Why Is Family Important In Hamlet
To React, or Not React - That is The Question
Provider, leader, teacher, and protector. These are common roles that are known for a man who has a family, but when you are in a position of noble stature, these roles do not stay in your family, they extended into the lives of those that look upon you as a king. When the father dies, this role is normally passed on down to the eldest son in the family who then becomes the “man of the house”. What happens when the son does not protect, and follow through with what the father has asked the son? Hamlet is a play written by William Shakespeare that follows the course of one particular son who has been asked by his father to avenge his death, but fails to do it as quick as society would expect him …show more content…
to. Throughout the novel, Hamlet did not follow the specific gender roles that were common for men in his society by not demanding or expecting respect from his family, protecting them or taking action and vengeance against the murderer when he found out that his father passed away.
A gender role is a set of behavioral actions that are expected or commonly associated to a particular gender through a culture or a society. Specific gender roles that we see for men in Hamlet are to take action, to protect, and to assume respect from their family. It is important to understand what gender roles are because it helps to apply these rolls to Hamlet and what he was not doing, even though it was expected at the time to be following the roles given to men.
One major role that is common in men from the society in Hamlet is to demand and expect respect from their family, and people that are of a lower class than himself. Often times, when someone demands respect, they are often wanting someone to fall into line of what the person was originally intending to be done. To some people, like the men in Hamlet, this is known as a form of loyalty. When one respects someone, they are being loyal to what is being asked and to the person who has asked of them to do something. Polonius expected respect from his daughter Ophelia when they were talking about her relationship with Hamlet. He particularly says “from this time forth, have you slander any moment leisure as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet.” to which Ophelia replies “I shall obey, my lord.” (I. iv. 141-145). This shows that not only is Polonius being respectful of his place as someone who isn’t of noble stature, and making sure that his daughter knows this and follows through with this, but it also shows that Ophelia respected what her father had told her, and did this all without question. Now, even though Polonius did not demand this respect from Ophelia, he expected her to respect him, and thus ultimately following through with being respectful of his family’s position in the kingdom. When we compare this to how Hamlet acts through the play, we see that Hamlet demands respect, but doesn’t expect people to follow through with this. Not only that, but most people don’t respect him when he asks them of things. We can see this in the encounter that Hamlet has with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when he surprisingly meets them in the palace and asks them what their reasoning is for being there. He tells them that he could treat them like servant men, but he respects them enough to not do that to them, and even though he does this both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fail to tell him the real reason as to why they are there even after being asked six different times (II. II. 286-291). He didn’t expect them to tell him why they were there because he later says in II. ii. 332-334 that, “man delights not me, no, nor women neither”, showing that he is no longer amused or even expectant of people anymore, and that all they do is lie to him and do things for themselves.
Protecting your family, and your kingdom is very commonly associated with the role of being a man, not only in Hamlet, but in our society today as well.
This is because men are seen as big rulers of the household or the “head honcho”, and they are known for being built specifically for defending their home. King Hamlet proudly did this for his kingdom and the people in Denmark. He protected Denmark and fought for his people to keep them safe, and to also keep his home safe. This is mentioned in I. ii. 17-24, of the book, where it says more specifically in I. II. 22-25, “importing the surrender of those lands lost by his father, with all bonds of law, to our most valiant brother - so much for him.” Valiant means to be courageous and knowing this definition, we can understand that King Hamlet was courageous in taking the land that King Fortinbras had owned. He fought for the land and fought in protection of his land. Protecting does not always mean physically, it can also be an emotional thing, and it is important for fathers/men to be careful with protecting the emotions of their family. Polonius does this with his daughter Ophelia when he tells her not to talk to Hamlet. He does this as a way of protecting Ophelia from being hurt by Hamlet (since he’s supposedly gone crazy), and also from being emotionally hurt by Hamlet in her heart. Hamlet does not consider the emotional state of his mother and how he should protect it when it comes to sharing information that the man that she has married killed her recent husband. When she heard about it, she asked Hamlet seven times to stop talking about what had happened, and what she had done, but Hamlet did not stop - he pressed on and was ruthless about how the information was shared. This shows that Hamlet did not care to protect the heart, and emotions of his mother, instead he wanted to lash out on her and, “speak as sharp as a dagger to her” but, “won’t use one on her.” (III. ii.
429).
