Feminist Criticism Reveals Gender Roles Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragedy set in 1599 – 1601 about a young prince named Hamlet who takes revenge on his uncle, the King of Denmark, ordered by his past father, Old Hamlet for murdering his father. In this play, Shakespeare utilizes feminist criticism to portray women, like Ophelia, which reveals a larger pattern of gender roles in society. Similarly, Feminist Criticism can be found in another literature text titled “The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred Lord Tennyson which was about a young maiden named The Lady of Shalott being held captive in a tower which overlooks the city of Camelot. In both Hamlet and “The Lady of Shalott”, the reader discovers a problem which exposes misogyny and the patriarchal…show more content… In Hamlet, Ophelia has an emotional and physical relationship with Hamlet, though her father disapproves as previously mentioned. After her father’s incident, Ophelia becomes mentally ill due to desperation, which reveals her relationship with Hamlet and following this event is her death. Ophelia sang, “Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s day, all in the morning betime, and I a maid at your window, to be your valentine. Then up he rose, and donned his clothes, and dupped the chamber door. Let in the maid that out a maid never departed more.” (4.5.48 – 55, Shakespeare). Shakespeare informs the reader about the affect of women’s love could lead to possible death. Similarly, in “The Lady of Shalott”, the Lady of Shalott fell in love with a knight named Lancelot. However, Lancelot has his heart set on the queen, Queen Gertrude. This causes the Lady of Shalott to be upset and killed herself after realizing she will never have Lancelot’s heart. Tennyson described, “Heard a carol, mournful, holy, chanted loudly, chanted lowly, till her blood was frozen slowly, and her eyes were darken’d wholly, turn’d to tower’d Camelot.” (line 145 – 149, Tennyson). Tennyson informs the reader in which sometimes, a woman’s love might not be recognized by a man if he is in love with another woman, which might lead the woman to a possible death. Although the two texts have similar affection for love, they differ in their more specific development of relationship between men and women. In Hamlet¸ Shakespeare acknowledges Ophelia’s love towards Hamlet likewise with Hamlet’s love towards Ophelia. This realization allows the reader to feel the affect of true love between men and women. In contrast to Hamlet¸ Tennyson does not acknowledge the affect of the Lady of Shalott’s love towards Lancelot, which causes her to die from
