Patriarchy In Hamlet Essay

The Patriarchy in The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a play written by William Shakespeare, around the beginning of the 17th century, in England. In an era heavily dominated by men and the patriarchy, Hamlet is shown to have been extremely influenced by this ideology. This ideology is subtly placed all over the play Hamlet and plays a key role in the characterization of the characters.Therefore, Hamlet, unfolds a nuanced view of the subtle patriarchy, within the plot, that ultimately demonstrates the complexity of human nature and the need one feels to fulfill and deviate from an assigned role. To understand how the patriarchy affects the developing plot in Hamlet, one must know how it
Above the king resided the divine being who gave them that position: God. And below the king resided the common man, typically fathers. Then followed the eldest sons, younger sons, then the women of the society. Just based on this social hierarchy, it is evident that women were almost worth nothing. To give further insight on the value of women, in this time period,the website The Norton Anthology states: “Unmarried virgins and wives were to maintain silence in the public sphere and give unstinting obedience to father and husband,” ultimately demonstrating further the extreme and cruel submissive roles women were expected to fill.
The patriarchy, in Hamlet, can be seen
The next person that is extremely affected by the patriarchy placed in Hamlet is Ophelia. Ophelia was the lover of the protagonist, Hamlet, and was one of the two major females mentioned in the play. Therefore, it is evident she was going to be the main target used by Shakespeare, to demonstrate his point about the patriarchy. Throughout the novel, Ophelia was slandered with misogynistic statements and was belittled because of her sex. In one instance, her brother, Laertes, tells her to remain pure and not let Hamlet