hamlet woman essay

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William Shakespeare

Though there are only two traditionally female characters in Hamlet — Ophelia and Gertrude —the play itself speaks volumes about the uniquely painful, difficult struggles and unfair fates women have suffered throughout history. Written in the first years of the 17th century, when women were forbidden even from appearing onstage, and set in the Middle Ages, Hamlet exposes the prejudices and disadvantages which narrowed or blocked off the choices available to women–even women of noble birth. Hamlet is obsessive about the women in his life, but at the same time expresses contempt and ridicule for their actions—actions which are, Shakespeare ultimately argues, things they’re forced to do just to survive in a cruel, hostile, misogynistic world.

Gertrude and Ophelia are two of Hamlet ’s most misunderstood—and underdeveloped—characters. Hamlet himself rails against each of them separately, for very different reasons, in misogynistic rants which accuse women of being sly seductresses, pretenders, and lustful schemers. What Hamlet does not see—and what men of his social standing and his time period perhaps could not see if they tried—is that Gertrude and Ophelia are products of their environment, forced to make difficult and even lethal decisions in an attempt to survive and stay afloat in a politically dangerous world built for men, not for women. When Gertrude’s husband, King Hamlet, dies, she quickly remarries his brother, Claudius —who actually murdered him. There are two possibilities: the first is that Gertrude knew about the murder, and the second is that she didn’t. The text suggests that while Gertrude was likely not directly involved in the murder, she was aware of the truth about Claudius all along—and chose to marry him anyway. While Hamlet accuses his mother of lusting after her own brother-in-law, killing her husband, and reveling in her corrupted marriage bed with her new spouse, he fails to see that perhaps Gertrude married Claudius out of fear of what would happen to her if she didn’t. Gertrude, as a woman, holds no political power of her own—with her husband dead, she might have lost her position at court, been killed by a power-hungry new or foreign king, or forced into another, less appealing marital arrangement. Marrying Claudius was perhaps, for Gertrude, the lesser of several evils—and an effort just to survive.

Ophelia’s trajectory is similar to Gertrude’s, in that she is forced into several decisions and situations which don’t seem to be of her own making, but rather things she must do simply to appease the men around her and retain her social position at court. When Ophelia is drawn into her father Polonius and Claudius’s plot to spy on Hamlet and try to tease the reason behind his madness out of him, she’s essentially used as a pawn in a game between men. Polonius wants to see if Hamlet’s madness is tied to Ophelia, and so asks Ophelia to spurn Hamlet’s advances, return gifts and letters he’s given her in the past, and refuse to see or speak with him anymore to see test his hypothesis. Ophelia does these things—and incurs Hamlet’s wrath and derision. Again, as with his mother, he is unable to see the larger sociopolitical forces steering Ophelia through her own life, and has no sympathy for her uncharacteristic behavior. After the death of her father—at Hamlet’s hands—Ophelia loses her sanity. Spurned by Hamlet, left alone by Laertes (who is off studying in France, pursuing his future while his sister sits at court by herself) and forced to reckon with the death of her father—after Hamlet, her last bastion of sociopolitical protection—she goes mad. Even in the depths of her insanity, she continues singing nursery songs and passing out invisible flowers to those around her, performing the sweet niceties of womanhood that are hardwired into her after years of knowing how she must look and behave in order to win the favor of others—specifically men. Indeed, when Ophelia kills herself, it is perhaps out of a desire to take her fate into her own hands. A woman at court is in a perilous position already—but a madwoman at court, divorced from all agency and seen as an outsider and a liability, is even further endangered. Though Ophelia kills herself, she is perhaps attempting to keep her dignity—and whatever shreds of agency she has left at the end of her life—intact.

Gertrude and Ophelia are subject to paternalistic condescension, sexual objectification, and abuse. They are also subject to the constant psychological and emotional weight of knowing that no matter how dehumanizing and cruel the treatment they must face at court may be, things are even worse for women of lower social standings—and if the two of them don’t keep in line, lose their positions at court and face far worse fates. Gertrude and Ophelia make the decisions they make out of a drive simply to survive—and yet Hamlet never stops to imagine the weighty considerations which lie behind both women’s actions.

Women ThemeTracker

Women Quotes in Hamlet

Seems, madam! Nay, it is; I know not “seems.”

