Gertrude’s speedy marriage makes Hamlet feel that she and all women are untrustworthy:
Hamlet-“Let me not think on’t- Frailty, thy name is woman-”
(Act 1 Scene 2 Line 148)
Here, Hamlet makes the generalisation that all women are weak. He displays very little respect for women in general, never-mind his own mother. Hamlet victimises his mother here as his feelings of anger are thrown directly upon her, the weaker of the species. Hamlet maintains a formal politeness towards his mother as the play progresses, but his ‘asides’ are bitter and deeply critical:
“For look how cheerfully my mother looks and my father died within’s two hours”
(Act 3 Scene 2 Line 130)
It appears that Gertrude is a frequent victim of Hamlet throughout the play. Not once did Hamlet actually consider his mother’s feelings or ask about them. His disgust for female sexuality caused him to lash out at her verbally and sometimes even physically. He didn’t realise that Gertrude was trying to be supportive of him as well as her husband, whom conventions said she must also adore. Instead of listening to her opinions, Hamlet used the Queen in order to make himself feel better and also as a means of releasing his anger. It could be implied that Hamlet’s depiction of his mother’s behaviour could simply be necessary to trap Claudius but from Act 3 Scene 2 Line 135, Hamlet also seems to be trying to shame his mother publicly into feeling guilty for her behaviour in remarrying. He says sarcastically:
“O heavens, die two months ago and not forgotten yet!”
Clearly, Hamlet has little respect for his mother and although he dismisses her regularly, Gertrude still seems to endure him and do the best she can for him. This reveals how Gertrude, as a woman, is slightly passive.
At the start of Act 3 Scene 4, Gertrude starts by trying to maintain her dignity. Eventually, she seems to realise her position as a woman and is soon derailed by Hamlets accusations and quicker tongue. There is something pathetic in the way she moves from the attempt to be regal in:
“Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.” (Act 3 Scene 4 Line 10)
to the simple, desperate and childlike:
“What shall I do?” (Act 3 Scene 4 Line 199)
at the end of the scene. Here, she is a victim in the way that she is trapped within her own mind and cannot dominate a man’s view. Her opinions matter very little and she soon finds herself being led into Hamlet’s scheme against the King.
Claudius, on the other hand, does seem to have some respect towards Gertrude. Her husband asks of her opinion and she is not afraid to say what she thinks when he asks her. He refers to her as “Sweet Gertrude” consistently, displaying a great love of her. However, perhaps Claudius sees Gertrude as a trophy for his successes, his win of the kingdom. He may also see her as a possession, as many men of that time did. True, he does treat her respectfully but, again, she is fairly passive in her response to him:
“I shall obey you.”
(Act 3 Scene 1 Line 42)
reflecting how her actions revolve around a man’s view.
What the Queen doesn’t realise is that she is a victim within the King’s attempt at plotting against her beloved son. In Act 4 Scene 7, there is a clear sense of how Claudius is putting his own survival before his bond with Gertrude.
Gertrude is in the middle of an on going conflict between her son and her new husband. She genuinely loves Hamlet and Claudius, but the two men in her life are on a downward spiral and so is she. What she seems to want is something very basic: a happy family. But life as a woman in a man’s pride driven world is denying her that. She is a victim in the way that Hamlet continues to harm her emotionally and in the sense that Claudius uses her as a mark of pride. Also, indirectly, she is a victim of the play as a whole. She drinks the poison, which the king set up for Hamlet and sadly dies. Claudius does not prevent her from doing so in order to disguise his guilt. Gertrude is a victim of the tragedy of the play and is eventually over powered by the manly pride driven battle.
As said previously, men are prepared to use women, even their own family, in the power political game. The chief example of this is Ophelia. She spends much of the play bewildered about what is happening around her, as she tries to follow what her father, brother and Hamlet tell her to do.
Immediately we see how Ophelia is a victim in the manly-dominated world of Elsinore. In Act 1 Scene 3, Laertes seems to be controlling her life for her. She takes his advice constantly and seems very dependent of him. The image in the words:
“‘Tis in my memory lock’d,
And you yourself shall keep the key of it.”
