Sexuality In Hamlet

After a long meditation on the nature of being and death, Hamlet catches sight of Ophelia. As she attempts to return some of the remembrances that Hamlet gave when courting her, Hamlet caustically questions Ophelia’s honesty. He denies ever having given Ophelia anything and continues to erratically claim that he loved her once before declaring that he never loved her at all. The problem here is that no one knows the exact intent of Hamlet as he claims to love Ophelia amidst a number of happenings that questions how genuine his love towards Ophelia. Not only does he doubt her honesty because he knew about her plan with Polonius and Claudius to eavesdrop on him, he is unsure of her purity and her love for him and he tells her, “get thee to a nunnery” rather than give birth to sinners ( ). Increasingly agitated, Hamlet condemns marriage itself, saying that no more marriages should be allowed, before exiting the room and leaving Ophelia in shambles. Looking deeper into the behavior that Hamlet demonstrates in this scene, there is completely no love that he shares with Ophelia. In a way, Hamlet seems convinced that Ophelia is the love of her life, but yet he has the behavior of insulting her and not giving her the priority that she needs. His character portrays a man who cannot be connected to his self and this leads him to a number of problems as regards the way he treats Ophelia. It is not just the feelings that Hamlet has towards Ophelia that describes his love for her but his actions say a lot on the feeling that is in the inside. Reaching to an extent that he can

Hamlet knows that she is helping her dad, Polonius, spy on him. He accuses Ophelia, and all women, of being a “breeder of sinners” (Shmoop Editorial Team 1). Hamlet orders Ophelia to a nunnery, but she cannot call him out on it because she is not supposed to know what the word means. This is not the only criticism that Hamlet calls out to Ophelia. He says that if Ophelia is to marry a man, she will turn her husband into a monster because she will cheat on him (Shmoop Editorial Team 1). Hamlet: “If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go, and quickly too. Farewell” (3.1.130-134).

In another scene, Polonius orders Ophelia to return the gifts that Hamlet gave her, and to make her rejection of him unmistakable and absolute. Polonius believes that if she is the cause of Hamlet’s madness, this would be the proof. “That Hamlet loses his mental stability is arguable from his behavior toward Ophelia…” (Foster, par.16) In Branagh’s version, we see how terribly this tears Ophelia’s heart. When Hamlet sees her, he walks up to her, telling her how much he loves her. After Hamlet kisses her, she returns the love letters that he wrote back to him. She sees how crushed he is, which makes her feel even worse; but she also believes she has to do this because her father ordered her to. Hamlet tells her “Get thee to a nunnery” (William

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.

Due to Hamlet’s psychological state, he felt confused and betrayed by his mother. His mother marrying his dead father’s brother opened gates to his madness. To Hamlet’s mind, women represent frailty; they are weak and regard them as an embodiment of weakness. He referred to his mother as a morally and spiritually weak woman as her incestuous inconstancy drove her to remarry immediately after her husband’s death and that she committed a sin. The most notable frailty of Gertrude seems to be that, whether by nature or nurture, she cannot exist without men. He recorded saying that Gertrude, “a little month or ere those shoes were old, with which she followed mo poor father’s body” (1.2.147-148). She needs a man as her guide to her perception

In Hamlet, the female characters can be seen as being subservient to men. This goes on to show how Shakespeare, goes against the feminist theory by not creating equality between all the characters. One of the main character’s Ophelia can be seen as being weak and undermined in the play. She spends most of her time following the actions of her father, Polonius and boyfriend, Hamlet, with little to no say in her own opinion on topics. Polonius displays his dominance over Ophelia when he expresses his opinion on her relationship with Hamlet. He informs Ophelia on exactly what her next actions need to be when dealing with Hamlet. He even goes as far as warning her to not go against his wishes because it will “ tender [him] a fool”, showing his superiority over Ophelia’s actions (I . iii. 109). The inequality can also be shown when comparing Laertes’s life with Ophelia's. Laertes is left alone to travel France, while Ophelia is stuck to follow her father's orders. Hamlet also tries to show his

Overwhelmed by outside forces and her repressed love for Hamlet, Ophelia is truly a sad and remorseful character in this play, an innocent victim with little essence or depth. An evident victimized woman, ruled by her Renaissance sense of romantic love, it can further be argued that Ophelia was extremely ambiguous. She was too incompetent to decide what she really desired in life. Because she falls in love with Hamlet at a very young age she cannot truly comprehend what love is all about, even though there is strong evidence that Ophelia had sexual relations with Hamlet. Hamlet emphasizes the hypocrisy of his words

Hamlet, a tragic play written by Shakespeare in the 1600s, portrays the struggle of young Hamlet in the face of avenging his father’s death. While major themes throughout this tragedy include death, loss, madness, revenge, and morality, another important theme to include in discussion is the theme of womanhood. The only two female characters in a cast of thirty-five include Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, both of whom die unfortunate deaths. The importance of womanhood and female sexuality is shown through several literary techniques; though, most importantly, the characters Queen Gertrude and Ophelia are both symbols for female sexuality. Both characters are developed as negative and positive sides to womanhood through dialogue as other characters approach them, their own actions, and most importantly, their individual deaths.

