Shakespeare’s Hamlet follows the story of Prince Hamlet’s descent into madness and revenger after the death of his father. Parts of Hamlet’s madness and need for revenge can be attributed to the women in his life, his mother Gertrude, and lover Ophelia. The women in this story are only interpreted through the eyes of Hamlet and the other men in their lives, belittling them to mere sexual objects. Hamlet does not attribute any other redeeming qualities to Gertrude and Ophelia. Hamlet may view women as only
The Sexist Sequences of Shakespeare’s Hamlet The oppression of a group first begins with culture; for culture molds the minds of the populace. Hamlet, a story about the vengeance of Prince Hamlet by William Shakespeare was written during the precarious Elizabethan era. As the play progresses, signs of misogyny surface. The sexism can be connected to the “cult of domesticity” which preached piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity to achieve the “True Woman” (Lavender 1). Shakespeare’s
was completely dominated by men. It is no surprise that in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the play’s protagonist adopts the misogynistic views that were commonplace in this time period. Hamlet’s misogyny is revealed in his attitude about the character of women, his treatment of Ophelia, and the outlook he has on his mother’s virtue. Throughout the course of the play, Hamlet makes various critiques on the qualities he perceives women to have. “God hath given you one face and you make yourselves another. You
in Hamlet Hamlet is William Shakespeare’s longest and most studied play. The play also forms a very important part in literature. In the Shakespearean play, Hamlet, the female characters are a great deal. Hamlet, the protagonist of the play, constantly refers to the women in the play as cold, treacherous, and adulterous women. Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, is highly defamed because of the affectionate and erotic union that she has with her her brother-in-law, now her husband, since King Hamlet is