Shakespeare the Sexist: A View into the
Misogynistic Opinions of Shakespeare, and His Interpretation of Women You’re a woman? Well good for you, because that means you hold no value in this play. In the tragedy Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, there is a clear difference between the roles of women and men in the play. Many of these differences stand in stark contrast to what normal expectations of a female role are. Viewing the play through a feminist perspective, many of the elements regarding women contain evidence of misogynistic behavior. Shakespeare has taken no precautions in revealing the depth of his sexist views on females in the tragedy Hamlet. Through the insinuation that women are supportive characters, Shakespeare shows how …show more content…
Women in Hamlet are typically drawn out to be weaker characters, based on their subservience to men and extensive range of emotions. In this time, when a man or woman expresses remorse or grief, it is subjected as womanly, and thus a “weaker” trait. In Act I of the play, King Claudius criticizes Hamlet for grieving, branding him a woman, which was at that time a very insulting thing to say to a fellow man. Claudius speaks of Hamlet's prolonged mourning for the death of his father, saying "'Tis unmanly grief" (Act I, 2, 97). Referring to Hamlet as a woman demonstrates a great deal of misogyny. By using feminine qualities as an insult, men in the play show a belief that women are considerably inferior to men. Dusinberre (1975), explains that, “If a man lacks physical power, he becomes a women, which is to say, not respected, not feared, and in essence, a simple onlooker of action” (p.278). An example of this weakness being exploited can be seen through the character Ophelia. Her emotional love towards Hamlet combined with her obedience towards her father constructs the image of an unstable and emotional being. In addition, if anything has been inferred from Hamlet, it is that everything unstable is weak in all ways. Emotional offsets and authoritative influence is, according to Rahman (2006), “The common weakness of women folk” (p.33). Both …show more content…
All of the aforementioned traits lend to the overall view found throughout Hamlet that women are frail. At one point in the play, Hamlet even states, “Frailty, thy name is woman” (Act I, 2, 149). This shows that Hamlet, and all other male characters, view woman as fragile, incompetent beings. Further analyzing the quote, reveals how the subject of frailty (according to context) is Hamlets mother. Gertrude fits the image of “frail” particularly well as she has just been deemed unfit to rule the country by herself, as men ruling gives a stronger appearance. Likewise, in this weakness she has married, what at that time would be considered “incestuously.” The character Hamlet capitalizes on this remark that women are named frail, because essentially Hamlet is saying his mother is “frail,” and by saying the queen of all the people, a representation of all women, is named frailty… does not bode well for the image of women. According to Dudkova (2011), “at first glance, they seem angelic, but in reality, they are just very fragile.” This gibe at women in general capitalizes on women’s “true” nature, meaning that an assimilation is being made between the deceptiveness of women, while appearing to be nice. In other words –all women are snakes. Shakespeare is infamous for portraying women as emotional beings. He is a master at demonstrating their obedience to male superiors. Shakespeare shows how weak women truly are,