ground and the women’s existence in the play serves to have a primary goal of simply thickening the plot because Shakespeare was a misogynist. Shakespeare’s misogyny was effectively used on Ophelia and Gertrude to Hamlet’s greater success…show more content…
Gertrude was allowing of Hamlet’s anger towards her for marrying Claudius and she also even allowed it to elevate to the extent where Hamlet begins to hate all women; Hamlet, himself, a growing misogynist. This is supported by Hamlet saying, “frailty, thy name is a woman” (1.2.145). However, Gertrude is incredibly submissive and permits her son to throw insults towards her and to speak derogatively about women, instead of correcting him like a mother should. Gertrude takes all the hits from Hamlet about her new marriage because she loves her son and does not want to upset him. Gertrude was used by Claudius because he wanted one thing and one thing only: the Kingdom. Claudius manipulated the death of his brother and married Gertrude as a ploy to wear the crown. There were no feelings involved in the marriage: Claudius simply took advantage of a mourning widow, and would do anything to make her believe that he truly loved
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