Ophelia In The Laws Resolutions Of Women's Rights
In 1632, The Law’s Resolutions of Women’s Rights treatise was published, by an unknown author, and in the treatise it said that women “are understood either married or to be married and their desires are subject to their husband” ("The Law's Resolutions of Women's Rights"). This mentality shaped the opinion of women in Shakespeare’s world. Due to the fact that there was such a lack of independent power amongst women, over time their sovereignty over themselves led to controversy amongst different groups of people. During Shakespeare’s time, Protestants were pushing the idea of feminism and that women should have greater control of their lives and more independence from men. Since this was such a crucial moment at the time, and even still now, authors incorporated this into
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different forms of literature. Shakespeare, especially, used protestant ideas to his advantage while writing Hamlet as well as previous Greek tragedies such as Hecuba. Shakespeare, influenced by Protestant ideas about women's freedom and autonomy, drew on the classical play Hecuba to not only create strong female characters in Hamlet, but also to create a male tragic hero with feminine characteristics. Hamlet has the greatest influence in the play but directly after him the most important characters are Gertrude and Ophelia because of how their relationships with the rest of the characters affect the outcome of the play.
Shakespeare lived in a period where a majority of women held no power over men except for the ruler at the time who was Queen Elizabeth. Even with power, Queen Elizabeth encountered difficulties because “her male subjects experienced anxieties similar to those expressed by the scholars’ own contemporaries in the wake of the modern women’s movement” (Rackin, 2005). Interestingly enough, Shakespeare grew up in a female dominant household but this does not transfer into his plays where the characters are usually male. There is a stark contrast between Shakespeare’s household environment and the environment that Hamlet grew up in. He lived in a household where his mother was weak and needed a man’s control over her. Not only his mother but also his lover Ophelia was unable to stand against her father and brother’s demands. The reason for this is because before the Puritan movement women like Gertrude and Ophelia were raised and brought up in a life where the man was the powerful one and the woman/women were the obedient ones in the family.
Since there was an incredible amount of controversy over power, in Shakespeare’s plays he tried to create characters that were equal in their passions and temptations no matter what their gender was and where they fell on the hierarchical scale of power. Even though there was a slow evolution from men having sole power to women having power over themselves, it was hard for women to adjust to this change since “freedom of conscience for women was still a new concept” (Dusinberre, 1975). This conflict between the old ways of thinking and the revolutionary ideas of women having control over their own feelings and desires has a direct correlation with Ophelia and her inner conflict of wanting to love Hamlet yet at the time wanting to be obedient to her father and brother.
“Even in their promise as it is a-making,
You must not take for fire. From this time
Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence.
Set your entreatments at a higher rate
Than a command to parley.” - Polonius to Ophelia Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 119-123
Both Polonius and Laertes question Ophelia about her chastity towards Hamlet and reminds her that even if Hamlet seems to love her he really does. In an attempt to please her father and brother and control her feelings towards Hamlet, she goes crazy. This is Ophelia’s downfall is the struggle over her own self-rule.
“both brother and father warn Ophelia that she must guard her sexual reputation, and not trust too heavily on the aims of Hamlet’s love” (kemp, pg. 93)
Not only did Ophelia represent this inner conflict with this newfound idea of power but Hamlet’s mother Gertrude did as well.
Ophelia was young and hadn’t been under the control of men for long, but Gertrude, a woman three times her age, has had a lack of power for a greater period of time making it harder for Gertrude transition into a state of autonomy. Gertrude is a perfect example for the type of woman at that time who was struggling with this new idea of self-governance. Hamlet believes that his mother’s “appetite” to hurry with “such dexterity to incestuous sheets” is the reason why Gertrude remarried so quickly after the death of Hamlet’s father (1.2.157 double check). Hamlet fails to realize that early modern women needed male protection and his mother had never lived without that protection (Kemp, 2012, pg. 92). The desire for constant male support explains why Gertrude did not want Hamlet to leave Denmark as well as why she remarried immediately after the death of Hamlet’s father. Shakespeare seems to agree with the idea that women should have more independence because Hamlet attempts to help Gertrude free herself from the powers of Claudius when he says… (find quote in Hamlet
text).