Frailty, thy name is woman!

Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral baked meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.

Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me…

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Hamlet’s Attitude Toward Women in Shakespear’s “Hamlet” Essay

Hamlet, the fabled Prince of Denmark, is arguably the most enigmatic character in all of William Shakespeare’s plays. One of his trademark characteristics is his belief that women are vastly inferior to men in society – an attitude that existed during the Elizabethan era in which Shakespeare lived.

Hamlet’s overall attitude towards women can be described in 3 parts.

Firstly, Hamlet hates women. The person totally responsible for spawning such feelings of hatred in him is his mother, Queen Gertrude. The event that gives birth to his hatred is Gertrude’s marriage to her brother-in-law Claudius very soon after the untimely death of her husband, King Hamlet. To Hamlet, who loved his father very much, this act is near sacrilege. His devastation is exacerbated when his father’s ghost reveals to him the truth behind his murder at the hands of the man who is now his mother’s new husband.

Hamlet reveals his attitude to Gertrude by enacting The Mousetrap show in Act III, Scene ii where the king is murdered by poison poured in his ear, and his murderer goes on to seduce the queen who capitulates to his charm – an exact replica of the real-life events surrounding the death of Hamlet’s father. When his mother summons him to her room after the play, Hamlet makes up his mind to be brutally frank with her while at the same time not relinquishing his self-control (“I will speak daggers to her, but use none”.

Hamlet reveals his attitude to Ophelia by harshly telling her that while he once loved her, those feelings have now vanished. When Hamlet meets her early in Act III (while Claudius and Polonius eavesdrop behind a tapestry), he flies into a rage, bitterly denouncing women in general for misleading men by applying makeup to look prettier than they actually are, adding that women are liars who do not deserve to be allowed by marrying. The stunned girl can only numbly conclude that her lover has become insane (‘O what a noble mind is here overthrown.

Hamlet’s second attitude is that he has a very low opinion of women. He is convinced that women are morally corrupt and therefore not trustworthy.

He reveals this attitude to Gertrude in Act III, Scene 4, when she scolds him for offending Claudius by enacting The Mousetrap. Hamlet turns on her furiously, saying it is she who has offended his father by getting married to Claudius, and vows to make her totally aware of the enormity of her sinful action (“You go not till I set you up a glass/ Where you may see the inmost part of you”. In the same scene when Hamlet kills the hidden Polonius, Gertrude denounces it as a “rash and bloody” act. This causes her son to sarcastically retort that his act was just as horrendous as what happened to his father (“A bloody deed – almost as bad, good mother/ As kill a king and marry with his brother” . When his shocked mother cries out in horror, “As kill a king,” he stoically retorts that she heard him rightly. He goes on to lavishly praise his dead father as having “Hyperion’s curls, the front of Jove himself” while disparaging Claudius and ends by demanding to know what led Gertrude to marry her despicable brother-in-law. Hamlet’s direct accusation stirs Gertrude’s conscience, making her look deep within herself, into her “very soul,” which she finds besmirched with “black and grained spots”. Her candid admission causes Hamlet’s distrust of her to deepen further.

Hamlet displays this attitude to Ophelia by berating her with bawdy remarks steeped in sexual innuendo. For example, Hamlet tests her to judge if she will tell him the truth about the whereabouts of Polonius. When the girl, the obedient daughter that she is, lies to him, he insults her cruelly: “Get thee to a nunnery” (‘nunnery’ was a coarse translation for ‘whorehouse’ during Elizabethan times) instead of becoming a “breeder of sinners” (III.i.122). In another example, when she praises his keen intellect (“You are keen, my lord, you are keen,” he stingingly retorts, “It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge” (III.ii.227-228).

Hamlet’s third attitude is that women are immoral sexual beings who will stoop even to incestuous relationships to satisfy their bodily hunger.

Hamlet believes his mother has committed incest by marrying her husband’s own brother. To him, this act shows her shallow morality that is superseded by the great need for selfish personal sexual gratification. Gertrude never considers that Hamlet would be feeling sad and lonely after the death of his father and needed his mother to share his sorrow and comfort him during the mourning period. Hamlet forces her to starkly realize that he considers her act of marrying Claudius both incestuous and adulterous. He chides his mother for deviating from morality, urging her to mend her ways: “Go not to my Uncle’s bed. Assume a virtue, if you have it”. Gertrude’s simple-minded response, “What shall I do?” infuriates him further as it denotes she is only thinking of her physical desires, wondering how to appease them if she follows her son’s advice. As it is, Hamlet was earlier furious at his mother’s nonchalant reaction to the role of the queen in The Mouse Trap (Gertrude opined: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” meaning that in actual life, a widow would naturally want to get married again.

