Essay: Misogyny in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Examining Gender Roles in Elizabethan Society

During the Elizabethan era, women lived in a patriarchal society in which they were heavily regarded as inferior to men. Gender roles were clearly defined and women were expected to be obedient and loyal. Shakespeare’s Hamlet reflects the male dominance and inferiority of women during this era through his depiction of the two female characters–Gertrude and Ophelia. Shakespeare embodies the theme of misogyny by portraying woman as the submissive roles in elizabethan society and emphasizing their inherent weakness, dependance, and fragility.
The play begins with a conflict between Hamlet, Claudius, and Gertrude. Hamlet grieves over his deceased father and denounces Gertrude for her hasty marriage to Claudius within a month of his father’s death. Hamlet cries in frustration, “frailty thy name is woman (1.2.146),” expressing his disgust at the “wicked speed(1.2.157)” with which his mother went from his father’s grave to his uncle’s bed. Hamlet is appalled by his mother’s incestuous inconstancy and sexuality. He implies that Gertrude was easily manipulated and seduced by Claudius’ charm. Feeling betrayed, he suggests that she lacks the moral strength to resist the temptations of wealth, influence, and physical intimacy offered by Claudius and generalizes the weakness he sees in his mother to all women.
After his mother’s betrayal, Hamlet loses his trust in women and perceives them as the source of sexual corruption. Hamlet’s angry feelings toward his mother for loving another man are directed at Ophelia, who has put her sense of love and duty towards another man, her father, and betrays Hamlet. He scolds Ophelia for blinding him from the truth and using the power of her beauty to deceive him. Hamlet believes that Ophelia and women in general should go to a “nunnery(3.1.123)” so that men can be free from the sexuality and flirtatious tricks of women.
Hamlet recalls that his father was “so loving to my mother(1.2.141)” and that his mother would “hang on him(1.2.143).” This highlights Gertrude’s fickleness and reveals that her relationship with old kind Hamlet was never real because she was swayed so easily by the charm and lust of Claudius. Hamlet is more heartbroken by the fact that his parent’s relationship hadn’t been genuine and concludes that women are incapable of depth and sincerity of male commitments. After he witnesses her betrayal, he is incapable of trusting women and accuses all women of dishonesty and unfaithfulness.
Hamlet’s disgust of Gertrude’s sexuality sets a trend for the perception of women through out the rest of the play. From this point on, Hamlet views women as weak and fragile creatures who are reliant on men to formulate their opinions and make decisions. Gertrude had relied on her husband for support, protection, and structure. Once her husband has died, she had to find a new man to depend on. Choosing to marry Claudius shows that Gertrude is reliant on a man in her life and is incapable of surviving on her own. Gertrude usually mimics and agrees with Claudius without question. We see in the first act when Claudius tells Hamlet, “ we beseech you, bend you to remain(1.2.115),” Gertrude follows, “I pray thee, stay with us, go not to Wittenburg(1.2.119).” Gertrude simply repeats Claudius’ suggestion to Hamlet and fails to come to a conclusion of her own. In act 4, Hamlet confides in Gertrude and reveals that he is only pretending to be mad. He then warns her against sleeping with Claudius. Hamlet says, “ Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed….that I essentially am not mad in madness but mad in craft(3.4.186-200),” to which Gertrude responds, “Be though assured, if worlds be made of breath.. I have no life to breath, what though hast said to me(3.4.201-203).” We see that Gertrude seems to follow Hamlet’s orders and has complete obedience for him. However, when Claudius commands Gertrude to leave so that he can carry out the plan to trick hamlet, she says “I shall obey you(3.1.38),” exemplifying the husband-dominant relationship that she is in with Claudius. Gertrude is quite powerless and submissive, and feels obligated to comply to the demands of all male figures in her life. Hamlet and Claudius engage in a power struggle for control of Gertrude and she is torn between her loyalty for her husband and for her son. Gertrude attempts to satisfy and obey the demands of both Hamlet and Claudius which ultimately leads to her death when she disobeys her husband and ignores Claudius’ demand to not drink from the poisoned goblet, to seemingly save Hamlet. The idea that her disobedience preceded her death connotes the idea that the proper place of a woman is to obey men.
