Ophelia And Feminism Essay

Martin Luther King Jr. once said “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” However, I will not be silent. Sexism is a thing of the past, present, and future. Women have never been seen as equal to men. This idea and concept affect how women carry out their lives. Women may act different or speak different just based on society's thoughts about their gender. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and in today’s society it is clear that because of women’s perceived “weakness”, men now dominate women legally, physically and financially.

People have mostly seen women inferior to men because women have been thought of as simple-minded and could not take care of themselves. Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows how men treated and thought of women during the 1500s. There was an order most did not interfere with; however, some did. In the 1500s, women were supposed to conform to men’s wishes. Throughout the play, Ophelia first obeyed her father and brother’s wishes, ignored the social norms later, and then went mad, which caused her to never gain her own identity.

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.

Feminists today are viewed as raging, man-hating bitches, but feminism in its true sense simply advocates women’s rights. While there are extremes on either side of the scale, most feminists fight

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet can be read as a feminist play given Ophelia’s experiences within the Danish society. Through Ophelia’s interactions with the men of the play, the audience can see that the male-dominated society brings inequality, distrust, and destruction. As Ophelia interacts with her brother, her father, and Hamlet, she is completely unable to assert her own independence, and her lack of personal autonomy eventually drives her to madness. These three men all deny Ophelia’s individuality and desire for self-control because they are accustomed to their male-dominated world. However, once Ophelia is driven to madness, she is regarded as an individual and finally has political and social power. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a feminist play located within a misogynistic culture that Ophelia struggles to escape.

While we humans live in a society governed largely by men we have little idea of what a matriarchal society would be like as it clearly doesn’t exist in today’s society. For centuries we have fought for gender equality, but we are reminded in films, plays and novels that Women are submissive and the weaker gender. Shakespeare’s written tragedies had clearly showed his patriarchal perspective with his character Ophelia from Hamlet, whose motivation and dominance is powered by Her father Polonius. Gertrude is another women from Hamlet who is represented as a weak minded, dependant character who has no power or control over what she does. If we look at these two characters from a Feminists point

     Mary Pipher, author of the book Reviving Ophelia, has made many observations concerning young adolescent girls in our society. She wrote this book in 1994, roughly eleven years ago. Although some of her observations made in the past are not still accurate in today’s world, there are many that are still present in 2005. The primary focus of Pipher’s comments is to explain how young girls are no longer being protected within our society.

Everything a person encounters in their life affects their view on the world. In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago does not feel like he is fulfilling his life to its highest potential. In order to achieve his full potential, he sells his sheep and takes off on a journey to fulfill his personal legend. The story is not just about a boy trying to carry out his personal legend, it is about the symbolic aspects of life and how everything in a person's life affects them. Fate and omens are main motifs in The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo that helped Santiago find this way through his journey and are shown by the symbolic stones from the king, the desert he traveled through and the treasure that was found.

This passage conveys the first and only sparks of defiance from Ophelia. When her father gave her similar advice, she caved in and agreed to his wishes. She was playing the role of the typical Elizabethan female, women who were expected to be submissive and weak. Ophelia simply wanted to make the men in her life happy, however, and those sparks of rebellion were soon extinguished.

In Act III scene i, Polonius and the King hide behind Ophelia's curtains and eavesdrop on the conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet goes on to scold Ophelia and accuse her of not being chaste "Ha, ha! Are you honest?" ... "Are you fair?" ... "Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be / a breeder of sinners?" Hamlet goes on to say "...This was sometime a paradox, but now / the time gives it proof. I did love you once." Ophelia replies with "Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so." Her heart must have torn in two when Hamlet came back with "You should not have believed me, for virtue / cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish / of it. I loved you not." Hamlet admits that he was deceiving her the whole time. This was likely a major factor in Ophelia's descent into madness and eventually, death. Again, Ophelia is the victim.

As I’m sure you know, military recruitment in high schools has been a hot topic ever since the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2001. According to the NCLB, all high schools that receive government funding must “provide military recruiters the same access to secondary school students as is provided generally to post secondary educational institutions or to prospective employers of those students” (No Child Left Behind Act of 2001). And unfortunately, any school that refuses this puts their funding in jeopardy. Yet many still strongly disagree with this mandate and want it revoked, begging the question: Is there a way to regulate this type of recruitment without eliminating it completely? Moms and Dads, I’m writing this letter because we need

“I do not know, my lord, what I should think. POL: Marry, I will teach you. Think

In order to understand the present day feminist movement, one must understand how feminism originated and the basic definition of feminism. What comes to mind when you hear the word feminism? For many, phrases like “man-hater” and “feminazi” have become equated with feminism. However, feminism is quite simply defined as “political, economic, and social equality of

Ophelia is piece of art that was painted by Sir John Everett Millais. It was painted in the Tate Britain and completed in 1852 (Lewis par. 2). The painting shows a fictional actor from Shakespeare’s theatre piece the Hamlet. William Shakespeare’s work was a great inspiration for Sir John Everett (Lewis par. 2). The fictional character is called Ophelia. This painting by Sir John has since been celebrated for its uniqueness and attention to detail particularly nature. Ophelia has a value of £30 million.

Ophelia is another one of Shakespeare’s tragic victims. Throughout the years, her character has been analyzed in a multitude of ways. Arguably being one of the main characters in Hamlet, Ophelia is known for being one of the least developed. In her literary criticism piece, Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism, Elaine Showalter goes through countless interpretations of Ophelia’s character.