Although he does not openly accuse Ophelia, it is highly possible that Hamlet is aware of the incestuous feelings her brother Laertes harbors towards her (He would surely have heard and understood the frequent remarks steeped in sexual innuendo that Laertes directed at Ophelia). It is very likely that a significant part of Hamlet’s animosity towards Ophelia stems from a suspicion that she either caused such incestuous feelings to develop in Laertes, or did not do enough to discourage such feelings, or worse still, exacerbated such feelings by engaging in incestuous sexual acts with her brother.

Hamlet’s hostile attitude towards women is evident in his condemnation of women in general (“Frailty, thy name is woman!”) in Act II. His attitude affects his relations with the two most important women in his life – Gertrude and Ophelia – so much that it depresses him and makes him frequently think about committing suicide (“To be, or not to be: that is the question”.

Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet.” Thomas Learning Publishers, 2001.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Hamlet — Frailty Thy Name Is Woman: The Feminist Critique Of Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Frailty Thy Name is Woman: The Feminist Critique of Shakespeare’s Hamlet

• Categories: Hamlet William Shakespeare

About this sample

Words: 1519 |

Published: Dec 16, 2021

Words: 1519 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

Works Cited

• Greenblatt, S. (2019). The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve. W. W. Norton & Company.
• King, T. (2018). Women and Power: A Manifesto. Grove Press.
• Neely, C. T. (1985). Broken nuptials in Shakespeare's plays. Yale University Press.
• Orgel, S. (1988). Impersonations: The performance of gender in Shakespeare's England. Cambridge University Press.
• Showalter, E. (2018). Shakespeare and gender. Routledge.
• Wells, S. (2002). Shakespeare: A life in drama. W. W. Norton & Company.
• Westlund, J. (2013). Shakespeare and the idea of late writing: authorship in the proximity of death. Cambridge University Press.
• Young, K. (2016). Shakespeare and feminist performance: Ideology on stage. Routledge.
• Howard, J. E. (2002). Shakespeare's art of oratory: Stage-craft and audience response. University of California Press.
• Wills, G. (2015). The invisible god: The earliest Christians on art. Oxford University Press.

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Hamlet Feminist Analysis Essay

Thesis: Throughout William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, women are viewed negatively and play a limited role within the society of Elsinore. Through the use of critical and dismissive dialogue, women are displayed as powerless, play a muted role and are dependant on a male figure. The negative judgements of women are represented throughout the whole play through the use critical and dismissive dialogue towards the female characters. Hamlet believes that women are powerless humans. He first demonstrates his opinion on women when he is speaking with Ophelia.

With a stern and angry tone Hamlet says “If thou dost marry. I’ll give thee this plague for thy/ Dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou/ Shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a, Nunnery/ Farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs, Marry, marry a fool; for/Wise men know well enough what monster you make/ Of them. To a nunnery, go— and quickly too. Farewell. ” Hamlet is expressing to Ophelia that women are unnecessary in society and men are fools to marry them. He believes that women turn their men into monsters, and that women belong no where but nunneries.

By saying this Hamlet is saying that women have nothing good to bring to society, and if they were locked up in a nunnery life would be much simpler for men. Hamlet’s attitude continues when he is comparing women to ‘make up’. Hamlet says, “I have heard of your paintings too, well enough. God has given you one face, and you make yourselves another. You jig and amble, and you lisp; and nickname God’s creatures and make your wantonness your ignorance. ” (3. 1. 154). Hamlet is specifically comparing Ophelia and her actions to makeup.

