Hamlet, By William Shakespeare - 2386 Words

Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, women are usually illustrated as strong,independent, confident, and self-serving individuals. Previously scene from King Lear with both Regan and Goneril and in Macbeth with Lady Macbeth, these characters show the true strength of a woman. However, in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the woman are seen as weak. Being the only female characters in the play, Ophelia and Gertrude allow us to observe the role of women in Hamlet. The men surrounding them continuously control both Ophelia and Gertrude, as they agree to be pawns in several plans for the men that are in their lives. Both women eventually choose another man over Hamlet , while playing a big role in his life, they betray him. The betrayal†¦show more content†¦Yet each of these questions were failed to be answered; the audience can only choose to believe what s/he thinks is correct. Gertrude is one of the only characters who gives us a sense of mystery and doubt for the audience. Like Gertrude, Ophelia is another undeveloped woman in the play. Ophelia is a young, beautiful and innocent woman, who obeys her family. Other than the joy she offers toward he family and Hamlet, she is an insignificant character. Ophelia is seen to be incapable of making decision without the influence of the people surrounding her. Similar to Gertrude, the audience experiences many unanswered questions about Ophelia. Have she and Hamlet engaged in sexual relations? Did she remain loyal to her father who prohibited her from seeing Hamlet, disregarding his disapproval? Both Ophelia and Gertrude remain undeveloped character , however they are greatly significant to the men in accomplishing their goals. Both Gertrude and Ophelia are greatly used by the men in Hamlet as tools to help accomplish their goals. Being used as tools resembles both girls as being easily manipulated and easily controlled by the men. This is an unusual sighting in Shakespeare plays, since we usually see them as strong and influential. In the play Macbeth we see, Lady Macbeth controls Macbeth throughout the play, portraying herself as a strong and dominate character. Lady Macbeth is a complete opposite of Gertrude and Ophelia. From the very