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Ophelia's Treatment Of Women In Hamlet

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Ophelia's Treatment Of Women In Hamlet
In the play “Hamlet”, there are only two women named Gertrude and Ophelia. Gertrude is the mother of Hamlet, and Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and sister to Laertes. Throughout the play, it is evident that women are highly dependant on men. Both Ophelia and Gertrude allow the controlling men in their lives to form their identities. Thus, being one of the leading causes to their tragic death. Gertrude, mother of Hamlet, is proven to be dependent on Claudius thus transforming her into a weak woman. Similarly, Ophelia constantly allows the men in her life control the decisions she should be making herself. This toxic balance makes Ophelia vulnerable and lose control of her own free will. Feminism is evident in the play when identifying …show more content…
In this next quotation, Gertrude is showing the love she has for her son as a she wants him to stay with her. Gertrude often keeps to herself, hardly making any decisions on her own thus Gertrude's love for hamlet is rarely shown. “Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet. I pray thee stay with us, go not to wittenberg.” (1, 2, 118-119) Gertrude is seen as a weak individual by Hamlet when he tries to tell his mother that she has made a great mistake by forgetting about her husband and remarrying so quickly. Gertrude says to Hamlet “O speak to me no more. These words like daggers enter in my ears. No more, sweet Hamlet.” (3, 4, 95-100) Gertrude is telling her son that his words are like knives entering her ears as she does not care to hear what he has to say about her remarriage. As this conversation goes on, a sense of guilt is portrayed within Gertrude. Gertrude’s sense of weakness and vulnerability unfortunately leads her to her tragic death.

Feminism is evident within Shakespeare's play “Hamlet”. Feminism is the theory of political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism is also the organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests. Throughout the play, Hamlet does not think of Ophelia’s feelings and emotions and likes her for pleasure. “That’s a fair

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