"Frailty, thy name is woman"
I recently read the book Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. While reading, I realized these five mere words "frailty, thy name is woman", Shakespeare truly underestimates the importance of woman. I am writing to state that Hamlet is wrong. The women in the story, Gertrude and Ophelia, are simply "drowning in a pool of men", how can they express themselves. Ophelia knows no other way to act because there is no women in her life to show her. Conversely, Gertrude is stuck between the most two important men in her life: Hamlet and King Claudius. Both women live in this so called men's world. They constantly have to depend on the men in their lives because they don't have certain rights as men. Ophelia and Gertrude lacked ways to express themselves and had no outlet to show their emotions like sorrow, fear, and anger. Nevertheless, this led to their madness. This applies to todays society. Woman have to fight for certain rights. Its been hundreds of years since Shakespeare time and the attitude towards women still have not changed. Women are seen as frail and meaningless. We need to change this attitude.
Despite the fact that I have not read Hamlet, I found this to be very interesting. I think that we often hear about females being considered inferior throughout history, but for me it's intriguing to see this in an actual literary context. I am a fan of Shakespeare, but I would definitely have to disagree with his attitude here.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you. Women are often seen as frail and inferior in society. I am one who stands up for women as being strong, mainly because I know I can compete physically and mentally with boys and even beat them at times. I find it very frustrating the way people, like Shakespeare, often associate women with being fragile and weak. I know from personal experience that I am not fragile and that I can do many things that guys can do, and sometimes better! I hope that the feminist movement will be able to get through to society how women need more credit granted to them, for their physical and mental strengths.
ReplyDeleteAfter taking a Shakespeare class and studying Hamlet, I agree that while Gertrude and Ophelia are indeed surrounded and drowning in men (An idea that is interesting since Ophelia literally drowns in what could be construed as an ultimate rebellion from not only her literal father's rule but her spiritual father as well as suicide prevents entry to heaven) Shakespeare makes a point to illustrate their limited freedom as something that causes tension and issues in society. If you'd like I'd love to talk about some of the instances where Shakespeare actually has women take control, but I do have to disagree that he makes women seem completely meaningless.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of women being frail is to me a huge issue as well. I hate the idea that being a woman means you're automatically weak. People cling to the fact that men are able to more quickly build muscle and, on average, physically retain it as a legitimate reason to stereotype women as weak. I find this particularly frustrating because these ideas of weakness aren't restricted to carrying enormous loads, but often things in my experience like dog food bags, soda cases, and books.
I completely agree and women in theater are still treated as less. It is shocking when the female protagonist makes specific choices. Women have to work for the respect that men are just handed.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this misogynist attitude needs to be changed; Hamlet assigning characteristics he sees in his mother, [his] experience with a [woman], to the entire race of [women] (This is an ongoing and popular generalization-thinking that I too perpetuate in ways often due to my inability to respond to my own feelings in a rational, intuitive, self-aware way). When reading this and the comments, I thought of my high school teacher's thoughts on Hamlet and the hate found in just five words along with its resonance throughout Shakespeare's works. We were told of Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, which is supposed to give a look at what life would have been for Shakespeare's sister. If not already aware, here is an interpretation of the text via youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CApxOdQWUw8. I'm still trying to figure it out but can tell that its striking and deep.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this misogynist attitude needs to be changed; Hamlet assigning characteristics he sees in his mother, [his] experience with a [woman], to the entire race of [women] (This is an ongoing and popular generalization-thinking that I too perpetuate in ways often due to my inability to respond to my own feelings in a rational, intuitive, self-aware way). When reading this and the comments, I thought of my high school teacher's thoughts on Hamlet and the hate found in just five words along with its resonance throughout Shakespeare's works. We were told of Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, which is supposed to give a look at what life would have been for Shakespeare's sister. If not already aware, here is an interpretation of the text via youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CApxOdQWUw8. I'm still trying to figure it out but can tell that its striking and deep.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this misogynist attitude needs to be changed; Hamlet assigning characteristics he sees in his mother, [his] experience with a [woman], to the entire race of [women] (This is an ongoing and popular generalization-thinking that I too perpetuate in ways often due to my inability to respond to my own feelings in a rational, intuitive, self-aware way). When reading this and the comments, I thought of my high school teacher's thoughts on Hamlet and the hate found in just five words along with its resonance throughout Shakespeare's works. We were told of Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, which is supposed to give a look at what life would have been for Shakespeare's sister. If not already aware, here is an interpretation of the text via youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CApxOdQWUw8. I'm still trying to figure it out but can tell that its striking and deep.
ReplyDelete