Hamlet is not only angered with the fact of his father’s death, but also with his mother’s decision to marry Claudius. Devastated by his mother’s decision to marry so soon after her husband’s death, Hamlet becomes skeptical about women in general. He shows a particular obsession with what he perceives to be a connection with female sexuality and moral corruption. He almost develops hatred towards women because of his mother’s decision. This hatred occurs and is shown with his relationship with Ophelia. He urges Ophelia to go to a nunnery rather than experience the dishonesty of sexuality. This hinders Hamlet from experiencing a love that is really needed at this time of his loss. One can say that this is another flaw, which Hamlet is unaware of.

One of many tragedies written by William Shakespeare, Hamlet, takes place in the Kingdom of Denmark and is about the revenge of a grieving prince for the death of his father. Hamlet has a very low perspective of women, as past experiences have influenced him and make him think that they are subservient to him. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the two main woman are portrayed in contrast, as lustful and in search of one’s love, which deceives Hamlet of his opinion of them. At first, Hamlet believes that his mother and father, Hamlet Sr. and Gertrude, had infinite love for each other but after marrying the King’s brother only months after his death, Hamlet is given a bad impression of his mother and love itself. Month’s after the death of his father,

Hamlet's surrounding are increasingly affected by his flaw. Hamlet begins to forget all important obligations in his life and neglects his responsibilities, causing other problems. One very important commitment Hamlet has which he lets go is his relationship with Ophelia. Ophelia becomes very confused and hurt. Hamlet hurts her in a couple of ways. First, he neglects her, and second, he insults her. "Ha, ha! Are you honest??Are you fair??That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty. ?I loved you not? Get thee to a nunnery." Then Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia's father, which in turn makes her go mad and in her madness she commits suicide. Hamlet loses objectivity. He does not respect the King nor his mother's feelings. Hamlet meets with his mother and insults her. He calls her a whore and a sinner for marrying a murderer. Since he knows that the King is a murderer, he attempts

Although it may not be clear to the naked eye, the women in Hamlet display certain acts of disobedience through small deeds. Ophelia, Hamlet’s love interest in the play, showcases her lack of obedience and wit through two separate scenes. She first portrays these rebellious characteristics when she first tells her father of the relationship she has with Hamlet. Many people would argue that this does not show any of Ophelia's stray from the norm and some may argue that this scene would more portray a father

Male characters often treat female characters as if they are a piece of their property just like Polonius treats Ophelia, which is Hamlet’s love interest in the play. Polonius uses Ophelia to get information out of Hamlet. Ophelia never has a say in the decisions Polonius makes. To spy on Hamlet and to see if Hamlet truly loves Ophelia, Polonius and Claudius devise a plan. Polonius never asks Ophelia or gives her the option if she wants to spy on Hamlet. All Polonius comments to Claudius is “At such time I’ll lose my daughter to him,” which is Polonius saying to Claudius that he will send his daughter to get information out of Hamlet and it shows how Polonius treats Ophelia as his property just to seek information about Hamlet (II.ii.154). Along with Polonius and how Ophelia is treated as his property, Hamlet does not treat Ophelia any better. Hamlet treats Ophelia rudely and “treats her as an object” (Arteaga). Hamlet never can talk to Ophelia with respect or treat her more than an object. Ophelia went to Hamlet to give back the items Hamlet gave to her and as she puts her hands out Hamlet begins to say, “No, not I. I never gave you aught,” which is showing how Hamlet is objectifying Ophelia and

In the text of Hamlet (Shakespeare, Miola) there is no indication of sexual desire between Hamlet and Horatio, however, this does not preclude that it did not exist at all. According to Foucault’s “repressive hypothesis”, sexuality was supressed in Western society from the Elizabethan era to the mid-20th century (1504). While homosexuality as a lifestyle was not recognised by Elizabethan society, people certainly engaged in same-sex relations. Many Elizabethan writers hinted at homosexual relationships, but did not describe them explicitly (Giantvalley 10). Since Horatio is the prince’s only friend, Hamlet shares his secrets with him without fearing getting judged, as is shown in 1.4, where Hamlet confesses his homosexuality to

An incident that affects Hamlet is when his love, Ophelia, rejects him. In return, He insults Ophelia for being a woman; “Get thee to a nunnery. Why, wouldst thou be a breeder / of sinners.” (3, 1, 121-122) Hamlet believes that all women sin and that they cheat on men. Hamlet tells Ophelia to go to the nunnery, in order to protect her chastity and become more loyal to men. Another person that Hamlet cannot trust is his mother. When she marries her brother-in-law, he expresses his anger to her by stating: “She married – O most wicked speed! To post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! / It is not, nor cannot come to good.” (1, 2, 156-158). Hamlet is offended that the queen remarries the deceased king’s brother and does not feel any guilt for it. The reader is aware that the situation will not end up well and someone will be have to be killed for their crimes. Hamlet admits that he is angry with his mother when he confronts her about her actions. He finds it odd that his mother marries her dead husband’s brother and she mourns over the death for such a short period of time. Hamlet questions her nature by