Role Of The Women Of Hamlet English Literature Essay

Role Of The Women Of settlement side Literature EssayThe women of William Shakespe ars settlement appear to be frail, passive figures employ as pawns and dying prematurely after the mistreatment of men. However, there is more to Gertrude and Ophelia than meets the eye. make up though small t avouch is certainly non a do work found on women, both female characters argon more active than their vices and virtues previously lead us to believe. A closer inspection reveals that the true eccentrics these female characters took on had purpose these women were not as passive as they reckon at first glance.Our first perception of Gertrude isinfluenced by Hamlets response to learning she has married her brother-in-law after he has slay her husband.Hamlet shows anger and disillusion toward her, believing that she should remain loyal to the memory of his father the king. Yet, there is no evidence that she knows of the murder Claudius has committed. It appears she has allowed hersel f to be seduced by Claudius, solely once over again there is no evidence of whether the seduction has taken place in the first place the death of King Hamlet or afterwards.Gertrude finds herself in a condition where she is conflicted by the roles different men wish her to play. She feels mostwhat guilty close to her sons disappointment in her, but feels that she can do nothing roughly the situation due to her relationship with Claudius. Claudius also has expectations of her, including his wish that she disregard Hamlet and remain loyal only to him.It could be said Gertrude is so mercurial she lacks virtue, however, in hazard II, scene IV, she shows motherly concern for Hamlets welf be and makes plans to tattle with him in her chamber. After Hamlet accuses her of lust, she does not make excuses for herself she openlyadmits her shortcoming. What redeems Gertrude is her last-place act of loyalty to her son.In the final act, when Claudius pours the pois hotshotd wine, Gertrud e claims thirst while stretch for the goblet. Claudius warns her not to drink nevertheless, she does, knowing it was poured for Hamlet, and as she dies, she tellsher sonthat the drink is poison for him. In her sacrifice of herself for her son, there is redemption for Gertrudes lust, immaturity, and fickleness. She has now shown, not passivity, but strength and loyalty.The role of Ophelia is presented as a gentle, loyal, obedient, and young woman who is meant to be the love of Hamlets sustenance, even though he rarely thinks of her or considers her in his plans. Most of the time Hamlet just appears to be cruel to her, as if he is just using her as a pawn, as is so when Ophelia tells her father that Hamlet appears to her to be looking and acting like a crazy man. It expects very likely he is just using Ophelia as part of his plot to absorb the word out that he is insane.Ophelia is an prototype of a perfect missy who obeys her father without argument. Even when she is asked to re ject Hamlet whom she believes is the love of her life, she responds subserviently that she will obey, and meets with Hamlet to deceive him. Polonius also uses his daughter for his own reasons, which in this case, is to spy on Hamlet. This actually becomes a spell point in the play. Hamlet reveals his complicated feelings for Ophelia as well as the depth by which he is hurt and betrayed by her. As Ophelia tries to gift his gifts his feelings become evident. Hamlet becomes defensive refusing to accept the return, and responds with, I never gave you aught. He accordingly continues to express his anger and disgust with women and humanity as he tells her, Get thee to a nunnery why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? This hurts Ophelia mentally as well as physically since he has propel her round a bit and she expresses this with her own thoughts.Oh, what a noble drumhead is here oerthrown. The courtiers, soldiers, scholars, eye, tongue, sword The expectancy and rose of the fair st ate, The glass of way of life and the mold of form, The observed of all observers, quite, quite down And I, of ladies most dismount and wretched, That sucked the honey of his music vows, Now see that noble and most monarch reason, Like gratifying bells jangled, out of tune and harsh That unmatchd form and give birth of blown youth Blasted with ecstasy O, woe is me, To have seen what I have seen, see what I seeBasically, Ophelia is saying, Wow, he seemed like such a wonderful guy before his words to me were so sweet and I let myself fall for him, and now hes gone(a) totally gone around the bend. Ophelias perfection also becomes her downfall, unfortunately she has no voice nor does she seem to have any obvious heroine qualities and one thing of interest that comes to straits is her lack of desire to defend herself.Even with all this being said, Ophelias life and death have a profound influence on some of the most important characters in the play, including Hamlet. Her own madn ess has importance in the play. It gives Ophelia the freedom to do and say what she could not before. She passes out flowers to the court and gives columbine and fennel to Claudius, this is a jab at the king since these flowers were representative of ingratitude and infidelity at the time. This is where she loses her innocence, and this loss of innocence finishes with her eventual suicide. At the time, suicide was a sin against God and people that committed suicide were not allowed a proper funeral. Ophelias innocence is somewhat preserved by allowing her a funeral even though her death was at her own hand.Looking closely, Ophelias role appears to be a precursor for Shakespeare to foreshadow future events. In her coal scuttle scene, her brother and father warn her to stop seeing Hamlet. This warning could be said to foretell her future conflict with Hamlet. At the beginning of Act II, when Ophelia rejects Hamlets advances he goes off-the-wall, there are two ways to interpret the scene, one possibility being that after Hamlet warns Horatio and Marcellus that he will regurgitate an antic disposition on he acts crazy when meeting with Ophelia to get the word out there that he is mad. Another possibility is that Hamlet was genuinely distraught by Ophelias recent rejection. Anyway you look at it these scenes with Ophelia seem to foreshadow things to come.We begin to realize also that Ophelia is not as passive of a character as originally thought. She is obviously a tool for Shakespeare, but also for Hamlet and Polonius, as the plot thickens around her.After Ophelias death Hamlet is reminded of his deep feelings for her, which had been hidden due to his arrested development with vengeance and his lack of trust in women. Ophelias death also deepens Laertes require for vengeance. He already has much reason to kill Hamlet, since Hamlet had murdered his father and driven his sister mad, but Opherlias suicide is that last little(a) push over the edge that drives a nd justifies Laertes revenge.As it turns out Ophelia is the common performer that brings together Hamlet and Laertes. She is the reason for their irrational actions, and in a swerve of fate, the being that brings them great emotional turmoil. None of this has she done intentionally, yet she becomes her own play within a play. Our focus on Hamlet and his sufferings are set aside, as Ophelias story shocks us when she suddenly breaks, is driven mad, and then commits suicide.To one that simply reads the play and thinks nothing more about it, these women may seem trivial. However, those taking the time to think about Gertrude and Ophelia are rewarded with the knowledge that each of these characters is woven into a role that affects and motivates a main character. They are the characters that passive, as they may seem, actually spur the men in the play to further advance the plays central action. Clearly the roles Gertrude and Ophelia take on are a contribution to the terrible events that occur in Hamlet, making for a perfect dramatic tragedy.Work CitedShakespeare, William. Hamlet, Literature and Its Writers A Compact knowledgeability to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 4th ed. Ed. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston Bedford/St. Martins, 2007 1252-1354.