Women in tragedies are so powerful that without even realizing it, or maybe he did, Shakespeare inadvertently compares Hamlet to Hecuba, the most power female character of any Greek tragedy. On the outside, Hamlet seems crazed yet on the inside, he is creating a potent plan that will change everything. This is similar to Hecuba whose “wretched state — bereaved, barefoot, and clothed only in rags — suggests powerlessness, but paradoxically intensifies her power” (Pollard, pg. 3). The power of Hecuba is evident not only in the play but also by the reactions of those watching the acting out of the play. Polonius and Hamlet both react emotionally to the play, yet Hamlet’s emotions towards the play are much deeper. “He tries to reduce her to “nothing,” but she proves a substantial presence,” which might be because there is a resemblance between Hecuba and Gertrude (Pollard, pg. 4). Both are widowed mothers that are not mourning in a way deemed appropriate by society, especially Hamlet in the case of his mother. He is projecting his hatred towards his mother onto Hecuba in an attempt to bring her to a level below himself. “Early modern English responses to Hecuba suggest that the play’s popularity derived especially from its combination of passionate grief and triumphant revenge,” which is the major similarity to Hamlet and could be the reason why Hamlet has had a continuous popularity over time (Pollard, pg. 7).
Throughout Hamlet, there is a clear attention to the story of Hecuba by not only Hamlet but also Shakespeare. This proves how important Greek tragedies were to Shakespeare but also how influential the centrality of women in a tragedy was. Hecuba paved the way for revenge drama by using “lament, as the ritual voicing of mourning for the dead, to transform her grief into violence that is depicted as both successful and justified” (Pollard, pg. 8). There may be similarities between Hecuba and Hamlet but with every comparison, there are differences. If Shakespeare were trying to recreate Hecuba, Gertrude would have been the tragic protagonist in the story or even Ophelia. Part of Shakespeare’s reasoning for this could have been because in his time viewers disregarded the grieving of women in plays because of their gender. This is because “in the ancient Greek world, mothers were accorded special rights and obligations as mourners” (Pollard, pg. 10). Instead, he chose Hamlet as the protagonist and using Hamlet “Shakespeare self-consciously reflects on a male character’s experience of watching traditional — that is, female — tragic protagonists” (Pollard, pg. 20). If Shakespeare really wanted to create a Hecuba story with a male character, he should have chosen Laertes because like Hecuba Laertes is a man of action, unlike Hamlet.
Shakespeare had two major influences while writing Hamlet. One was the “the places of women in families, in the economy, in religion, and in popular thinking [that] were undergoing equally radical transformations” (Rackin, 2005). Puritans at the time were attempting to shift the power over women from men to women themselves. This was a difficult change for everyone at that time. Men did not like the idea of women being able to control themselves and it was hard for women to transition into self-governance because they were already extremely accustomed to having male control and protection. The second was the popular Greek tragedy Hecuba. Like most Greek tragedies, Hecuba “featured female protagonists, suggesting that the genre’s attractions were identified especially with the emotional intensity generated by suffering women” (Pollard, pg. 7). Shakespeare used this movement and the conflicts that came along with it as well as the female characteristics in Hecuba to create Hamlet as a play with powerful characteristics seen within the female characters of the story but also the male tragic hero.
different forms of literature. Shakespeare, especially, used protestant ideas to his advantage while writing Hamlet as well as previous Greek tragedies such as Hecuba. Shakespeare, influenced by Protestant ideas about women's freedom and autonomy, drew on the classical play Hecuba to not only create strong female characters in Hamlet, but also to create a male tragic hero with feminine characteristics. Hamlet has the greatest influence in the play but directly after him the most important characters are Gertrude and Ophelia because of how their relationships with the rest of the characters affect the outcome of the play.
Shakespeare lived in a period where a majority of women held no power over men except for the ruler at the time who was Queen Elizabeth. Even with power, Queen Elizabeth encountered difficulties because “her male subjects experienced anxieties similar to those expressed by the scholars’ own contemporaries in the wake of the modern women’s movement” (Rackin, 2005). Interestingly enough, Shakespeare grew up in a female dominant household but this does not transfer into his plays where the characters are usually male. There is a stark contrast between Shakespeare’s household environment and the environment that Hamlet grew up in. He lived in a household where his mother was weak and needed a man’s control over her. Not only his mother but also his lover Ophelia was unable to stand against her father and brother’s demands. The reason for this is because before the Puritan movement women like Gertrude and Ophelia were raised and brought up in a life where the man was the powerful one and the woman/women were the obedient ones in the family.
Since there was an incredible amount of controversy over power, in Shakespeare’s plays he tried to create characters that were equal in their passions and temptations no matter what their gender was and where they fell on the hierarchical scale of power. Even though there was a slow evolution from men having sole power to women having power over themselves, it was hard for women to adjust to this change since “freedom of conscience for women was still a new concept” (Dusinberre, 1975). This conflict between the old ways of thinking and the revolutionary ideas of women having control over their own feelings and desires has a direct correlation with Ophelia and her inner conflict of wanting to love Hamlet yet at the time wanting to be obedient to her father and brother.
“Even in their promise as it is a-making,
You must not take for fire. From this time
Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence.
Set your entreatments at a higher rate
Than a command to parley.” - Polonius to Ophelia Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 119-123
Both Polonius and Laertes question Ophelia about her chastity towards Hamlet and reminds her that even if Hamlet seems to love her he really does. In an attempt to please her father and brother and control her feelings towards Hamlet, she goes crazy. This is Ophelia’s downfall is the struggle over her own self-rule.
“both brother and father warn Ophelia that she must guard her sexual reputation, and not trust too heavily on the aims of Hamlet’s love” (kemp, pg. 93)
Not only did Ophelia represent this inner conflict with this newfound idea of power but Hamlet’s mother Gertrude did as well.
Ophelia was young and hadn’t been under the control of men for long, but Gertrude, a woman three times her age, has had a lack of power for a greater period of time making it harder for Gertrude transition into a state of autonomy. Gertrude is a perfect example for the type of woman at that time who was struggling with this new idea of self-governance. Hamlet believes that his mother’s “appetite” to hurry with “such dexterity to incestuous sheets” is the reason why Gertrude remarried so quickly after the death of Hamlet’s father (1.2.157 double check). Hamlet fails to realize that early modern women needed male protection and his mother had never lived without that protection (Kemp, 2012, pg. 92). The desire for constant male support explains why Gertrude did not want Hamlet to leave Denmark as well as why she remarried immediately after the death of Hamlet’s father. Shakespeare seems to agree with the idea that women should have more independence because Hamlet attempts to help Gertrude free herself from the powers of Claudius when he says… (find quote in Hamlet
text).
Women in tragedies are so powerful that without even realizing it, or maybe he did, Shakespeare inadvertently compares Hamlet to Hecuba, the most power female character of any Greek tragedy. On the outside, Hamlet seems crazed yet on the inside, he is creating a potent plan that will change everything. This is similar to Hecuba whose “wretched state — bereaved, barefoot, and clothed only in rags — suggests powerlessness, but paradoxically intensifies her power” (Pollard, pg. 3). The power of Hecuba is evident not only in the play but also by the reactions of those watching the acting out of the play. Polonius and Hamlet both react emotionally to the play, yet Hamlet’s emotions towards the play are much deeper. “He tries to reduce her to “nothing,” but she proves a substantial presence,” which might be because there is a resemblance between Hecuba and Gertrude (Pollard, pg. 4). Both are widowed mothers that are not mourning in a way deemed appropriate by society, especially Hamlet in the case of his mother. He is projecting his hatred towards his mother onto Hecuba in an attempt to bring her to a level below himself. “Early modern English responses to Hecuba suggest that the play’s popularity derived especially from its combination of passionate grief and triumphant revenge,” which is the major similarity to Hamlet and could be the reason why Hamlet has had a continuous popularity over time (Pollard, pg. 7).
Throughout Hamlet, there is a clear attention to the story of Hecuba by not only Hamlet but also Shakespeare. This proves how important Greek tragedies were to Shakespeare but also how influential the centrality of women in a tragedy was. Hecuba paved the way for revenge drama by using “lament, as the ritual voicing of mourning for the dead, to transform her grief into violence that is depicted as both successful and justified” (Pollard, pg. 8). There may be similarities between Hecuba and Hamlet but with every comparison, there are differences. If Shakespeare were trying to recreate Hecuba, Gertrude would have been the tragic protagonist in the story or even Ophelia. Part of Shakespeare’s reasoning for this could have been because in his time viewers disregarded the grieving of women in plays because of their gender. This is because “in the ancient Greek world, mothers were accorded special rights and obligations as mourners” (Pollard, pg. 10). Instead, he chose Hamlet as the protagonist and using Hamlet “Shakespeare self-consciously reflects on a male character’s experience of watching traditional — that is, female — tragic protagonists” (Pollard, pg. 20). If Shakespeare really wanted to create a Hecuba story with a male character, he should have chosen Laertes because like Hecuba Laertes is a man of action, unlike Hamlet.
Shakespeare had two major influences while writing Hamlet. One was the “the places of women in families, in the economy, in religion, and in popular thinking [that] were undergoing equally radical transformations” (Rackin, 2005). Puritans at the time were attempting to shift the power over women from men to women themselves. This was a difficult change for everyone at that time. Men did not like the idea of women being able to control themselves and it was hard for women to transition into self-governance because they were already extremely accustomed to having male control and protection. The second was the popular Greek tragedy Hecuba. Like most Greek tragedies, Hecuba “featured female protagonists, suggesting that the genre’s attractions were identified especially with the emotional intensity generated by suffering women” (Pollard, pg. 7). Shakespeare used this movement and the conflicts that came along with it as well as the female characteristics in Hecuba to create Hamlet as a play with powerful characteristics seen within the female characters of the story but also the male tragic hero.