Compare the Representation of Women in Hamlet (primary text) and Much Ado About Nothing (secondary text)

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Compare the Representation of Women in Hamlet (primary text) and Much Ado About Nothing (secondary text)

Women of Shakespeare's time were regarded to be possessions of men and as such were conditioned to be submissive. This would have influenced, in my judgment, how Shakespeare created the female characters in Hamlet. Furthermore, in the essay "The Warrant of Womanhood, Shakespeare and Feminist Criticism", Ann Thompson points out that male characters in Hamlet have a limited perception of the females. Shakespeare, according to Ann Thompson, goes as far as to let the audience know that he intended for the male character to misunderstand the female, therefore the male characters are often very wrong about the females in the play. The men completely misread the women and in Ophelia and Gertrude's situation, the consequences are very tragic. In order to address this issue, it is necessary to explore the characters of Gertrude and Ophelia in Hamlet and the characters of Hero and Beatrice in Much Ado about Nothing, and in addition, how they are treated by other characters. This will then enable me to pass my own judgement, as to how the women are represented in the two plays Hamlet and Much