EXPLORE HOW SHAKESPEARE PRESENTS THE THEME OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN ‘HAMLET’

EXPLORE HOW SHAKESPEARE PRESENTS THE THEME OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN ‘HAMLET’
POINT/TOPIC	EVIDENCE/ANALYSIS	OPPOSING/ALTERNATIVE VIEW
Adelmans view- Hamlet is driven by complex feelings of sexual insecurity and jealousy towards his mother à actions are driven by sexual insecurity.	·         ‘cruel to be kind’ (3.4) ·         H needs to make G aware of her sins. H uses this as an excuse to become her main focus again. ·         Reflected in opening -> uses an aside to question O’s honour	·         Broadened by looking at H’s behaviour towards women in general. Rejected by Ophelia à H then uses sexual slurs to control her à causing madness
Gender determines power à women victim of male behaviour	·         O à subservient to men in general. ‘I do not know. My lord, what should I think’ ·         Controlled by L and P à L. says ‘ don’t unmask you’re your beauty to the moon’ ‘do not as some ungracious pastors do’ à sexual double standards. ·         Victim of eventual madness à song ‘before you tumbled me you promised me to wed’ à men à her downfall ·         ‘frailty thy name is woman’	Symbol of bravery à exposes sexual double standards of E.England Feminist reading
H= the opposite of a traditional male revenger à sometimes a weakness, as it causes deep pain for H, but also a strength – bale to look at different probs e.g. life after death	·         Reluctant to act in a violent way à indecisive ‘to be or not to be’ à scared, feeling of dread, delay, obseesed by morality ·         ‘ and now ill do it’ à moral crusader but only by opposing masculine ideas. ·         Insipered by . à ‘ a delicate + tender rince’ admire traditional male avenger. à hamlet wishes these traits	·         A humanist hero! ·         Anxious, hesitant, uncertainty. ·         Subverts religious certainty. ·         Embraces the ‘new’ = renaissance ·         Subverts classic revenger in revenge tragedy.

EXPLORE HOW SHAKESPEARE PRESENTS THE THEME OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN ‘HAMLET’

In Hamlet, the roles of women are minor yet essential to the plot. They have little power in the society and their voices are rarely listened to. Gertrude, the queen of Denmark and Ophelia, the prince's lover are the only two women in the play that have been portrayed as weak and manipulative. Their actions and fates are influenced by the men's decisions and led by the men's power making them weak and dependent women, which they were at Shakespeare's time. Furthermore, the protagonist, Hamlet, can be argued to have complex feelings towards his mother, leading to his insecurity and jealousy towards his mother and girlfriend. This shows that Hamlet is not the traditional revenger, as he does not decisively and is inactive for the majority of the play. These ideas shall be explored in depth in this essay.

Shakespeare presents the theme of sexuality as complex and in line with the Freud ‘Oedipal complex’. Janet Alderman in her essay "'Man and Wife Is One Flesh': Hamlet and the Confrontation with the Maternal Body" embraces the psychoanalytic tradition of Freud and argues that Hamlet is driven by complex feelings of sexual insecurity and jealousy towards his mother. These actions are often driven by sexual insecurity. Hamlet’s thoughts for the drives of his mother Gertrude are somewhat obliterated and driven by jealousy for her ability to get over his father’s death. In his anger and hurt, he, regardless of her dangerous situation as a woman in Elizabethan England, believes that she is reacting inappropriately to the death by getting over it too quickly. Hamlet continues to criticize his mother by discussing her sexuality, stating, and “O most wicked speed, to post / with such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” Hamlet directly seeks to control his mother’s sexuality. In these examples, Hamlet neglects to identify his mother as a product of anything other than her sexual choices. This climaxes during the ‘closet scene’. This is important, as Shakespeare has purposely had a scene in the bedroom due to its privacy and intimacy; adding a new view when one looks at the relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet. The use of the bedroom, a place where sexual acts usually occur connotes hamlets sexual desires, which Alderman is suggesting. It is also the only time hamlet and his mother have a private conversation. He then states “Not this by no means that I bid you do: Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed, and call you his mouse." This sexual connotation, coupled with the location of the scene, highlight the fact that hamlet acts more as a jealous ex then a son to which he is. This critic’s point can be broadened by analysing Hamlets behaviour to women in general. Hamlet was rejected and tricked by Ophelia, compounding to his anger at women. This led to hamlet to respond by using sexual slurs to control Ophelia, ultimately leading to Ophelia’s death and madness, due to the lack of control women had.

