Preview

Gender Inequality In Chaucer's Hamlet

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
312 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gender Inequality In Chaucer's Hamlet
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Shakespeare’s main issue with gender inequality of the two female leads, Gertrude and Ophelia are categorized as weak, easily manipulated, and obedient to the male figures. However, in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales the female roles like “The Wife of Bath” and the Prioress shows strength, independence, and class between both characters. During the Medieval era, it was considered unappealing for women to be a part of acting and stage presence. During the Shakespearean era, acting was considered as a profession for men only. Most women roles were played by men. Women was not giving the opportunity to perform on stage and in plays until the 1600’s. Shakespeare small minded and sexist views on Gertrude and Ophelia are
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Hamlet's Criticism Of Women Analysis
    • 205 Words
    • 1 Page

    Hamlet's Criticism Of Women Analysis

    Another reason why Hamlet’s criticisms of women are justified is due to the profound resentment he has for his own mother, which is reflected whenever he talks to any woman. Since he had a very close relationship with his father and thought very highly of him, Hamlet feels personally betrayed by his mother when she gets married to Claudius. He feels that Gertrude should be mourning his father’s death as deeply as he himself does, and thinks her decision to marry again was brash. Since he is expected to behave politely at all times due to his station, Hamlet does not feel as though he can express the hurt he feels to anyone, and instead keeps it bottled up inside. He is only able to release this anger when he is approached by another woman,…

    • 205 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On The Role Of Women In Hamlet
    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Essay On The Role Of Women In Hamlet

    In past years women have played a role economically, politically, and socially, therefore having a huge impact on the way they are perceived in literary works. Women have been oppressed and undermined by men for centuries, thus creating feminist criticism within literature. Mary Wollstonecraft author of, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, highlights the inequalities between the sexes. For example, men were seen as freethinkers that ruled and changed the world for better, while women were recognized as pretty objects that bear children and took care of household duties. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the women in the play are portrayed as extremely weak, passive, and submissive, illustrating the power dynamics between men and women.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Portrayal Of Women In Hamlet
    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Portrayal Of Women In Hamlet

    Throughout history, a strong male lead has been the popular choice in literature. Oftentimes, the females in written works are seen as weaker characters than their male counterparts. This was especially true in the time of Shakespeare. In Hamlet, both Ophelia and Gertrude, the queen, are written in this way. Although they both could have had a large impact on the plot, Shakespeare chose to write them in as small, impotent characters. This may be because that's how women were often viewed in his time.…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Much Ado About Nothing Gender Analysis
    • 1522 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Much Ado About Nothing Gender Analysis

    Chosen Essay Title: “Women are presented as inferior to men in Shakespeare comedies” Explore the validity of this……

    • 1522 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gender Stereotypes In Elizabethan Plays
    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Gender Stereotypes In Elizabethan Plays

    And it just so happened that they created the stereotypical setup of how they thought women acted by displaying their biased, opinioned portrayals in a production. “Feminist critics have considered the implications of this complex sexual impersonation, arguing that representation of females by males reinforced stereotypes of women found in many Elizabethan plays,” (Wilson and Goldfarb, p. 183) For starters, women were portrayed in plays as weak, vulnerable, and even as whores in many production. In some productions women were called dim-witted and played off as prostitutes. It did not help much either that the reason they were kept off the stage in the first place was because society viewed women on the same ranks as whores already. “Most historians believe that the absence of female performers was a continuation of a medieval English tradition and also a result of the religious attitude toward actresses: it was contended that actresses were little better than whores.” (Wilson and Goldfarb, p. 183) Women were not worthy enough to act, thus allowing men to further generate societal gender stereotypes against women on the…

    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Femininity In Hamlet Essay
    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Femininity In Hamlet Essay

    Since the Renaissance, when Shakespeare born and wrote his works, many of the plays and literature styles have gained wide popularity among the readers and influenced many of the readers and the critics. Furthermore, people often say, it is widely believed at this time that role of males stand completely opposite to that of females; however, through the play of Hamlet, Shakespeare portrays a complex representation of human beings including femininity in its protagonist and title character, prince Hamlet. The Women in Literature and Life Assembly states in one of their articles, “Defining masculine and feminine characteristics allowed writers like Shakespeare to draw males with certain ‘feminine’ characteristics and females with certain ‘masculine’…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Gender Inequality Analysis
    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hamlet Gender Inequality Analysis

    Gender inequality in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, is a key discourse which is explored throughout the character of Ophelia. In Elizabethan England, the period of William Shakespeare, women were brought up in a patriarchal society where they were dominated by the authority of men. Women were socially degraded and taught they were inferior to men. Ophelia, is portrayed as weak, submissive and is manipulated continuously by the male figures in her life. Throughout the play, Ophelia is continuously taken advantage of and used as an object by her father Polonius and her love interest Hamlet. In modern day society, women have become more independent and generally have more freedom in regards to social expectations.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet And Ophelia Analysis
    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hamlet And Ophelia Analysis

