Hamlet Essay

Shakespeare’s Hamlet grabbed my attention from its possible misogynist perspective. Although revered for his many prolific pieces, Shakespeare is often accused of being a misogynist. His masterpieces reveal a controversial portrayal of women. Primarily in the Hamlet play, there is a vast amount of evidence suggesting that it was written from a misogynist view.

One of the more obvious examples suggesting that Shakespeare was indeed a misogynist includes Hamlet’s aggressive response to his mother’s quick marriage. Beginning on page 173, Hamlet slowly builds up to completely demean Gertrude’s decisions and overall her as a person. His attacks on her reveal the superiority men can have over women.

Ophelia on the other hand is also portrayed as the "bad guy." Her passionate relationship with Hamlet is frowned upon by Polonius, Gertrude, Claudius...the list goes on. Her forbidden love for Hamlet doesn't stop her from having sexual relations with him and in the end backfires. In fact, her love for Hamlet goes so far as to drive her crazy (literally.) She sings of Hamlet backstabbing her with the very promise of marriage and essentially commits suicide. After killing herself, the reader gets a sense of just how insecure the women are in this play and how desperate(for lack of word) they are for love.

The play also subtly portrays a misogynist view when Laertes talks to his sister Ophelia about Hamlet. He tell her to not lose her virginity to "keep her treasure." Laertes's advice possibly suggests to the reader that women are supposed to always be pure, and not commit the ultimate sin that Eve carried out.

Overall, the play in general introduces the reader to only two women as opposed to the several male characters. Was this a coincidence or carefully though out by Shakespeare? My goal is to decipher the text and look for evidence suggesting that Shakespeare indeed wrote this play from a misogynist point of view.