'Elizabethan society was a patriarchal society in which...

A detailed Summary of 'Elizabethan society was a patriarchal society in which...

'Elizabethan society was a patriarchal society in which men took action and responsibility, and women were powerless. How does the position of women in Elizabethan society affect their portrayal in Hamlet? How do you as a member of a 21st century audience, respond to the portrayal of Gertrude and Ophelia?'

In the time that Shakespeare wrote his plays, women were not allowed to perform on stage, which meant that boys dressed up as women always played the female characters. The boys were, of course, young and without experience so female characters were always relatively small and featuring only a few times throughout. This also meant that some of the female characters in Shakespeare might be less developed than he would have wanted and made less of a statement and be more silent. Ophelia and Gertrude are two of the female characters created by Shakespeare, and can be interpreted as a reflection of women's political, intellectual, emotional and social lives at that time. It was

The conclusion that women are immoral was obviously part of an inspiration in the writing in of the character Gertrude, the Queen who famously marries her dead husbands brother and murderer, just two months after the crime has been committed. Gertrude, depicted as indecisive, is done so as she cannot make decisions for herself. We have evidence of this when she asks Hamlets advice, 'What shall I do?' when she finally finds out the truth about old Hamlet. The reason she does not know what to do reflects back on women's characteristic of never making decisions of importance and magnitude.

The reader or audience member might be convinced that Gertrude has a hidden agenda and is perhaps conniving and evil, but due to the interpretation of women at that time she was viewed as more weak and inconstant. Hamlets line, 'Frailty, thy name is woman' completely sums up his view of her actions earlier in the play. We know that Gertrude has a true sense of love for her son, 'The Queen, his mother, liv

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ophelia Gertrude, Gertrude Queen, Ophelia Hamlet, Gertrude Ophelia', Act Claudius, , female characters, play gertrude, ophelia gertrude, elizabethan period, portrayal gertrude,

Approximate Word count = 670
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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