Women have been perceived differently by different people at different times. Using Shakespeare's Hamlet,consider his representation of women.

English Literature coursework

Women have been perceived differently by different people at different times. Using Shakespeare's Hamlet, consider his representation of women.

In Hamlet, Shakespeare carefully represents Getrude and Ophelia. Individually, Gertrude is essentially seen as weak and immoral whilst Ophelia is seen as meek and a victim of society. Collectively, they are seen to fulfil a conventional 16th century role, and it is as our beliefs and views of women change that we are able to perceive the characters in a different angle.

At the beginning of the play, we get a very biased insight into the character of Gertrude and how those around her perceive her. This is because Hamlet and the ghost of Hamlet are both very biased as they feel a sense of injustice at Gertrude's marriage to Claudius, her brother-in-law. For example, Gertrude is chiefly seen as very uncaring and "unrighteous," as the "incestuous" marriage, according to Hamlet, was carried out with "dexterity" and scarcely a month after King Hamlet's death. This depiction makes the audience form a very strong opinion of Gertrude from the outset. It creates an ominous feeling about Gertrude as the first insight we get into her character is given by people who have been hurt by her in some way. This suggests that she is someone to watch out for and that Gertrude is weak and unable to live without a man who can provide self-protection. Hamlet personifies this when he says that "frailty" is "woman" and thus a theme that indicates women are weak runs through the play.

Gertrude's weakness and fickleness is shown in Act 3 Scene 4 where we are given an insight into Gertrude's actions and personality. She commences in an arrogant manner for the performance of The Mousetrap, and then afraid that Hamlet may harm her when she cries for "help". She then feels overwhelmed and shocked when Hamlet kills Polonius and full of disbelief when Hamlet sees his father's ghost. By the end of this scene, however, we see that she is penitent and appears willing to help her son. This exhibits how easily Gertrude is persuaded by Hamlet's incessant persistence, and emphasises her tendency to be dominated by, and mistreated by men, even to the extent of her own son.

Gertrude's mistreatment is also obvious within her relationship to Claudius. For example, When Gertrude tells Claudius of Polonius' slaughter by Hamlet, rather than fret about the danger posed to his wife; he remarks that has he "been there," it would have been dangerous to him. This highlights her vulnerability and subtly suggests that Claudius is more concerned about himself than his wife.

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Likewise, Shakespeare uses the character of Ophelia to illustrate that women of all classes of age can be considered feeble and dominated by men. The first time the audience see Ophelia is during her conversation with Laertes and her father where both the male characters disregard Ophelia's judgement. Polonius tells Ophelia that she speaks like a "green girl" whilst Laertes tells her to "fear" Hamlet's affection. Ophelia appears to be dominated from the outset and this suggests that Ophelia is not trusted to make her own decisions and that she requires guidance on how to live her life. Her reply, "as you did command," illustrates a docile nature and this is present throughout the play. Like Gertrude's character, she appears to be very dependent on men and obedient throughout the most of the play.

Ophelia's reliance on men is emphasised when she is dealing with Polonius' death. Where Laertes feels anger and wishes to avenge his father's death, Ophelia falls into madness. Her decline into madness insinuates that as a woman, she is weaker and therefore, unable to cope with a death, and that without Polonius and Laertes so guide her in her life, she was at a loss.

Shakespeare uses devices such as soliloquies to emphasise the feeble personality of Ophelia. Ophelia, unlike Gertrude, has a soliloquy that comes after being propositioned by Hamlet. She conveys her feelings to the audience, and imaginatively describes her love for Hamlet. For example, she describes him as a "rose" and "the glass of fashion." This admission is ironic as soliloquies are meant to inform the audience of a character's hidden feelings, however, the audience are already conscious of what Ophelia is feeling as her emotions are blatant when she is speaking to other characters. For instance, she describes being "affrighted" when Hamlet came to Ophelia in his apparent madness and makes a long speech about how she feared Hamlet's behaviour. These opinions of Gertrude and Ophelia are not the only ones, and many other potential reasons to explain their actions.

