Women and Gender Interpretation in Hamlet by William Shakespeare - Research Paper Example

Section/# Women and Gender Interpretation in William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” Like many of William Shakespeare’s plays, “Hamlet” engages the reader on many moral points and societal issues. One of the most persistent of these themes is the gender implications that are inherent in the play. Rather than providing a cast of female actors that seek to differentiate the way in which women would be viewed, “Hamlet” introduces female characters that behave in ways that are almost exact copies of one another. Although the age, relation, status, and motives of the women in “Hamlet” are different, the same defining character traits are represented in each of these. As such, this brief essay will seek to analyze the gender implications that are inherent in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” as well as seeking to analyze and critique the individual characteristics that the female characters in the play exhibit. Lastly, the essay will consider the main points that Shakespeare was trying to impart to his audience via such a one-dimensional view of the female gender. The first of these characters which will be analyzed is that of Ophelia. Of the virtues that are portrayed by Ophelia are those that pertain to the idealized woman of Shakespeare’s time; beauty and innocence (Floyd – Wilson 5). Sadly however, beyond these attributes, Ophelia is portrayed as weak, irresolute, servile, and dependent. Although the virtues that have been previously exhibited initially attracted Hamlet to Ophelia, he is soon put off by the drawbacks that he finds hidden beneath the innocent and beautiful exterior. Rather than using such a revelation as an isolated instance that typifies certain women in Hamlet’s society, Shakespeare projects these very same shortcomings, shallowness, and dependence onto the subsequent main female characters within the play. Ophelia’s irresolute nature is typified by the fact that she wavers throughout almost the entirety of the play suffering from a form of confusion with respect to Hamlet’s advances. On the one hand she seeks to gratify her family obligations and on the other she laments the fact that she is not able to fully accept the romantic advances of Hamlet. This regret and inability to choose would of course lead to a deep depression and suicide later within the play. Analyzing and understanding Ophelia within the play is perhaps the most important character to perform such an analysis upon due to the fact that it is likely Ophelia that forms and/or cements Hamlet’s extraordinarily negative opinions regarding the female gender. Of course it cannot be argued that Hamlet approaches the topic of gender identification from a neutral point of view from the beginning of the play, the fact that Ophelia is unable to return his affections to the degree he wishes most likely greatly adds to the reasons and rational behind why Hamlet makes disparaging remarks concerning her and the female gender categorically. Though the adage, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” is as much of a cliche as it is a moral truism, this particular cliche can easily be transferred onto the character of Hamlet as a way of understanding how scorned love acts as a mechanism for the most extreme representations of disrespect and under-estimation of the female gender are brought to light. Furthermore, as Hamlet’s frustration with his surroundings and a greater understanding of the lot in which he finds himself is realized, his attitude towards the women in his life, such as Ophelia, begins to harden and coalesce into disdain and a type of chauvinistic hatred. Similarly, with respect to the Queen of Denmark, Gertrude – the mother of Hamlet, Shakespeare seeks to define this woman as also of a shallow mind of a weak general character. For instance, although Gertrude is a woman who affectionately tends after her beloved son Hamlet, Shakespeare portrays her as overly doting and extraordinarily dependent upon the men in her life to help her to dictate her own course. Rather than portraying a nuanced woman that relied on the men in her life to help her make informed decisions, Gertrude is defined by Shakespeare as a woman that is entirely dependent on male characters to influence her and convince her of the thought processes she should engage upon (Britzman 633). Rather than being able to chart her own course, Gertrude is presented as kind of spineless character that drifts on the passions of the moment. Such an illogical and one dimensional character only serves to strengthen Hamlet’s narrow view of the female gender. Further, Shakespeare presents both of these women as unnaturally frail and dependent. As such, these feelings and/or emotion are compounded by the fact that the men in their lives view them in this way; creating as it was a type of self-fulfilling prophecy of gender identity and role. Moreover, the women can be said to have lived their entire lives in the dominant shadows of the male characters; oppressed by the realities of a male dominated patriarchal society. In this way, the portrayal of the female gender is not the primary story; rather, the unnatural and unhealthy portrayal of a dominant male gender is what truly defines the play. For instance, Ophelia continually submits herself to the will of her father. As such, she is little more than a pawn for his political aspirations and unable and/or unwilling, perhaps due to societal conventions, to seek to express her own right to self determination (Muse 532). Polonius casts such a massive shadow over the character of Ophelia that her true desires and character is little known due to the fact that she is so very much of her personality is dictated by others. So frustrated is Hamlet at this behavior that he says, “Frailty, thy name is woman” (Act I Scene ii)! Although Hamlet did not always express his anger so openly, the fact that he believed he was being played in the given situation only served to focus his anger. Shakespeare works to expand upon the general vapidness that defines the women of his play by directing Hamlet to become disgusted with Ophelia as the play progresses and cursing her to a life of celibacy and loneliness (Pace 29). Again, the theme of unrequited love is seen as a powerful mechanism towards provoking Hamlet to utter such a statement in the first place. Says Hamlet in a fit of anger and cruelty towards Ophelia, “Get thee to a nunnery” (Act III Scene i)! Rather than realize that the conventions of the society in which they live dictates the manner in which the women of the times were conditioned, Hamlet becomes frustrated and eventually furious by the gender identities that have seemingly been programmed into the women in his life. From a perspective of the woman, Ophelia is not merely acting on a role that she desires to personify. Rather, hers is a tortuous existence that is defined by the fact that she is continually asked and expected to do that which she does not want. This high level of demand and the expectation of obedience that the patriarchal society has for her ultimately is one of the causal mechanisms in her suicide. Unable to balance the demands of everyone and unable to fulfill what she believed was her responsibility as a woman (as based upon the societal definitions of femininity at her time), Ophelia opts to end her own life rather than to face the despair of failure that results from her inability to please those men in her life that make incessant demands of her (Loberg 60). Furthermore, the actions and behavior of Gertrude is indicative of a woman who is either unable or unwilling to consider free thought and decision-making on her own. Rather than to seek to plot a new course for herself after the death of her husband, she ran immediately into the arms of a second husband as a means to escape the uncomfortable confines that a life of decision-making and action would necessarily entail.   In this way, Shakespeare presents to the reader a cast that is absolutely bursting with angst, inattention, frustration, and gender conformity. Obviously Ophelia is the more thoughtful of the two most prominent female cast members; however, Ophelia herself boughs and caves into the pressures that society dictates for her. Likewise, the Queen would much rather find a way to rely on her husband than to seek to engage with and tackle the many complex relationships that present themselves to a woman such as she on a daily basis. Regardless of the way in which Shakespeare presents the women of the play, the more prominent story is how Hamlet both complains about the gender conformity yet at the same time is part and parcel of the problem. By carrying forward the mainstays of the patriarchal system that helps to define the way in which men and women of the time interacted, Hamlet himself is one of the main reasons why the situation, as exhibited by Ophelia and the Gertrude, makes not movement towards any type of resolution or solution. Work Cited Britzman, Deborah P. "On The Madness Of Lecturing On Gender: A Psychoanalytic Discussion." Gender & Education 22.6 (2010): 633-646. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. Floyd-Wilson, Mary. "Ophelia And Femininity In The Eighteenth Century: `Dangerous Conjectures In Ill-Breeding Minds'." Women's Studies 21.4 (1992): 397. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. Loberg, Harmonie. "Queen Gertrude: Monarch, Mother, Murderer." Atenea 24.1 (2004): 59-71. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. Muse, Amy. "Women As Hamlet: Performance And Interpretation In Theatre, Film And Fiction." Comparative Drama 41.4 (2007): 531-533. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. Pace, Barbara G., and Jane S. Townsend. "Gender Roles: Listening To Classroom Talk About Literary Characters." English Journal 88.3 (1999): 43. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, 1751. London: Cornmarket P, 1969. Read More