Though their situations are essentially the same between Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet, Hamlet reacts in a different manner than the other two. Fortinbras writes immediately to the Denmark after the news of his father’s death to warn King Claudius of, “the surrender of those lands lost by his father, with all bonds of law” (I. ii. 23-24), or else he would come and attack and fight again for the land that was lost by his father. This shows the action that Fortinbras takes by trying to reclaim the land almost immediately once his father has died. He is willing to fight it, and do his own best to protect it. He is also very persistent in wanting to get this land because he creates an army of fugitive men that are willing to reclaim the land that was lost. At the end of the story, because of his actions, he has secured his place on the throne of Denmark for his father. Laertes, much like Fortinbras, has an immediate action when he finds out that his father has died. He leaves France immediately and storms through the palace in a mad rage. In his mad rage, Laertes says to King Claudius, “I dare damnation. To this point I stand, that both the worlds I give to negligence, let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged most thoroughly for my father.” (IV. v. 153-154), showing that he does not care who killed him, as long as he gets revenge for his father and what has happened to him. When you compare the immediate actions of Laertes and Fortinbras to Hamlet, it is clear to see how different Hamlet’s reactions were to the news of his father’s death. Many think his lack of action was for the validation of what the ghost had said, while many others think of it as an act of laziness and procrastination. Both of which would not be accepted by his society and the role he was expected to have. Instead of reacting and taking action, Hamlet sits and distracts himself with thinking. He even remarks in IV. iv. 52-55 about how he should be brave in his actions for his father, but he followed through with any actions. He never fully avenged his father through the death of Claudius because he was not the one that killed Claudius. It was Claudius himself that did it. All Hamlet did was tell Claudius to drink the poison - ultimately making him not the one that killed Claudius. Hamlet had no action in the part of Claudius’ death.
As you can see, Hamlet didn’t live up to the gender role that was common for men in Hamlet. He failed at demanding and expecting respect from his family, friends, and country, at protecting his family, and failed at taking action when it was most important to do so. Hamlet says “conscience doth make cowards of us all” (III. i. 91), and I believe this is what happened to Hamlet, he thought too hard, and his conscience got to him, ultimately causing him to not fulfill the gender roles that were placed on him.
Provider, leader, teacher, and protector. These are common roles that are known for a man who has a family, but when you are in a position of noble stature, these roles do not stay in your family, they extended into the lives of those that look upon you as a king. When the father dies, this role is normally passed on down to the eldest son in the family who then becomes the “man of the house”. What happens when the son does not protect, and follow through with what the father has asked the son? Hamlet is a play written by William Shakespeare that follows the course of one particular son who has been asked by his father to avenge his death, but fails to do it as quick as society would expect him …show more content…
to. Throughout the novel, Hamlet did not follow the specific gender roles that were common for men in his society by not demanding or expecting respect from his family, protecting them or taking action and vengeance against the murderer when he found out that his father passed away.
A gender role is a set of behavioral actions that are expected or commonly associated to a particular gender through a culture or a society. Specific gender roles that we see for men in Hamlet are to take action, to protect, and to assume respect from their family. It is important to understand what gender roles are because it helps to apply these rolls to Hamlet and what he was not doing, even though it was expected at the time to be following the roles given to men.
One major role that is common in men from the society in Hamlet is to demand and expect respect from their family, and people that are of a lower class than himself. Often times, when someone demands respect, they are often wanting someone to fall into line of what the person was originally intending to be done. To some people, like the men in Hamlet, this is known as a form of loyalty. When one respects someone, they are being loyal to what is being asked and to the person who has asked of them to do something. Polonius expected respect from his daughter Ophelia when they were talking about her relationship with Hamlet. He particularly says “from this time forth, have you slander any moment leisure as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet.” to which Ophelia replies “I shall obey, my lord.” (I. iv. 141-145). This shows that not only is Polonius being respectful of his place as someone who isn’t of noble stature, and making sure that his daughter knows this and follows through with this, but it also shows that Ophelia respected what her father had told her, and did this all without question. Now, even though Polonius did not demand this respect from Ophelia, he expected her to respect him, and thus ultimately following through with being respectful of his family’s position in the kingdom. When we compare this to how Hamlet acts through the play, we see that Hamlet demands respect, but doesn’t expect people to follow through with this. Not only that, but most people don’t respect him when he asks them of things. We can see this in the encounter that Hamlet has with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when he surprisingly meets them in the palace and asks them what their reasoning is for being there. He tells them that he could treat them like servant men, but he respects them enough to not do that to them, and even though he does this both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fail to tell him the real reason as to why they are there even after being asked six different times (II. II. 286-291). He didn’t expect them to tell him why they were there because he later says in II. ii. 332-334 that, “man delights not me, no, nor women neither”, showing that he is no longer amused or even expectant of people anymore, and that all they do is lie to him and do things for themselves.
