Hamlet Essay -- Shakespeare

Critics often judge Gertrude as a weak, inconsiderate and innocent woman, caught up in conflicts she does not fully understand. To what extent do you agree with this?The two fe mannish characters in Shakespeares tragedy depend to be drowned in the mist of the deceitful power-game played by the male characters, which contribute to the on-going tragic conventions of murder, revenge and betrayal so prevalent in this form of drama. The title of Hamlets metatheatrical play-within-a-play, the mouse-trap is as applicable to the diagram of Shakespeares Hamlet set in the especially patriarchal society of Elsinore, which is prevail by the authoritative actions of the male characters, Hamlet may be seen as a tragedy where the female characters have small and seemingly small-time roles in the tragic plot compared to the climactic masculine moments the visitations of the Ghost, the dramatic agon surrounded by Hamlet and Claudius and the final conquest between Hamlet and his counterpart La ertes. Gertrude is a character whose fate is tragically overshadowed by the power of these men, indicative of the pliable role of women in the Jacobean period. Despite the fact that directors often picture Gertrude as a sensual and deceitful woman who is vain and content with strong sexual appetites, if one looks to Shakespeares text, this character has a very(prenominal) small and arguably innocent voice in the play thence Rebecca Smith argues that Gertrudes words and action create not the lusty, lustful, unspiritual Gertrude that one generally sees in stage and film productions but a compliant, loving, unimaginative woman whose only concern is pleasing others. In monastic order to assess Shakespeares characterisation of the Queen, it is necessary to exami... ...arded as selfish, weak and innocent, caught up in a conflict that she more than understands. Works CitedBamber, L.(1990) Class difference of opinion Shakespeare and Sexism. The Womens Review of Books 75.Bradley, A. C. (1966) Shakespearean Tragedy. New York St. Martins Press.Burnett, Mark, ed. (1994) New Essays on Hamlet. New York AMS Press.Granville-Barker, Henry. (1970) Prefaces to Shakespeare. New York Hill and Wang.Heilbrun, Carolyn. (1957) Hamlets Mother. atomic number 20 University of California Press.Kolin, Philip C. (1991). Shakespeare and Feminist Criticism an Annotated Bibliography and Commentary. New York Garland.Loske, Olaf. (1960) Outrageous Fortune. Oslo Oslo University Press.Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Smith, Rebecca. A Heart Cleft in Twain the Dilemma of Shakespeares Gertrude.