Instead of merely being seen as weak, Gertrude and Ophelia can still be sympathised with; For example, when Ophelia dies, Hamlet leaps into her grave and declares that his love for Ophelia is greater than "forty thousand brothers" could offer. This illustrates how her innocence made her a victim and how her weaknesses ultimately triggered a premature death. Similarly, Hamlet has much contempt for Gertrude as he refers to her as a "pernicious" woman; however, he cannot bear to intentionally harm her. This is shown when Hamlet obeys his dead father's wish to "speak" to Gertrude and not to ostracise her, and so is likely to make the audience sympathise with Gertrude and Ophelia.

As the play reaches its finale, the portrayal of Gertrude and Ophelia begins to change. They become much more important in showing how the atmosphere in the play begins to change. For instance, when Ophelia becomes mad, a side, which suggests that she is not as pure as was previously thought, develops. She talks about a "young man" coming to her "bed," which, taking her previous interactions with Hamlet, and his candid sexual innuendoes into consideration, suggests that her and Hamlet had some sort of sexual relationship, suggesting that she too is somewhat impure. Conversely, Gertrude's emotional side emerges. She is very poignant as she describes the "fantastic garlands" against the "glassy" water and the "weeping" brook. This account not only shows the emotion that Gertrude is going through, but the delicateness of the flowers emulates Ophelia's delicate character as Shakespeare's use of startling imagery shows Ophelia's flourishing sexuality. The depiction of Ophelia and Gertrude changes as the action in the play does and so they are important in conveying the changing mood and showing that things are not as they appear.

Even though Gertrude is chiefly seen as being a weak character, there are many things to imply otherwise. Her marriage to Claudius, although seen as cowardly, also implies that she is a strong woman. This is because her relationship with King Hamlet was described as being "loving" and that she would "hang on" to every word he uttered. This could indicate that Gertrude has had to halt her mourning and consider herself and Hamlet's future to keep a stable lifestyle and position in society which suggests that she is very clever. Her changing emotions also show that Gertrude is only human, and so should not be condemned for everything that she says or does.

Ophelia generally exhibits all her emotions. This suggests that Ophelia is naﶥ and exposed as her weak spots are on display and suggests her purity in the way she is overwhelmed by Hamlet's sexual advances. In this way, Shakespeare contrasts the innocence and purity of Ophelia to Gertrude's impurity and false virtue. The character of Ophelia contrasts other Shakespearean women in the way Ophelia always does as she is told. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet puts her lover before her father whereas Ophelia does the opposite. This would have a profound effect on the audience, as the subtle change in the portrayal of female characters would reflect the complex situation in England. This is because being a female, Elizabeth I caused apprehension by being on the throne, and Shakespeare reflected this apprehension through the female characters in Hamlet.

In conclusion, even though Ophelia and Gertrude have relatively small parts, their roles are pivotal in Hamlet. This is because Shakespeare uses their characters in many ways. I think that Ophelia essentially tried to please all those around her, ends up being unsuccessful and consequently becomes a victim of all the events in the rest of the play. In this way, Shakespeare manages to contrast the innocence of Ophelia to the rest of the characters who all are portrayed as having some sinful flaws, but in keeping with the traditional view of women, is seen as being weaker than men. I also think that Ophelia's downfall was attributed to the fact that her dominance by men along with her intense protection by her father and brother had prevented her from using her own judgement and so was reliant upon those around her for guidance. Therefore, with Laertes in France, she was unprepared to deal with her father's sudden death, as she had no form of support. In my opinion, Shakespeare intentionally made Gertrude's character ambiguous, to appeal to the different classes of people who would have seen the performance in the 16th Century. This is because she is a character that can be sympathised with, but more prominently, someone that is easily criticized. This fallible characteristic reminds us that Gertrude is merely trying to survive in an oppressed world and so should not constantly be judged. This is effectively shown when Gertrude is first introduced and emulates the role in society that women were supposed to conform to during the 16th century. In this way, Shakespeare manages to make the characters more lifelike, through their respective weaknesses and strengths as characters.

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