Women Characters In Hamlet

1. Throughout Shakespeare’s Hamlet the two main women characters are portrayed as weak, obedient and easy to manipulate. Ophelia has little alternatives as a woman in a patriarchal society and that is what divides her from Hamlet who could change his fate at any given time. Men control everything that happens in her life. Although Ophelia tries to do what is right she is submissive to her father, brother and king and falls right back into their skims. She is like a puppet and the men control every thought and every move. In a world controlled by men Ophelia as a woman has very few options. During William Shakespeare’s time women in England had very little rights. Shakespeare connects Ophelia to the women in that era where women had very little …show more content…
When her father tells her to stay away from Hamlets advances she simply replies with, “I shell obey, my lord” (1.3.135). Even though Ophelia believes that Hamlet is true to her, her father’s words are law and whatever he tells her she has to fallow. Gertrude, Hamlets mother is the queen who lost her husband very unexpectedly. In that time period people were not comfortable with a woman at the throne, a women involved in political power and dominating over men. Just like Queen Mary married Phillip the II of Spain so she would not have the throne burden. It turned out that her choice in her new husband turned disastrous for England. Just like Gertrude’s choice in her husband turned disastrous for Denmark. Gertrude is portrayed as an obedient passive woman who was seduced by Claudius. She married him not long after her husband died and therefor obeyed every order from Claudius. The new king materializes her as he said, “My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen.”(3.3.3). To Claudius the queen is nothing more than a possession and she is not even listed as the first. This proposes that Claudius used her to get to the …show more content…
The shape of Denmark was becoming progressively worse because the demise of any king would bring political anxiety. One of the main power struggles in the play is between Claudius and Hamlet. Hamlet first finds out from the ghost of his father that Claudius murdered him. He tells Hamlet to seek revenge for his death and tells him that Claudius has corrupted Denmark. Hamlet at this point wants his revenge but does not take any steps until he hears Claudius confession while alone praying, “A brother 's murder. Pray can I not…my stronger guilt defeats my strong intent…Of those effects for which I did the murder...”(3.3.2). Claudius confesses that he killed his brother to take his power as king and rule over Denmark. Another struggle for power is when Fortinbras of Norway was assembling an army to come back for the land that King Hamlet took from them. Even Polonius wants some of the power he gladly would dangle Ophelia in front of Hamlet if that would mean Ophelia would become queen one day. The whole family would achieve royal status and if Hamlet was actually insane then that would give Polonius even more power. There was not only power struggle happening in Hamlet, England and Europe at that time where ruled by monarchs that where trying to build up their power. In England the monarchy ran into resistance from the established aristocracy and representatives of the House of Commons. The Queen at that time (Elizabeth) had no direct