Protecting your family, and your kingdom is very commonly associated with the role of being a man, not only in Hamlet, but in our society today as well.
This is because men are seen as big rulers of the household or the “head honcho”, and they are known for being built specifically for defending their home. King Hamlet proudly did this for his kingdom and the people in Denmark. He protected Denmark and fought for his people to keep them safe, and to also keep his home safe. This is mentioned in I. ii. 17-24, of the book, where it says more specifically in I. II. 22-25, “importing the surrender of those lands lost by his father, with all bonds of law, to our most valiant brother - so much for him.” Valiant means to be courageous and knowing this definition, we can understand that King Hamlet was courageous in taking the land that King Fortinbras had owned. He fought for the land and fought in protection of his land. Protecting does not always mean physically, it can also be an emotional thing, and it is important for fathers/men to be careful with protecting the emotions of their family. Polonius does this with his daughter Ophelia when he tells her not to talk to Hamlet. He does this as a way of protecting Ophelia from being hurt by Hamlet (since he’s supposedly gone crazy), and also from being emotionally hurt by Hamlet in her heart. Hamlet does not consider the emotional state of his mother and how he should protect it when it comes to sharing information that the man that she has married killed her recent husband. When she heard about it, she asked Hamlet seven times to stop talking about what had happened, and what she had done, but Hamlet did not stop - he pressed on and was ruthless about how the information was shared. This shows that Hamlet did not care to protect the heart, and emotions of his mother, instead he wanted to lash out on her and, “speak as sharp as a dagger to her” but, “won’t use one on her.” (III. ii.
429).
Though their situations are essentially the same between Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet, Hamlet reacts in a different manner than the other two. Fortinbras writes immediately to the Denmark after the news of his father’s death to warn King Claudius of, “the surrender of those lands lost by his father, with all bonds of law” (I. ii. 23-24), or else he would come and attack and fight again for the land that was lost by his father. This shows the action that Fortinbras takes by trying to reclaim the land almost immediately once his father has died. He is willing to fight it, and do his own best to protect it. He is also very persistent in wanting to get this land because he creates an army of fugitive men that are willing to reclaim the land that was lost. At the end of the story, because of his actions, he has secured his place on the throne of Denmark for his father. Laertes, much like Fortinbras, has an immediate action when he finds out that his father has died. He leaves France immediately and storms through the palace in a mad rage. In his mad rage, Laertes says to King Claudius, “I dare damnation. To this point I stand, that both the worlds I give to negligence, let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged most thoroughly for my father.” (IV. v. 153-154), showing that he does not care who killed him, as long as he gets revenge for his father and what has happened to him. When you compare the immediate actions of Laertes and Fortinbras to Hamlet, it is clear to see how different Hamlet’s reactions were to the news of his father’s death. Many think his lack of action was for the validation of what the ghost had said, while many others think of it as an act of laziness and procrastination. Both of which would not be accepted by his society and the role he was expected to have. Instead of reacting and taking action, Hamlet sits and distracts himself with thinking. He even remarks in IV. iv. 52-55 about how he should be brave in his actions for his father, but he followed through with any actions. He never fully avenged his father through the death of Claudius because he was not the one that killed Claudius. It was Claudius himself that did it. All Hamlet did was tell Claudius to drink the poison - ultimately making him not the one that killed Claudius. Hamlet had no action in the part of Claudius’ death.
As you can see, Hamlet didn’t live up to the gender role that was common for men in Hamlet. He failed at demanding and expecting respect from his family, friends, and country, at protecting his family, and failed at taking action when it was most important to do so. Hamlet says “conscience doth make cowards of us all” (III. i. 91), and I believe this is what happened to Hamlet, he thought too hard, and his conscience got to him, ultimately causing him to not fulfill the gender roles that were placed on him.