How Does Hamlet Objectifies Women

Throughout centuries men have been seen as the gender that have more rights than women. According to Diane Elizabeth Dreher’s 1986 book, Domination & Defiance: Fathers and Daughters in Shakespeare, she explains that a woman during renaissance England, “was to conform patiently and silently to the will of her father and, later, to that of her husband, accepting commands, correction, physical abuse, with sweetness and humility” (16). As a result of a renaissance society that promotes and even encourages this type of behavior, men believe that they have more power. When someone believes that they have more power than another person a pattern of disrespect, and in the most extreme cases, physical and emotional abuse are likely to follow. In Hamlet, Shakespeare contrasts two female leads of the play, Ophelia and Gertrude, through reduction to appearance, instrumentality, and silencing in order to show that during this time period, the objectification of women in the play was parallel to the objectification of women during renaissance England.

[Done in] England” (4.3.66). Gertrude with no control over his decisions agrees to everything Claudius suggests about Hamlet’s exile. Gertrude trusts Claudius which allows him to control her in the actions and decisions he makes. The lack of lines Gertrude has throughout the play proves her trust for Claudius proving that she has nothing against what he decides. Similarly, Ophelia is controlled by Polonius, her father. Polonius controls Ophelia due to immaturity and her ignorance of her relationship with Hamlet. “Affection? pooh! you speak like a green girl, / Unsifted in such perilous circumstance, / Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?” (1.3.101-103). Not only Polonius but Laertes, her brother, constantly advise her to avoid Hamlet because he is just counterfeiting love and his intention is to hurt Ophelia:

Polonius teams up with King Claudius and once again places demands on Ophelia which require her to disregard her own self to fulfill their wishes of deceiving Hamlet into revealing the cause of his erratic behavior. And once again, it is Ophelia’s duty to her father and this time to the king to be obedient. Disobedience to the king and his advisor are not an option. Polonius wants the king to look on him in good favor and he is willing to step on his daughter to get this admiration. He neglects Ophelia’s feelings by not even thinking of how his requests will affect her. He feels at liberty to request whatever he would like. He is purely worried about himself. Polonius holds a position of unquestioning authority over his daughter. He treats her as though she is not intelligent enough to make her own decisions and he knows that she will inherently obey him. To him her feelings are irrelevant and immature which he states when saying “Affection, puh, you speak like a green girl.”(1.3.101) Following her fathers instructions, she loses her lover and a piece of her happiness.

Then, in Act III, Scene I, Claudius and Polonius listen in on the conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia for the purpose of establishing whether or not Hamlet’s madness originates from his obsession over Ophelia. However, before we, the audience, witness this encounter, we already think we know more than Claudius does since we know, by Hamlet’s own word, that he is only acting crazy, and that he is doing it to disguise the fact that he is actively studying and plotting against his murderous uncle. In light of this, we the audience believe that Hamlet’s love for Ophelia cannot be the source of his madness. Yet, Hamlet’s vindictive attitude toward her throws everything we think we know into question. Does Hamlet mean what he says to Ophelia? To be sure, it is another question for a later date.

Ophelia, ever since her introduction, has been introduced to be a sweet and sympathetic person, providing the play with emotional moments, but her death was used as a bait and switch by Shakespeare towards audience members who had expected her to change the play’s somber mood to more hopeful one, which in turn makes the play even more tragic. After she had been visited by an apparently crazed Hamlet, she tells Polonius about the visit, prompting him to believe that the young prince is crazy in love, and goes out to tell the king. After it was explained to Claudius, and Hamlet’s former friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern failed to find the underlying cause of his madness, Polonius makes Ophelia approach Hamlet while he and the king hide and monitor his behavior.

           Ophelia allowed herself to become a sort of marionette in Polonius' schemes toward understanding the seemingly mad prince. While her relationship with Hamlet was on the line, she allowed Polonius to commandeer the strings that determined her actions. Polonius was determined that Hamlet's supposed madness stemmed from lovesickness for Ophelia. He convinced Ophelia that her betrayal of Hamlet was a necessary evil and she began to relay all of Hamlet's messages and attempts at communication to him. He told the king and queen:

of a terrible waste of young life. As a result of the way in which

The first instance of Polonius’ overbearing nature is seen in Act 1, scene 3, where Polonius is giving “advice” to his daughter about Hamlet. Once Laertes heads to the ship, Polonius instantly demands Ophelia to tell him what her brother told her. Polonius hears his daughter talk about Hamlet and immediately states her reputation in the eyes of others. He states, “Have of your audience been most free and bounteous…you do not understand you so clearly as it behooves my daughter and your honor,” (Act 1, scene 3, 93-98). He makes it clear that she is making herself very available for Hamlet and not conducting herself in a fashion that is appealing to her name. It’s obvious that Ophelia fancies Hamlet’s romantic advances on her, but Polonius doesn’t care for her independent thinking. He ridicules her calling her a “green girl” a “baby” for thinking that Hamlet’s offers of affection are real (Act I, scene 3, 101-105). The scene ends with Polonius reminding Ophelia that Hamlet’s intentions are not to love, but empty promises sought to advance in sexual acts. Although Ophelia strongly feels love for Hamlet, she listens to her father’s advice and ends the scene with “I shall obey, my lord,” (Act 1, Scene 3, 136).

In the beginning, of the story Hamlet makes Ophelia believe that she is the main reason for his insanity. Instead of Hamlet showing love or an emotional connection towards Ophelia, Hamlet treats Ophelia as a sexual object. We can see this clearly in the text, “ That’s a fair thought to lie between a maiden legs.” (Shakespeare 3.2.3) This shows how Hamlet sees Ophelia as a sexual object. He would rather engage in intimacy with Ophelia instead of getting to know her on a personal level. This also leads to another character in a story who treats Ophelia as an object rather than family.

When Polonius and Claudius decide to test Hamlet’s madness through Ophelia, he confesses he once loved her; only to immediately contradict himself claiming her never loved her. Fuelled by his detestation of sinful mankind and his low opinion of women in general as a result of his mother’s incest, he furthermore repeatedly orders Ophelia to “Go [her] ways to a nunnery”. More crudeness on Hamlet’s behalf is shown during the play-in-play, when he tortures Ophelia with a series of rude sexual comments.

“Frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2. 150)! This controversial line, followed by several more from the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, displays a common view towards women that portrays them as being weak and reliant on men. Throughout the play, two women, Ophelia and Gertrude, are shown to be dependent on the men in their lives. They both take on a senselessly obedient state of mind. Even though they share this common characteristic, Ophelia and Gertrude are very different characters. Ophelia is a beautiful, young woman who is the love interest of the protagonist, Hamlet. Ophelia obeys her father, Polonius, without hesitation and has very little experience with making her own decisions. Gertrude was the wife of Old Hamlet, and is now the wife of Claudius, the current king and Old Hamlet’s brother. Gertrude desires affection and status more than she cares about the truth of what happened to her late husband. The men in this play have no sense of how they treat the females. This patriarchal way of life was prominent in the late 16th century and early 17th century which was about the time that Hamlet was written and performed. This relationship between the genders is interconnected within the play and with society during that particular time period. The characters of Ophelia and Gertrude were solid examples of how women were viewed as inferior to men during this time in history.

iii. 129-130). He is telling her to spend less time with Hamlet because he feels that his vows of love are not as true as Hamlet makes them seems to be. Just like Laertes, this advice suggests that Polonius does not think highly of Hamlet and also thinks he is childish and doesn 't actually love Ophelia. Their advice sets up their suspicions about Hamlet which leads Polonius to set up situations that will reveal Hamlet’s true feelings and show them he is not in fact mad because of Ophelia. The advice also causes Ophelia to distance herself from Hamlet, which raises some red flags in Hamlet’s mind and causes him to think that her family has something to do with it. Laertes tried to stay out of Ophelia 's love life for the most part, but Polonius had no problem inserting himself into his daughter’s life.

Polonius’ image and plans take precedence over his daughter’s physical and mental wellbeing. This leaves her vulnerable and in danger in regards to Hamlet. When Ophelia describes Hamlet accosting her, Polonius’ reacts by saying:

Ophelia is in love with Hamlet. She shares herself with him and is beginning a relationship, she wants to be with hamlet and believes he loves her "My lord, he hath importuned me with his love in honorable fashion"(pg 17 line 110). Polonius instructs Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet. Polonius states that Hamlet doesn’t really love her and is only with her for one thing, and as soon as he gets enough he will want no more.

     The treatment of women in Hamlet is very troubling. The leading female characters, Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, are pawns or puppets for the men around them. Like chess pieces, they are moved about and influenced by the men they love with little say of their own; in fact, Shakespeare does not even develop their characters.