Examples Of Misogyny In Hamlet

In Hamlet, the central protagonist Hamlet is exposed as a man of misery, depression and despair. We are soon to see that this condition is triggered from his outrage at his mother’s haste marriage to the brother of his father; Hamlet believes that such action is a blatant expression of disloyalty towards his father. Famously damning: ‘Frailty! Thy name is woman!’ Hamlet is left to dwell upon the moral shortcomings of ‘the wretched queen’. As a result, Hamlet comes to developing a cynical attitude towards women in general, as it is easier to do so than to try and comprehend why his mother is behaving in this way. According to Hamlet, even “a beast that wants a discourse of reason would have mourned longer” and women, therefore, have levels of morality that even animals will surpass. While it is hard to deem the extent to which such misogyny is deliberate, from this Shakespeare clearly portrays that women are not only too fragile to survive without men, but too shallow and fickle to feel concern over the loss of their husbands.

Hamlet’s mistreatment of Ophelia is another way in which the play of Hamlet …show more content…
After telling her that he “loved [her] not”, he tells her to “get thee to a nunnery” if she wants to be a “breeder of sinners”, as though her affection for him sprang only from animal-like sex drives. This idea is elaborated upon by Hamlet as he scathes about the use of cosmetics by women, yelling: “God hath given you one face and you make yourself another!” In Hamlet’s viewpoint, women attempt to make themselves more beautiful as their appearance and sexuality is all they have. This perspective is further seen as Hamlet’s maltreatment of Ophelia drives her to suicide, demonstrating misogyny again in it’s most acute: if a girl is to be viewed as unattractive and unwanted by a male, there is nothing to her - she therefore may as well commit