• Home Page
  • The Treatment Of Women In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

The Treatment Of Women In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Superior Essays
Show More
Olivia Seeney
ENGL 377 Shakespeare
10/16/2015
The Treatment of Women in Hamlet “Frailty thy name is women” (Shakespeare)! This line from William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” perfectly captures the way women were described in this play. Throughout this play, the main character, Hamlet, consistently patronizes and belittles both his mother and his previous lover. The two women that are introduced in Hamlet represent two different stereotypical female roles. Ophelia, being the perfect and pure exemplar of a woman and Gertrude, being the disloyal and negative portrayal of a woman. However, to the male characters in Hamlet the actions of these women do not matter, both women are treated with scorn and mistrust. Shakespeare may have used this display …show more content…
His views of women parallels with that of Eve and her role in the Fall of Man. Throughout the play Hamlet and the other male characters in the play treat Ophelia and Gertrude with scorn and contempt based on their actions. Although Ophelia appears to have done nothing wrong she is still punished by her father, her brother, and her lover. Gertrude on the other hand, marries her late husband’s husband not long after her husband dies. Her unfaithfulness and disloyalty to Hamlet’s father causes him to scold her and to look at treat her with cruelty. However severe her crimes were Hamlet should not have treated his mother with such disregard and hatred. Ophelia, on the other hand, did not deserve to be treated with any injustice, she still loved Hamlet very much and did nothing to harm anyone. The treatment of women in Hamlet suggests that Shakespeare may have disliked females or regarded them as untrustworthy. Overall, the cruel treatment of women in Hamlet eludes to the way Shakespeare viewed women and the role of Eve in The Garden of …show more content…
Ouzounian, Richard. "Feminism, Shakespeare, sexuality and gender; Author, director intrigued by interpretation and 'misogyny ' in famed plays, 'real and imaginary '." The Toronto Star (Toronto, Ontario) 2014: Canada In Context. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.
2. Jaija, M. Ayub. “A Feminist Reading of Shakespearean Tragedies: Frailty, Thy Name is Woman.” Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences Vol. 8. 1 (2014): 228-237. Web
3. Singh, Rahul. “Shakespeare’s Plays: Men Celebrated, Women Despised?.” Language in India Vol 14. 2 (Feb 2014) Web.
4. Findlay, Alison. “Women in Shakespeare: A dictionary.” A&C Black (2010) Web.
5. Women in Hamlet. http://artsites.ucsc.edu/faculty/bierman/elsinore/women/womenPortraits.html, Web. September 28, 2015
6. Lewis, Liz. Shakespeare’s Women. http://www.literature-study-online.com/essays/shakespeare_women.html, November 2001. Web. September 28,

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    What Are Gender Roles In Twelfth Night
    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages

    What Are Gender Roles In Twelfth Night

    William Shakespeare did not become arguably the most famous playwright in the history of the world for coloring inside the lines. In each one of his complex plays, he pushes against the boundaries of social norms. Shakespeare incorporates bold discussions of fleeting love, gender uncertainty, mistaken identity, and ironic comedy into his creative plots during the 1600’s when public discussion on such progressive ideas were rare. In his comedy Twelfth Night, Shakespeare uses dialogue between his three main characters, Viola, Orsino, and Olivia, to express his critique on the strict nature of gender roles during his time. Through his manipulation of his characters’ identities, his placement of women in leadership positions, and his questioning of traditional gender roles, Shakespeare reveals his theme that strict definitions of gender reinforce false stereotypes of both men and women.…

    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth Gender Roles Essay
    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Macbeth Gender Roles Essay

    Gender roles in historic literature are aspects that are often talked about, but very rarely argued, particularly in conversation–but also in academic articles and scholarly discussions. Too often we see injustice concerning women in plays and novels, but instead of criticizing those stereotypes, the majority of readers tend to simply dismiss them as results of another time. In Macbeth, it is easy to see why the woman do not hold positions of power and have many negative associations, mostly due to women being confined to the role of homemaker in the seventeenth century, but the more interesting thing to do is argue those stereotypes. While some may see Macbeth as a fairly equal play in the sense that there are several female roles, some even…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Masculine Mannerism In Macbeth
    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Masculine Mannerism In Macbeth

    Masculine Mannerisms Gender roles have ruled society and normalities for both women and men for centuries. Men are expected to be dominant and willing to be violent, while women are supposed to be submissive and innocent. The expectations for both are very different, and straying from the norm has always seemed bizarre. Literature has become a way to stress the importance that gender roles have on society, as well as a way to show the alternation of characteristics between women and men. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the stark difference between womanly and manly qualities is an important theme.…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Masculinity And Violence In William Shakespeare's Macbeth
    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Masculinity And Violence In William Shakespeare's Macbeth

    In William Shakespeare’s, Macbeth, readers are given a twizzler of a tale that deals with masculinity and violence; written in approximately the year 1606. The questioning of gender roles, and what they are, have never hit a higher peak than that of in 2016. However, about 400 years ago, Shakespeare managed to capture the ambiguity of it all in one seamless sweep. Readers are introduced to some interesting characters in Macbeth who are known as the three weird sisters, who look neither man nor women.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Gender Roles In Hamlet And Death Of A Salesman
    • 106 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Gender Roles In Hamlet And Death Of A Salesman

    In literature, the role and function of women varies depending on the author. Particularly in the past, there were playwrights who portrayed women as frail, passive figures to be only used as pawns for mistreatment from men. We can see this portrayal in William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, as well as Arthur Miller’s, Death of a Salesman. The female characters in these two plays are to be considered as two-dimensional characters that only serve to help develop their male counterparts character. However, a closer study reveals that the true roles these female characters took on had purpose; for some, they were the most prominent characters of the play.…

