The Unfair Treatment Of Women In Shakespeare's Hamlet

The Elizabethan era consists of several different social customs which significantly impacted people’s lives. These customs generally concern the ethics of respect for women as this has been constantly demonstrated in a negative aspect throughout this era. Hamlet by William Shakespeare includes the practices of a society which undeniably oppresses women. The contrast between this issue during Elizabethan era and today’s society is prominent, however there are factors that are discerned as identical. Traditional views such as the inferiority and unfair treatment of women can be commonly identified as similar and customary within the twenty-first century. Nevertheless, it is evident that Shakespeare has unfortunately been clutched by the inevitable grasp of these long-established practices. Within Shakespeare’s Hamlet, women are treated in ways which belong to the traditional point of views that were familiar during the Elizabethan era; a reflection of the author’s view towards women and their role in the social construct of the seventeenth century. Ophelia and Gertrude, two female leads within Hamlet, are significant examples of victims of the common treatment of women during the time the play was written. The possession and expected purity of women is a distinguished feature of the Elizabethan era that is put into practice during the play. One of the first examples of possessiveness is demonstrated by Polonius, father of Ophelia. While reading Hamlet’s letter, he says “I have a daughter, have while she is mine” (2.2.106). This portrays his total control and ownership of his daughter as he believes “her duty and obedience” (2.2.107) belong to …show more content…
Although he accurately writes about the condition of women within a patriarchal system, his representation of womanhood transcends the stereotypes of his own