Shakespeare’s presentation of abuse of Women is another route in which the play of Hamlet shows sexuality and gender roles. It is clear to see that women have their roles and power defined for them by men.  This is found specifically through Hamlet's verbal insults coordinated at Ophelia's insight. It is seen that Ophelia is shown to be weak, fragile and ultimately useless. Her father’s taunts of ‘baby’ and a ‘girl’ can see this. This was not unusual in Elizabethan England as women were not ‘women’ until they married and had children. Polonius furthers this male-dominated control, bestowing Ophelia as unable to make her own decisions. For example, when Ophelia speaks to her father she states ‘I do not know my lord, what should I think’. The use of a question about her internal problems highlight the level of control men had over women in this period – women were controlled both exterior and interior. This is further demonstrated when her father commanded her to cut her ties with Hamlet, she replied humbly ‘I shall obey my lord’. This highlights that their male counterparts controlled Women. Even Gertrude, the queen, due to her position as a woman, was unable to retain the position as queen on her own, and thus the reason for the hasty marriage to Claudius. Finally, When Ophelia sings, "Before you tumbled me, you promised me to Wed.," hamlet responds horribly answers: “So would I ha' done, a thou hadst not come to my bed."  Ophelia's song reflects a potential confession that she lost her virginity to Hamlet. With no male figure around and her confession, Ophelia does not have a future left. She is a pitiful character in the end, not once throughout the play does anyone say anything affectionate or show that she is loved. This highlights the power men had over women and their paths.

Although women are treated in a misogynistic manner, Shakespeare also does not present hamlet as traditional. Hamlet is not the traditional revenger as he is indecisive and goes against normality. Hamlet is very reluctant to act in a violent way, and this can be seen through the famous ‘to be or not to be’ speech. He exposes the fact that he is scared of death and that he is obsessed with morality. This highlights that hamlet is not a normal revenger who acts decisively; instead it allows him to give a witty voice to highlight the humanistic aspirations of the Renaissance. The hesitancy and questioning is further compounded by his inspiration by Fortinbras. He claims that that Fortinbras is ‘a delicate and tender prince’, showing that he admires the courage and decisiveness of Fortinbras. Hamlet wants these traits and after meeting, Fortinbras proclaims ‘now I’ll do it’. The fact that hamlet needed to see Fortinbras in action shows that Hamlet has little imitative to act in a violent way and subverts the classic ‘revenger’ in a revenge tragedy. Hamlet also uses religion as a reason for his inaction claiming that ‘now he is a’praying’ he could not act, as he would go to heaven. This is a clear contradiction to the believability of a ghost, as Protestantism did not believe in ghosts or purgatory. This subverts religious certainty, as he believes in purgatory and ghosts but is a protestant. Shakespeare has done this purposefully in order to show that the actors would feel anxious and discontent but the viewers would feel humanism and a sense of understanding to this indecision, presenting gender roles as clearly defined and hard to go against.

In conclusion, it is clear that Shakespeare creates a sympathetic image of gender stereotypes and roles as the females tragic deaths can be blamed on the issue of gender inequality as both characters are exemplified as weak and tools of manipulation by the male figures in their lives. This sympathy is also felt for hamlet as a humanist hero who cannot control his sexuality or his position as a male but chooses to live up to the role when it suits him. This can also be seen, as a feminist reading, to be a play that highlights the inequality and need for the change of gender stereotypes.