The other female Character in “Hamlet” Ophelia is also controlled and directed by the males around her. An example is when she is told by Polonius that she cannot love Hamlet “do not believe his vows for they are brokers”. Today we would expect Ophelia to argue her love for Hamlet but she just agrees “I shall obey, my lord” shows that she feels pressured to agree with Polonius and that Polonius has the power to tell her what to do. His telling Ophelia of who she can love shows a lack of respect for her feelings and shows us that he sees her as an object that he has control over. By Ophelia using “my lord” it shows two things, firstly she has respect for Polonius and that he is abusing this respect and secondly with the respect she shows it indicates that he has control over her, as she just wants to avoid conflict with him and agrees to what he says to do this.
Gertrude also creates the impression of having no mind of her own when she asks Hamlet, “What shall I do?” (Act 3 Scene 4 line 182) showing that she needs the support of a man to know what to do and that she is willing to be controlled by males as it pleases him and makes her feel like he has some sort of direction. This makes the women appear mentally weak and small without a man to lean on, and creates the impression of an inferior species, which don’t have the capacity to form their own opinions or thought.
Both of these passages show men dominating women mentally and verbally. Shakespeare has given neither woman the poetic balance of the male speech, nor the wit. A example of this can be seen when Gertrude says “more matter with less art” which means that what she says is more important than how she says it, giving the impression that she is aware that her language is inferior compared to the males in the play, adding to the feeling of subordination. Throughout “Hamlet” Shakespeare gives the males in the play a superior grip on the English language, which shows men are more intellectual than women and therefore more intelligent.
Gertrude “ why, how now Hamlet!”
Hamlet “ What’s the matter now?”
Gertrude “Have you forgotten me”
Hamlet “ No by the rood, not so, you are the Queen, your husbands brothers wife”
In this passage above Hamlet takes control by asking what the matter in a tone to put down his mother and to make her feel stupid. This takes away the effection Gertrude shows for Hamlet by calling him by his name, making her look foolish as well. He then proceeds to make her feel powerless by giving an expanded answer to her simple question, putting her down again. By now he has taken control of the conversation by showing her little respect. Her only input in the conversation is by answering questions and trying to understand Hamlet, she has no control over the content of the conversation making her appear powerless. To a modern audience Hamlets treatment of his mother would cause shock due to his lack of respect for her and the fact he is controlling her. It would also be seen as degrading to women as we now speak on a equal intellectual level with women and the disrespecting of women is seen as abuse, which wasn’t the case in Shakespearean times.
By Hamlet giving the Women in the play a very weak voice we never see there character develop, suggesting that they are less important than the males in the play, this however in not true as they are also the centre of the plot (Gertrude’s marriage)
This makes us see that the men are in control of the women through out as they appear to be 2d and the males 3d showing how he women are being suppressed in every way from being mentally inferior to being less developed as characters.
Hamlets treatment of Ophelia clearly shows the subordination of the female in question. He plays with the emotion of love to such an extent she goes mad and drowns, although by the account given it could be seen as suicide. To Hamlet Ophelia is an object to be mentally manipulated this is clear by how he treats Ophelia’s emotions, “ I loved you not” when before he told her how he loved her. This sudden switch in his emotion would make Ophelia feel that she had no control during any time in their relationship, and that Hamlets feelings towards her were false. Hamlet then makes her feel weak by saying “ Frailty thy name is women”. This makes Ophelia and women look like they cannot hold their ground against males, it also shows how Hamlet sees women as inferior to himself.
A passage that shows Hamlets need for control over women both mentally and verbally also involves Ophelia. Since Ophelia was under the control of her father, Polonius who had convinced her to try and get information about Hamlets plan’s from him. When Hamlet found this out this passage followed.
Hamlet: “Ha, ha! Are you honest?”
Ophelia: “ my lord?”
Hamlet: “ are you fair”
Ophelia: “ What means your lordship?”
Hamlet: “ That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty”
In this questioning by Hamlet it is clear that he knows the truth but wants to make Ophelia feel the weaker one. A modern audience would find it hard to except that Hamlets intention here was to make Ophelia feel used emotionally, sexually and to patronise her with his superior intellect would be seen as insulting. His actions would be frowned upon and discouraged in modern society as it degrades women.
The control that both Hamlet and Polonius show over Ophelia coupled with the lack of character development lowers her role in the play to one of a “pawn”. She is viewed as an object by the males and is directed by these. Shakespeare deliberately gave her this role as it helps create the persona that women are weak objects that won’t stand up to males and impression that the society at this time was dominated by males, which is true of the time but not today. A modern audience where neither sex now dominates society it would seem alien and unfair towards women. It may also create anger in female readers, as the treatment of Ophelia would be seen as barbaric and unnecessary.
In conclusion I think Shakespeare makes the society in which Gertrude and Ophelia are entangled dominated by men for a good reason. By only having two poorly developed female characters it shows how in “Hamlet” women are seen as less important and weaker. Actions of the males towards the females creates a feeling of injustice towards the women characters. Although the two women are seen as objects they are strangely central to the plot, this is a contradiction that makes use more aware of the treatment they receive, this also heightens the feeling that the males are superior to the females as it show their domination of the female characters. Overall I believe Shakespeare makes the female characters weak for two reasons, one is shows the subordination of women in his society and secondly it makes Hamlets character seem more powerful and intelligent than he maybe was.
Bibliography
www.cc.utah.edu
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