Literary Criticism of Shakespeare’s Hamlet Text
Literary criticism is a natural response to literature. Upon reading a book, people often tend to analyze and discuss the work of the authors. This informal criticism of literature is often unorganized, casual and subjective. In order to create more disciplined and precise ways of discussing literature, scholars have established various critical approaches that try to formulate general principles instead of discussing certain texts. These critical approaches to literature are not mutually exclusive and the methods can be mixed to meet the interests of the critics. This research paper will involve analysis of the Shakespeare’s Hamlet text through use of gender criticism approach.
Hamlet by Shakespeare …show more content…
Despite being a key character in the play, her hasty marriage to Claudia and her motivation to the marriage is not explained. The audience is thus left to believe that for her life to be successful, she has to associate herself with powerful men. Shakespeare presents her as a weak woman who lacks the required moral strength of resisting wealth temptations and Claudia offer of physical intimacy.
In his book, Mehl (22) defends Gertrude’s character by suggesting that it is not shown that Hamlet mother was aware that King Hamlet was poisoned by Claudius. According to the author, the biggest mistake of Gertrude was to marry her brother in law with the aim of avoiding a power vacuum. This is revealed when the ghost of king Hamlet tell Hamlet not include Gertrude in his revenge mission but to leave her to be judged by heaven. This view has however received some objection from various …show more content…
The feminist criticism in this essay tries to correct the gender imbalance through analyzing and questioning why the female characters in Shakespeare become victim of circumstances. Gertrude for instance gets married to her brother in law making her to appear as a whore to the audience. In the end she kills herself as she sees Hamlet is about to win the game. Opholia on the other is abandoned by Harmlet who regards all women as whores. She later dies as she mourns the death of her father. The feminist critic in this essay helps to analyze influences of sexual identity to the audience and how men and women images in imaginative literature reflect the social forces that hinder the two genders from attaining full
Literary criticism is a natural response to literature. Upon reading a book, people often tend to analyze and discuss the work of the authors. This informal criticism of literature is often unorganized, casual and subjective. In order to create more disciplined and precise ways of discussing literature, scholars have established various critical approaches that try to formulate general principles instead of discussing certain texts. These critical approaches to literature are not mutually exclusive and the methods can be mixed to meet the interests of the critics. This research paper will involve analysis of the Shakespeare’s Hamlet text through use of gender criticism approach.
Hamlet by Shakespeare …show more content…
Despite being a key character in the play, her hasty marriage to Claudia and her motivation to the marriage is not explained. The audience is thus left to believe that for her life to be successful, she has to associate herself with powerful men. Shakespeare presents her as a weak woman who lacks the required moral strength of resisting wealth temptations and Claudia offer of physical intimacy.
In his book, Mehl (22) defends Gertrude’s character by suggesting that it is not shown that Hamlet mother was aware that King Hamlet was poisoned by Claudius. According to the author, the biggest mistake of Gertrude was to marry her brother in law with the aim of avoiding a power vacuum. This is revealed when the ghost of king Hamlet tell Hamlet not include Gertrude in his revenge mission but to leave her to be judged by heaven. This view has however received some objection from various …show more content…
The feminist criticism in this essay tries to correct the gender imbalance through analyzing and questioning why the female characters in Shakespeare become victim of circumstances. Gertrude for instance gets married to her brother in law making her to appear as a whore to the audience. In the end she kills herself as she sees Hamlet is about to win the game. Opholia on the other is abandoned by Harmlet who regards all women as whores. She later dies as she mourns the death of her father. The feminist critic in this essay helps to analyze influences of sexual identity to the audience and how men and women images in imaginative literature reflect the social forces that hinder the two genders from attaining full