Group_3

With only two women in the entire play of Hamlet, Shakespeare's view of the role of women in society is very clear. After reading the entire novel it seems as though the women were only there to entertain the males. They always did as they were told, and relied on the men to avenge a tragic death in the family. For example, during the play every time someone in the play was murdered it was the son or male figure in the family that needed to avenge the person's death. After a murder the male(s) in the play, the family would begin to plan how they were going to avenge the death and the women would grieve and struggle to move on. When Polonius dies in the novel it is Laertes that needs to avenge his death, and Ophelia takes the woman's role and grieves until the point where she is so upset she goes mad and commits suicide. Like grieving over loved ones, the women also relied on the men to help make their decisions for them. Gertrude and Ophelia, the only two women in the novel, were always there appeasing the men in whatever way they could. Neither Gertrude nor Ophelia was given the option of who they wanted to marry, instead they were forced to marry whoever their father chose, or in Gertrude’s case whoever was more convenient for her. For that reason, Gertrude was never given the option to be with Claudius and therefore the only way that the two could be together was for King Hamlet to die. After reading the novel one can deduce that Shakespeare was trying to show the reader that women had very little say in what happened in their life. If the woman wanted to be with someone they loved instead of the person that was chosen for them, that was simply out of the question. In Ophelia's case she was in love with Hamlet and then forced to upset him and hurt her own feelings, when her father would not let her see him. Shakespeare depicts women like this in the play to show how women were treated in this time period, and to show how they were undermined on a regular basis.

In the first act, Shakespeare shows how women are supposed to be virtuous. You can see this on page 41, when Laerites is talking to Ophelia about Hamlet. Laerites says "If with too credent ear you list his songs or lose you hear or your chaste treasure open to his unmastered importunity." He is warning Ophelia about Hamlet and he wants her to keep her virginity. Laerites thinks that being chaste is a treasure; a gift that you should keep until you get married. Shakespeare also shows how women are not as high in stature as men. You can see this when Polonius talks to Ophelia alone, and then when Polonius talks to Laerities alone. At the end of scene 3, Polonius tells Ophelia " I would not in plain terms, from this time forth have you so slander any moment leisure as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet." Polonius orders her to stop seeing Hamlet and Ophelia simply obeys. Ophelia was never given an opportunity to speak or say her opinion, although, the way in which Polonius spoke to Laerites was completely different. He was giving him advice about living on his own, and he was joking around in a fun and lighthearted way. Shakespeare uses this scene to show the reader how men and women differed by showing the serious and strict conversation Polonius had with Ophelia versus a fun and easy going conversation with Laertes. Therefore in Act one Shakespeare shows the reader how women of the time period were supposed to be virtuous. Shakespeare also shows the reader the difference between men and women in society by showing how Ophelia and Laertes were treated differently by Polonius.

Shakespeare uses act two to show how women were often considered less than men. Men during the time period often held more power, authority, and had more control over what took place. During act two Ophelia has an encounter with a “mad” Hamlet and she then quickly goes to tell Polonius. Ophelia runs to Polonius to tell him how Hamlet has acted and Polonius then tells her what she will do. On the top of page 91 of Act 2 Polonius explains how when he told Ophelia not to receive anything from Hamlet, or to talk or meet with him she obeyed him. When Polonius told Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet she had to listen to him and when Polonius told Ophelia to go talk with Hamlet she had to listen to him. Shakespeare seems to show the reader that when a woman was faced with a problem she needed to tell the male “leader.” Throughout the novel the males were always the ones who made the decisions and planned what would take place next. After Polonius decided that Hamlet’s “madness” was due to Ophelia rejecting him, he told Ophelia she was to have an encounter with Hamlet and return all of the tokens he had sent her. Even though Ophelia probably would have preferred to stay as far away from Hamlet as possible, she had to obey what Polonius told her. Ophelia was forced to set aside her own feelings and do as she was told, and in the end Ophelia was hurt. In a rage, Hamlet told Ophelia he never loved her and he deeply hurt her. Despite all of the terrible events Ophelia endured she was forced to continue doing as told by the males only because they seemed to have more power than she did. During Ophelia’s encounter with Hamlet she was also forced to allow Polonius and Claudius to spy. Shakespeare uses this scene in act two to show how women had very little say in what occurred during their life and they were often forced to do things they would have never wanted to do.