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Gender Inequality In Macbeth
    • 1568 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Gender Inequality In Macbeth

    The play ‘Macbeth’ predates the concept of feminism and therefore equality between the sexes both in the political and personal spheres was unheard of. As a result the women within the narrative are often marginalised and void of any power. In the cases where women do have influence they are either criticised and isolated or treated as strange, supernatural creatures. However, this would have conformed to the original audience’s expectations as women were seen as subordinate to men. Their responsibilities included managing the household, raising children and obeying their husbands; these were their only real roles in society, as a wife and a mother, and were inextricably associated with ideals of femininity.…

    • 1568 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Gender Inequality In Hamlet Essay
    • 1284 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Gender Inequality In Hamlet Essay

    Gender inequality is a key issue within Hamlet as both Gertrude and Ophelia, the main females of Shakespeare’s play, are portrayed as dependent, submissive, and weak. This is done in order for Shakespeare to express his opinion that women of the Elizabethan period in which he lived in were required, without any choice, to be dependent on men, submissive, and not powerful as the era “treated women as objects” (Lopez, 1). To begin, Shakespeare shows the characterization of women through Gertrude as she remarried immediately after King Hamlet’s death. This was most likely to keep her status of Queen in the Elizabethan era as “all titles would pass from father to son or brother to brother, depending on the circumstances” (Elizabethi, 5). This can…

    • 1284 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Lady Macduff Character Analysis
    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Lady Macduff Character Analysis

    Women compose a fundamental component of society that is equally significant in comparison to men, as both genders depend on each other in order to achieve certain aspects in life. In Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, women are not equally present as men, since their presence exemplifies either extreme wickedness or moral decency. Thus, Shakespeare uses female characters such as Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff in the play to represent the struggle between good and evil by examining elements like gender archetypes, gender identity, and marriage partners. This use of female characters identifies morally different sides within the play and allows the audience to distinguish between every side’s decisions.…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Gender Manipulation In Macbeth
    • 1001 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gender Manipulation In Macbeth

    Throughout Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a recurring theme is gender roles. For the duration of Macbeth the idea of how males and females behave are consistent. Macbeth derives its drama from the character’s ability to exploit one another based on their short comings in their particular role, either as a man or a woman. Examining the role of gender and its parallel with manipulation throughout Macbeth, we see the importance each male character places on his masculinity.…

    • 1001 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Gender And Gender Roles In Shakespeare's Hamlet
    • 1014 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gender And Gender Roles In Shakespeare's Hamlet

    Gender roles have evolved in contemporary society to include women as equals to men, however, gender roles were very one sided at the time in which Shakespeare 's play Hamlet was written. Hamlet was written in the early 1600’s which was a time when women were seen as the lesser of the two sexes. Women were seen as dependent on men are were uneducated. The misogynistic beliefs of Shakespeare 's time are prevalent throughout Hamlet. Throughout the play, the two female characters are portrayed as overly emotional and dependent on men to make their decisions.…

    • 1014 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Essay On Ophelia's Role In Hamlet
    • 1317 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Essay On Ophelia's Role In Hamlet

    “The women of Shakespeare’s Hamlet are characterised as weak and ineffectual. They submit to their male counterparts and are led by them” (Tuohy). The role of women in Hamlet is to obey the opinion of their fathers and husbands and do as they are told. Ophelia, she is the daughter of Polonius and sister to Laertes. She is then perceived as a young, beautiful, innocent…

    • 1317 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Masculinity In Shakespeare's King Lear
    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Masculinity In Shakespeare's King Lear

    Shakespeare wants to implement many aspects within gender role’s issue to influence the pros and cons of overcoming the limitation that a particular gender role imposes on a male or a female individual. More importantly, the misappropriation of gender role can affects an individual’s morality and…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Comparing Desdemona And Cordelia In Shakespeare's Othello
    • 1436 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Comparing Desdemona And Cordelia In Shakespeare's Othello

    Shakespeare is known for his plethora of ingenious plays, however some of his best characters are the women in his plays. They are not carbon copies of each other and they have their own faults and virtues. The women in his plays can be either very typical women of the time or like Desdemona and Cordelia, be very forward-thinking women. Critics cannot look at these two characters and not have something to say about how these women act or how they do not act. These two are some of this author’s most favorite women in all of Shakespeare’s plays.…

    • 1436 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Queen Gertrude And Ophelia In William Shakespeare's Hamlet
    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Queen Gertrude And Ophelia In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

    In many aspects of life, including literary works, women are often overlooked and not given the same importance as men. In William Shakespeare’s tragic play “Hamlet”, the female characters, Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, are given very few lines and are either portrayed negatively, or just seen as sex objects that men can do whatever they want with. The lack of significance they are given allows for them to be merely background characters, instead of playing major roles. Throughout the play, Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother is portrayed negatively.…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Measure For Measure Feminist Analysis
    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Measure For Measure Feminist Analysis

    Not many of Shakespeare’s plays contain a female character in the lead role position. Therefore, when female characters have a prominent role in plays it is something to pay attention to. For instance, in Measure for Measure, Isabella’s character serves to break down the patriarchy by using their own constructs to emphasize how outrageous their ideas are. Isabella does this by falling into one of the three categories that the patriarchy says women belong to. In this society, women are either maid, widow, or wife and problems occur when women do not fall into one of the three defined categories.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings