Pursuit Of Agency In Hamlet

Prince Hamlet from Hamlet by William Shakespeare and Ruthie from Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, both pursue agency which is the ability to act independently on his or her own principles. Their pursuit of agency is affected by many factors which include social position/class, family relationships, and gender. These factors would be analyzed and compared to the ideas and opinions found in the book The Republic by Plato. Social class/position is significant factor of influence in agency because in the books Housekeeping and Hamlet social position can affect agency depending on the position of the person. Example is Prince Hamlet from Hamlet and he's the prince of Denmark, but despite having a high standing in the hierarchy there are responsibilities and limitations. If Prince Hamlet wants to take any action which conflicts with his social position then he would have to proceed in a secretive manner to not jeopardize himself. For Ruthie and Lucille, both are outsiders in the town Fingerbone and being an outsider means they did not have many choices avaliable. Throughout the book Ruthie had sided with Lucille's choices because she did not want to be separated from Lucille. In The Republic, Glaucon talked about the three goods “Tell me, do you agree that there is one kind of good which we want to have not with a view to its consequences but because we welcome it for its own sake?… another kind of good which we desire both for itself and its consequences?… we should choose not for their own sakes but for the wages and other benefits”(Plato 357b-357d) The quote has a connection to how both characters were influenced in their agency because both for sure had
Hamlet was set in around the 1600's back then males were the dominant gender in society and had the most say about various things while women were very