In Act three, women are portrayed to be lower in society than men and this is apparent when Hamlet talks to his mother. There are a couple of instances where Hamlet is rude to his mother, almost as if he doesn't have any respect for her at all because of her affair and the knowledge she may have of his fathers death. On page 151, Hamlet interrupts the play to ask his mother what she thinks of the performance. "Madam, how like you this play?" Gertrude then replies with "the lady doth protest too much, methinks." and in reply he says, "O, but she'll keep her word." In this scene, Hamlet is disrespecting his mother. He is basically calling her a liar when he says this, usually sons would never treat their mother like this, but Hamlet did. Therefore, the scene shows that men were able to treat women however they wanted to. There is another scene in which Hamlet is rude to his mother, on page 171. On the top of the page Hamlet says "Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue." Hamlet is calling Gertrude wicked and therefore he is completely disrespecting her. Also, in the middle of the page, Hamlet gets rough with Gertrude, pushing and shoving her until she calls for help. Hamlet harsh words and actions show that he held more power than his mother. In Act 3, there are several places where Hamlet is very rude to his mother and Shakespeare uses these parts to show the reader that Hamlet held more power than his mother. Although, Shakespeare uses Hamlet's encounters with Ophelia as well to show the difference in power between the two genders. On page 131 Hamlet tells Ophelia, "I did love you once" but then when Ophelia says he made her believe so he contradicts himself and says "I loved you not." During this scene Hamlet "attacks womankinds" (as stated on page 122) and suggests that Ophelia should enter a nunnery. The way in which Hamlet treats Ophelia during this scene is a great example of how men during this time period could treat women however they pleased. Shakespeare then continues this example of unequal power in scene two when Hamlet makes disrespectful comments towards Ophelia at the beggining of the play and no one stops him. Shakespeare seems to show the reader that men during this time period held a much larger amount of power and control than the females did during the time.

The women continue to be undermined and mistreated in Act 4 of the play, however most shown in this act is their dependence on men. After Ophelia learns about her father’s death, she becomes overwhelmed with feelings and is very upset. She then becomes crazy due to all the stresses due to the absence of her father, and in the end she commits suicide. When Polonius dies, and Hamlet leaves Gertrude, she immediately leaves to tell Claudius what has happened. Later in the act when Gertrude receives word that Ophelia has died she once again goes to tell Claudius and Laertes. These two scenes show how women were extremely dependent on men and when they were faced with an obstacle or large event they quickly went to the males so that they could decide what would be done. Also in this act Gertrude deals with the killing of Polonius and the fact that her son committed the crime. She also confesses to the king that she cares a lot about what Hamlet says and does. This is apparent when she says, "The Queen his mother lives almost by his looks," (page 223). This is another example of how the women in the play are dependent on the men, which was part of Shakespeare’s play writing.

In Act 5 Ophelia is dead, and the question is how she should be buried. Many of the people do not think that she should get a true proper burial because she committed suicide, and that is considered a sin. The king and queen, however make sure she does get a burial even though it is not a proper one. It is up for question as to whether a man with a similar death would have received a proper burial. This is not answered in the text however with Shakespeare's previous view towards women throughout the play it is safe for one to assume that a man would probably have received a better burial. Shakespeare also used Ophelia's death to show the love and dependence the men had for the women. When Hamlet realizes in the graveyard that Ophelia is the one who has died he jumps into the grave and argues with Laertes that he shares similar love and grief for Ophelia. This scene was an example of how Hamlet and Laertes struggled with Ophelia's death because they both loved Ophelia and although they may have had more power and control than she did, she was still an important role in their lives and society. On the other hand Gertrude also dies in this scene due to her husbands greed. Claudius knew there was poison in the drink Gertrude was about to drink and yet he let her drink it anyways just so he would not blow his cover, and be looked at by the people as a bad guy. This scene shows how selfish Claudius was for having made sure he was his own first priority. Both women in the play were killed, and therefore one could say that was Shakespeare's intention, or it could have just be the play's plot, either way both women were undermined in Act 5.

Shakespeare also seems to show the reader through out the novel that women play less important roles in society. The women, when faced with a problem, go tell the men, who then handle the situation. In the novel, Grapes of Wrath, the situation was similar, if a decision was to be made it was the man's job to decide what would happen and give everyone instructions. It seems as though the same thing is true during Hamlet's time, the men bossed the women around and the women did as they were told. Therefore, after reading Shakespeare's novel it seems clear that Shakespeare showed the reader a lot about woman's roles in society through his novel, Hamlet. Shakespeare used Gertrude and Ophelia to show how the men seemed to do as they wished and the women were forced to follow. When a father decided who he wanted his daughter to marry, that is who she would marry. When a husband told his wife what to do, she was forced to listen. Women often struggled to move on after the death of an important male role in their life. The men always seemed to be in charge during every scene that took place in the novel. Therefore it seems as though Shakespeare was showing that women were not as high and powerful as men during that time period.