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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper which examines the roles of the two women, Gertrude and Ophelia in Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGhamwom.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
is limited to two characters, Hamlets mother, Queen Gertrude of Denmark, and his girlfriend, Ophelia. Their role is of unequal status to a man, and is defined and determined
by a man. These women have virtually little or no control over their own lives. They are, pure and simple, expected to serve men, either as nurturing mothers,
devoted daughters, social escorts, or as passionate sexual temptresses. The role of women in Hamlet, as symbolized by Gertrude and Ophelia, also reflect, on a larger scale, the role
of all women during the time of William Shakespeare. Much of the plays action centers around Hamlets feelings of betrayal by Gertrude, who married her brother-in-law Claudius a
scant three months after the murder of her husband, King Hamlet of Denmark. This act is frequently described throughout the play as being incestuous. What this actually means,
according to one critic is that her marriage to her uncles brother (which, in biblical terms, is considered incestuous), "undermines the... idea that identity is grounded in stable familial and
social relations that privilege the male" (Blincoe 18). Her act has, in essence, robbed her son of his right to claim the throne of Denmark. This is why
Hamlet frequently verbally attacks his mother. Gertrudes role was expected to be that of wife and mother. When her husband was killed, she was supposed to live out
the rest of her days as a grief-stricken widow completely devoted to the memory of her deceased spouse. Elizabethan women, especially those of title, were not supposed to remarry,
and if they did, this was soundly condemned by the male-controlled society as scandalous. Her status as Queen allowed Gertrude to buck convention and marry again, because as a
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