The Role Of Frailty In Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Gertrude submits to Claudius by marrying him without hesitation, rather than thinking for herself and taking the opportunity to become a self-sufficient, independent woman that would dispute the norm. She has a tendency to please men to fulfil her taught instinct for self-preservation—which, of course, makes her extremely passive and dependent upon the men in her life. Hamlet’s comment about Gertrude is his furious condemnation of women in general: “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (Act 1 Scene 2). “Frailty” produces images of a frail, weak elderly woman who would rely on someone to help with almost all activities which to a great extent shows how little strength Gertrude has. Feminist critics have argued that “they fail to see Gertrude for the …show more content…
However, she maintains her passivity during the murders and does not directly protest to marrying Alonzo. In Act 2 Scene 2, Beatrice enlists De Flores’ help by saying “There 's horror in my service, blood and danger: Can those be things to sue for?” the use of the word 'service ' seems to Beatrice 's passive roles in the murders, that she is ultimately responsible for, as it implies doing work for her, as opposed to doing it herself. Beatrice-Joanna had strong emotions of anger and sexual desire, and whilst she was preoccupied with maintaining an appearance, she is the epitome of what a Jacobean female was not. She challenges contemporary assumptions by showing strong emotions of anger, love and even sexual desire. Daalder states that in Act II, Scene 4, Beatrice’s “sexual enjoyment at the end of this scene is obvious when De Flores comments: ‘’Las, how the turtle pants!’ This is not an emotion produced by bullying, leave alone something like rape, as is so often claimed” Therefore, she no longer upholds morality and truth, now contaminated by male desire. As a result of a ‘game’ triggered by sex as the first sin and followed by a repeating theme of misogyny, the inevitable end in tragedies comes into being Beatrice-Joanna dies as a price for their sinful and degraded actions. While Ophelia commits suicide, Beatrice-Joanna similarly acknowledges the fact that she has to die since she cannot live all the shame and dirt she had so far: ‘’Forgive me, Alsemero, all forgive!‘Tis time to die when ‘tis a shame to live‘’. Thus, ending in tragedy of her death and becoming a fallen

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