He believes that the act of playing dumb, walking and talking is like makeup that covers a women and makes them appear to be something that they are not, they are powerless. Furthermore, Laertes is talking to his sister Ophelia forbidding her love and marriage with Hamlet. Laertes says to Ophelia, “His greatness weighed, his will is not his own,/For he himself is subject to his birth. /He may not, as unvalued persons do,/Carve for himself; for on his choice depends/The safety and health of this whole state. And therefore must his choice be circumscribed/Unto the voice and yielding of that body/Whereof he is the head. ” (1. 3. 19-27). He believes that Hamlet should not have the power to marry who he wants, and Ophelia does not have the right mind to make a decision like that for herself. Hamlet’s views on women being powerless in society are much like a pet rat. Rats are very intelligent, although are viewed as gross and pointless to the animal kingdom. They are also at the bottom of the food chain as their size and their environment puts them at a disadvantage.

This can be compared to Hamlet’s feelings towards female characters, although they are just as intelligent as men, they are seen as powerless and at the bottom of the power chain in society. The female characters in Hamlet are portrayed as dependant, they seem to be unable to make their own life choices. They are under the power of men, as they are obligated to make decisions based on the decisions men make for them. Ophelia is in love with Hamlet, although she allows for other people to get involved in her decision making.

Firstly, we see that Ophelia is seeking help from her brother Laertes about her relationship and feelings towards Hamlet. It is clear that Lateres acts selfishly when saying “If with too credent ear you list his songs/ Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open/ To his unmaster’d importunity/ Fear it, Ophelia, fear it my dear sister” (1. 3. 30-34). This demonstrates that Laertes is using his power over h to trick her into thinking what he wants, not what is best for her. Laertes believes that her virginity should not be given up to someone like Hamlet and would not give up their family reputation for a fool like Hamlet.

Another example of the dependance would be how Gertrude cannot live for more than a month after her husband dies without a powerful male figure to guide her in her decisions. Hamlet says “Must i remember? Why, she would hang on him/ As if increase of appetite had grown/ By what it fed on; and yet, within a month/Let me not think on’t— Frailty, thy name is woman” (1. 2. 143-147). He is talking about his mother, and saying that she is so desperate that she has to marry her own family member. Hamlet is appalled that she can’t live without a man to guide her through her decisions, this displays her weakness.

Lastly, Ophelia allows her father to forbid her love for Hamlet. Ophelia obeys her father’s wishes when saying “No, my god lord, but as you did commany/ i did repel his letters and denied/ His access to me” (2. 2. 108-110). This demonstrates Polonius’s power over his daughter and how she obeys what her father says, putting her own feelings aside. Ophelia is pushed around a lot in the play, because the other characters know that she will do as they command demonstrating she lacks independence and bases her decisions on what the other characters tell her to do. All women in this play, use the male figure as if they are the flashlight.

They are portrayed as being dependant, as if they are unable to do or go anywhere without guidance for men, just like a flashlight (the men) provides a clear path when you are in the dark or in this case when you are scared or unsure of something. Throughout the play it is also clear that there are limited roles played by women. The lack of advice and intelligence suggested or given by a female character supports their lack of presence. Firstly, when Ophelia is seeking relationship advice in which you would predict for her to go to another female, the play was written with no motherly figure for her.

She has to discuss “Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open” (1. 3. 30-34) or her virginity and love with her brother Laertes. Furthermore, Gertrude is a very muted character, even with her own son Hamlet. She has no presence or influence on Hamlet, even during the scenes in which they are both present. Gertrude tends to leave all the discussion to Claudius and is more of a background character or a shadow to the king. For example during the play within a play, Hamlet is more concerned for the reaction of the King although, the play is more offensive and aggressively attacking his mother.

Although, after the duration of the play Gertrude concludes by saying “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” (3. 2. 222). Her reaction is left to minimal, as the reaction of the King was seen as more important. Additionally, the first motherly interaction we see between Hamlet and his Mother is during the duel towards the end of the play between Hamlet and Laertes. The Queen see that’s Hamlet is “fat and scant of breath” (5. 2. 79) so she offers him a handkerchief to fix himself. The role a female characters can be closely related to an eraser.

It is almost as if women don’t really belong, as if they were erased from society. Shakespeare has written the limited roles of women to not have a purpose in society, they are written as shadowy characters like the smudge that an eraser leaves on your page. The negative outlook of women is exhibited throughout the duration of the play. Women are constantly viewed as powerless, mute and dependant on men. Gertrude and Ophelia are seen being pushed around and weak. Overall, the women of Elsinore are seen as less worthy than men, and have very little contribution and control over their actions.

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