Like Queen Gertrude, Ophelia exhibits extreme dependence on men and submissiveness throughout the play. Ophelia is depicted as a beautiful and innocent young woman who tends to accept the demands of the men without question. She depends on her father and brother for guidance and on Hamlet for love and affection. In her first conversion with her father and brother they are advising her to avoid Prince Hamlet. The instructions that Laertes has given Ophelia are in her “memory locked, and shall keep the key of it(1.3.85-86).” Ophelia gives her brother the ability to make decisions for her, the key to her thoughts. Ophelia repeatedly displays pure ignorance and indecisiveness. She tells Polonius that she does not know “what she should think(1.3.104)” about her relationship with Hamlet to which Polonius responds that he will “teach(1.3.105)” Ophelia what to think. The power that Polonius has over Ophelia in this scene is enormous and infinite. Despite the possibility that she may love Hamlet, Ophelia submits entirely to his will, stating that she “shall obey(1.3.136)” Polonius’ command to deny Hamlet’s access to her.
After Laertes leaves the country, Polonius is dead, and Hamlet rejects her, Ophelia is left without a male figure to guide her and consequently goes insane. Claudius is aware of this, as he states that Ophelia’s insanity “springs all from her father’s death(4.5.49-50).” Once she loses her father , she is “divided from herself and her fair judgement(4.5.61),” implying that without her father she is unable to think clearly and make decisions. Ophelia’s insanity as a result of Polonius’ death is the epitome of the male dominance of women in Hamlet.
Gertrude and Ophelia are the men’s pawns in the play. Both Hamlet and Polonius use Ophelia to accomplish what they want. Polonius uses Ophelia as bait to discover the cause of Hamlet’s madness while Hamlet degrades and embarrasses Ophelia to prove that he is mad. In comparison, Claudius pretends to love Gertrude in order to obtain the power and status of a king. While Hamlet uses Gertrude to deceive Claudius about his mental state. Their obedience evidently leads to their own destruction. Ophelia’s father is accidentally killed by the one she loves and her love for Hamlet is unrequited.
She can’t function without a man and therefore is driven to insanity and commits suicide. Gertrude tried to obey both Hamlet and Claudius but ultimately met her end while trying to save Hamlet. Although the female characters in the play appear to be passive and submissive, their presence drives the plot of the play. Gertrude’s extreme dependance on men is what causes her to marry so quickly and this sparks Hamlet’s anger and desire for revenge. Similarly, Ophelia’s obedience to Polonius exacerbated Hamlet’s mental state as he once again felt the betrayal from a woman in his life.
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray was written during the Victorian Era, a time when the women’s role in society was to take part in their husband’s business and interests. The novel parallels the idea of female inferiority in the character of Sybil Vane. Sybil embodies the helplessness, virginal purity, and innocence of a woman. The relationship between Dorian and Sybil Vane contains many parallelisms to the relationship between Ophelia and Hamlet. The wealthy and handsome Dorian Gray becomes infatuated by Sybil Vane’s charming innocence, graceful appearance, and talent for acting. Sybil’s brother, James, is skeptical of Dorian and warns Sybil against falling for Dorian. He is afraid Sybil is blinded by love and doesn’t trust her judgement. James feels the obligation to protect his helpless sister and threatens to kill Dorian if he does any harm to his sister. When Dorian takes his friends to watch Sybil in Romeo and Juliet, Sybil has an awful performance and appears to have no talent for acting. He felt that Sybil had betrayed her and breaks off their engagement. The Picture of Dorian Gray encapsulates the idea that woman are merely aesthetic objects and deceitful creatures. Dorian’s advisor, Lord Henry believes that “when one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one’s self and one always ends by deceiving others(76).” Lord Henry devalues marriage and romance by connoting that love can never truly exist as romantic relationships begins through deception and it is only so long before the true colors are revealed and the love deteriorates. Moreover, the novel depicts the dependance of women on the male figures in their life as Sybil commits suicide after her brother leaves the country and dorian denies his love for her. Without a male figure to guide her, Sybil loses her sanity. The woman’s role was to obey and please the men in their life and when she loses the men in her life, she loses a sense of purpose.