Hamlet: Marriage and Ophelia Essay examples

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Candacy Petty
English 101
04/22/2013
Hamlet
The play hamlet agrees with the character Hamlet because the play of itself was set in a time where women were viewed as weak and frail regardless of their status in society. That is exactly how the two main and only female characters Gertrude the queen of Denmark and Ophelia the love of Hamlets life were set up in the play to be portrayed.
It can be seen throughout the play how these women roles were set to portray them as weak and frail. Even though one is a queen which is Gertrude and the other is a princess Ophelia they don’t really have any stand in society and their voices are hardly ever heard amongst the men, their actions, faiths and even decisions are greatly influenced or made by men and their powers in their lives.
Even though these characters are not well developed throughout the play their actions and influences throughout the play are set to make them appear weak and frail. Gertrude the queen of Denmark whose husband the King of Denmark was killed by his brother Claudius unbeknownst to her; She then got remarried right after the death of her husband to said brother that had killed him fully knowing that this would affect her son who was next in line for the throne. Even though her son disapproved of the marriage to Claudius and tried to show her that it was him that killed her previous husband but because she had become so subservient to him she failed or refused to see or believe it until the end near her death The question in this case is why Gertrude couldn’t run the country of Denmark on her own why did she see the need to remarry so hastily after the death of her husband. Was it to the fact that she felt herself incompetent and inferior of running a country and that the people of Denmark wouldn’t respect her and the country would fall apart with her at the head of the throne or was it that she was so easily seduced and manipulated by her once brother-in-law into marriage or was it that simply for pacifying her loneliness and grief that she sought companionship even if it was from her own brother-in-law. After which she became subservient too and he in turn was only using her to get to the throne. Is Gertrude so frail a woman that she thinks the only way to live is within the shadows of a man?
Ophelia the daughter of Polonius the kings’ advisor, sister of Laertes and the love of hamlets life the other main female character within the play hamlet is portrayed
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