(Act 1 Scene 3 Line 90-91)
gives us the impression that she allows him to control even her thoughts.
Ophelia has no privacy in her life and seems to obey her father almost like a dog to its owner. Her passivity is reflected in her total acceptance of male authority:
“I shall obey, my lord.”
(Act 1 Scene 3 Line 141)
The fact that Ophelia refers to her father as “my lord” implies that she may feel inferior to him. Possibly because he is her father or even simply because he is a male and regarded upon as the stronger species.
Claudius treats Ophelia as a mere tool when he sets her up so that he and Polonius can spy on Hamlet. Polonius also neglects her feelings in this matter and bluntly commands her:
“Ophelia, walk you here…Read on this book”
(Act 3 Scene 1 Line 49)
She even appears a victim of her own father. Ophelia is clearly upset at this point in the play although Polonius and the King ignore this. However, she appears to be more upset for Hamlet rather than herself. This could be because she is so used to suppressing her needs that she doesn’t even recognise them anymore.
Ophelia seems to be particularly a victim of Hamlet. During Act 3 Scene 1, Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia is very cruel. He denies that he ever loved her and suggests that she is a whore. In Act 3 Scene 2 Hamlet publicly humiliates Ophelia, subjecting her to sexual innuendo. When Hamlet kills her father, he still doesn’t realise the full impact it has on Ophelia. He is so involved with his revenge scheme that he forgets to consider Ophelia’s feelings.
Eventually, everything gets on top of Ophelia and she gives in. Whilst mad, she seems to command an authority she lacked when she was sane. Perhaps this is because her insanity has taught her to speak more openly and is a path to her want of freedom. She cannot be ordered about now, and in this she has found her own independence and has escaped the pressures of obeying the men in her life.
Ophelia’s death is particularly significant, because she is clearly driven to it by events over which she, as a young woman, has no control. Even during her burial she is still a victim. Again, she is reduced in significance. The gravedigger simply thinks of her as a “gentlewoman” who has only got a Christian burial because of her social status. Even the priest, who represents the institutional church, has a negative view over Ophelia. He believes that Ophelia’s burial is more than she deserves and is only performing it under the King’s orders.
Hamlet’s extravagant claim that he loved Ophelia more than “Forty thousand brothers” (Act 5 Scene 1 Line 277) is totally unconvincing and again diminishes her. The fight over her grave also lessens the dignity of her burial and of her life.
As well as Gertrude, Ophelia played an innocent part in the play but her innocence and role as a woman led her to be constantly ordered about by various men and this frustration caused her to fall into madness, which triggered her death.
Overall, I believe that Ophelia and Gertrude are very much victims in a mans world. As women they are expected to adore each man in their life, but when the men in their lives battle against each other, they find themselves getting caught up in the middle of them. Each woman finds it difficult to express themselves and are trapped within the dominance of the males. However, both women seem admirable characters at the beginning of the play but eventually, the circumstances around them seem to defeat them, seen especially in Ophelia. Although there are very few interactions between the two women, when they do happen they are very sweet and each seems to be concerned about the other. In such a macho world, they appear to find support from the other woman.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet was a huge success during the Elizabethan period and also with an audience today. However, attitudes towards the play have changed remarkably since Shakespeare’s time period. An Elizabethan audience would be far less compassionate towards women than an audience would today. Women in those times were used to the patriarchal society and it was far more realistic for those times. The women in the Shakespearean period were familiar with the dominance of the males and would find it unusual to see any woman disobey the men in their life. Perhaps women back then would see Gertrude’s death as a result of her defiance towards Claudius, as he did warn her not to drink from the cup. However, women today wouldn’t share this view. Today, women have far more independence and status. An audience today would possibly be far more sympathetic towards Gertrude and Ophellia, but maybe see them as fragile and weak. They could possibly be regarded upon as the pathetic stereotype of a woman, and not viewed as popular characters because of their exaggerated femininity and weak personalities.
Bibliography
Shakespeare and Jacobean Tragedy, Rex Gibson
Longman Literature, Hamlet, Shakespeare
Shakespearean and Jacobean Tragedy, Rex Gibson
Shakespearean and Jacobean Tragedy, Rex Gibson