    In many of William Shakespeare’s works, it is evident that Shakespeare is alluding the lack of intelligence and weakness of women. “Frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2.146), quoted by Shakespeare in Hamlet is an example of this. In Hamlet, Shakespeare depicts characters like Ophelia and Gertrude as demonstrating weakness and being tools of manipulation by the males in their lives. Their actions and fates are greatly influenced by the men's decisions and are led by the men in their lives, which gives them a weak image. Women in the Elizabethan era were reliant on men to make their decisions as they were oppressed and disregarded in society. As Alex Gilbertson states, “this was not a glorious time…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Wife Of Bath's Tale Patriarchy Essay
    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Wife Of Bath's Tale Patriarchy Essay

    In the day of Geoffrey Chaucer, there was a set philosophy known as the Patriarchy. Also, there was a division of the classes, such as: the poor people, who couldn’t afford a simple meal; the middle class, who had a way of making ends meet, but only to a certain extent, and the upper lords and kings, who were seen as better than the people previously stated. Again, in “Canterbury Tales,” Chaucer created a woman, known as the wife of bath, who explicates the details about her own life, along with a long winded story. Firstly, within the story she relays, the knight must marry an elder woman, for she had saved his life. The woman hates the idea of the knight being so arrogant about his stature, and she attacks his nobility. Also, the wife of bath critiques the way the knight profiles the woman by her poverty. Lastly, the old woman has a brief…

    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Gender Roles In Hamlet
    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Gender Roles In Hamlet

    William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is an intricate literary masterpiece, made up of a conglomeration of different techniques that add dimension, color, and texture to the story. There are countless uses of characterization, dark humor, and many other literary components in Hamlet, all of which are used to give the reader a more emotional and thought provoking reading or listening experience, and insight into the twisted storyline. One of the most interesting of Shakespeare’s techniques is the characterization of each gender as a separate entity. He seems to give the main characters traits that will lead them to follow certain trends for their gender. In Hamlet, Shakespeare characterizes the main male characters as men with power who tend to exercise…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Women In Hamlet
    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Women In Hamlet

    “Women may fall, when there’s no strength in men” –William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare conveys this message about women being inferior to men through all his plays. He says that men are women’s strength and are the reason for women’s survival. Shakespeare shows women to be obedient and weak, whereas, men to be strong and independent. Once again, Shakespeare continued this trend of showing women to be dominated and influenced figures in his play Hamlet. Hamlet was written in 160 set in Denmark during the Elizabethan era. A very significant part of the play Hamlet is gender roles where the men are powerful, dominant, and revengeful but, the women are fragile, manipulated, and simply weak. There are many examples throughout Hamlet in…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Hamlet's Women: The Victims
    • 3318 Words
    • 15 Pages

    Hamlet's Women: The Victims

    The female characters play an important role in connection to their relationship with Hamlet. Gertrude 's role shows the audience how Hamlet 's insanity develops. Ophelia, on the other hand, gives us more insights from Hamlet 's mind. Shakespeare chose his female characters carefully to highlight the tragic hero. The women 's relationship with the tragic hero is a factor that makes them victims of the tragedy.…

    • 3318 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gender Stereotypes In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales
    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gender Stereotypes In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

    Often, figures may seem ahead of their times, yet further analysis reveals that the appearance of being revolutionary is a charade. “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer tells the story of a group of characters who go on a pilgrimage during the Middle Ages. Pilgrimages lead to either a shrine or a holy place, and in this story, the pilgrimage leads to Canterbury. In the tale, one of the characters on the pilgrimage, the Wife of Bath, has sparked a debate among people about whether Chaucer addresses modern ideas about women or if he enforces gender stereotypes. However, Chaucer’s characterization of the Wife of Bath proves that he fortifies stereotypes rather than diminishes them.…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Role Of Women In Hamlet
    • 1320 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Role Of Women In Hamlet

    The presence of only two female characters and their ultimate deaths show the little importance Shakespeare places on their role in his plays. In Hamlet, the roles of women are minor yet essential to the plot of the play. Gertrude and Ophelia are both seen as being submissive, naive and frail. Their actions are greatly influenced by men’s decisions, giving them a weak image as women who are dependent on men during Shakespeare’s time. Gender inequality is a predominant issue in many of Shakespeare’s plays, including Hamlet. To some readers Ophelia and Gertrude's downfalls can be blamed on the narrow minded and sexist men or their own inevitably obvious…

    • 1320 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gender Inequality In Hamlet
    • 90 Words
    • 1 Page

    Gender Inequality In Hamlet

    The two ways humans gather information is by listening and reading. Visual rhetoric uses art and media to communicate with the viewer. Instead of seeing or hearing, the viewer looks at a piece of media, such as a poster, and the poster communicates to the viewer with little to no words. An example of this can be found in an ad in regards to gender inequality. An ad by the United Nations for gender equality shows connections with Shakespeare’s play Hamlet and several philosophers regarding trusting women, self-actualization, and autonomy.…

    • 90 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics