This may be why he has such a difficult time getting along with women. When Hamlet’s father passed away, Gertrude (Hamlet’s Mother) didn’t even dwell on the fact that her husband had just passed away. She went along and hooked up with her dead husband’s brother. Hamlet becomes furious about this happening and loses all respect for
The death of one’s father and a ghostly visitation thereafter are events that would challenge the sanity of anyone. The circumstances of King Hamlet’s death render it especially traumatic. The late King seemed to be an idol to his son; Hamlet looked up to him and aspired to have the same qualities. Hamlet doesn't like King Claudius and sees him as a swindling usurper who has stolen not only the dead King’s throne, but Hamlet’s as well(2.4). Hamlet shows Gertrude that she has lowered her standards by marrying Claudius, When he refers to old Hamlet as, “A combination and a form indeed / Where every god did seem to set his seal” (3.4.55-61).
One clear example of Hamlet’s anger is shown in his first soliloquy, when he says “FRAILTY THY NAME IS WOMAN”. Here, he refers to women in general saying that all are weak but he remarks her mother’s attitude towards his recent father’s death saying: “A LITTLE MONTH, OR ERE THOSE SHOES WERE OLD, WITH WHICH SHE FOLLOW’D MY POOR FATHER’S BODY”. Besides, he compares her mother to a beast saying that Gertrude has not respect to her husband’s memory:”O, GOD! A BEAST THAT WANTS DISCOURSE OF REASON, WOULD HAVE MOURN’D LONGER”. Despite Hamlet’s anger, Gertrude’s love to him has not changed at all, because she only wants her son’s happiness.
Hamlet also knew that he could not tell anyone that Claudius has murdered his father or that he had seen the ghost of his father because no one would believe him. Throughout the play Hamlet expresses his “madness” an example would be when he meets Ophelia in the court. In the beginning of their conversation he tells her that he once loved her but then is also confused saying that he didn’t love her at all. This is due to the fact that he sees woman as deceivers because of his mother’s relationship with his uncle. When Hamlet discovers that Polonius and the King are hiding nearby he explodes in a fit of rage, violently attacking her verbally and physically almost like a mad person would.
The two texts present a woman from a disadvantaged point of view and how she struggles to establish a foothold in a male-dominated society. In Hamlet, analysis of the plight of women falls on Ophelia and Gertrude. The two women endure chauvinistic suffering and finally break loose. Gertrude transgresses the patriarchal bounds of femininity by marrying soon after her husband’s death, much to Hamlet’s chagrin. Consequently, he refers to her as “frail” (Act 1, Scene 2, line 146).
However, a tragic hero is a character who experiences conflict and suffers greatly as result of his/her choices. Despaired through the death of his father and his mother’s marriage to his uncle Hamlet then begins to possess feelings of grief, anger and frustration. With these flaws weighing on his conscience it contributes to the making of a tragic hero. This is due to the forced objective of avenging his father’s murder and his mother’s incestuous marriage, Hamlet’s lack of being able to dictate his own choices and his cowardly sense of committing suicide to avoid the suffering. Hamlets anger, which stems from his mother marrying Claudius, bears him serious thoughts of suicide.
This conflict within Hamlet is further expounded by the possibility that his father was murdered by his uncle, King Cladius. In an attempt to cope with the moral weakness of his mother, Prince Hamlet dispels any sympathetic feelings toward women causing him to ruin his relationship with Ophelia and leaving him lonely. In order to accurately interpret Shakespeare’s usage of a female’s role throughout his play it is imperative to consider the greater source of his ideas-his historical background. The historical period of the Elizabethan era influenced Shakespeare’s negative portrayal of women and thus, he uses the women in his play as tools in unraveling Prince Hamlet. In Hamlet, it can be noted that the patriarchal setup of society mirrors that of England during the Elizabethan era.
In the soliloquy, Hamlet is at first upset with himself about finding ways to avoid avenging his Father’s murder, like his spirit in ghost form told him to. This complaining turns into self hatred and then Hamlet is insulting himself outright. The main reason for this is he has agreed to get revenge on Claudius so his father’s spirit can be at peace, but he hasn’t done it yet. The fact that the Player seems to be more able to get into the mindset of revenge than he can further discourages him. This on top of the fact that Hamlet’s dad is dead and his mother married that man he hates most in the world makes for a pretty melancholy fellow.
Who Fears Who? In William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, Hamlet tries to have justice served with the death of his father. Claudius –Hamlet’s uncle—killed his brother in order to obtain the crown. Hamlet is put in a position where he needs to decide of killing his evil uncle is worth it, and Shakespeare makes a biblical argument. In Matthew10:29 it says “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
It also says that he should look to Claudius as a father figure. This upsets Hamlet further. Secondly, he feels that he and his father have been betrayed by his mother. This is because she has married Claudius and he therefore feels that his mother did not love his father and got over him too quickly. We know this because in Act 1 Scene 2, Hamlet says “Heaven and earth!