The Role of Femininity in Shakespeares Hamlet, Othello,...

The Role of Femininity in Shakespeares Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear similarly experience an unhooking (Tompkins) in the eponymous plays. These tragic figures struggle with internal and external femininity: after realizing their emotions and labeling them feminine, they identify women as the source of this negative femininity. Their inability to deal with the female gender in any form destabilizes their masculinity, causing an unhooking/unlatching within them. The origin of Hamlets psychological decay lies in his anger towards Gertrude and his inability to adjust to her marrying Claudius. From Hamlets perspective, Gertrude giving herself to a new husband signifies her failure to honor his father†¦show more content†¦This contempt of womanhood could also be directed to his feminine characteristics of emotions and inaction. In asking Ophelia if she is honest (3.1.102), Hamlet raises suspicion of her, Gertrudes, and his own sexual fidelity; by telling her Marry/A fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters/Yo u make of them (3.1.137-8), and referring to himself as a male whore by calling himself a stallion (2.2.587), Hamlet implies that none of them are moral. Hamlet is probably not directly addressing Ophelia here, but rather his doubt of all womens abilities to be faithful wives with his use of you and monsters. The importance of sexuality in the play is shown shortly hereafter, when Hamlet opts to sit at Ophelias feet instead of by Gertrude. Hamlets decision is not simply the more accessible woman, but his sexual partner of choice, as he notes Heres metal more attractive (3.2.109). His actions are probably intended to emphasize his feelings for Ophelia that cause his madness, as Polonius points out to Claudius; however, his remark also implies that Gertrude is no longer precious to him, making it unlikely that his anger towards her is the result of an Oedipal complex. When Hamlet indicts Gertrude for her involvement in his fathers death, he is not motivated by national or filial obligations, but primarily out of his need to control female figures in an attempt to defend himself against femininity. He condemns her actionsShow MoreRelatedThe Tragedy Of Othello By William Shakespeare1824 Words   |  8 Pageson sheets stained and torn by countless nights – men of different sizes and smells and shapes†¦spill their seed into me. I close my eyes and in the dark of my mind-oh, how I travel† (Adaptations 242-243). She is nothing close to the loyal wife of Othello in Shakespeare; she is an adulteress who despises the confinement of marriage. While women are used in Shakespeare, these recreated women use men and despise them. Desdemona expresses contempt for marriage â€Å"Women are clad in purdah, we decent, respectableRead MoreDuchess Of Malf Open Learn10864 Words   |  44 Pagesout textual analysis recognise some of the historical contexts of the play. Background John Webster (c.1580–c.1634) was Shakespeare’s contemporary, though sixteen years younger. He makes a brief appearance in the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love as a boy who tortures mice, spies on Shakespeare’s love-making, and feels inspired to take up the pen himself after seeing Shakespeare’s blood-soaked revenge tragedy, Titus Andronicus. ‘Plenty of blood. That’s the only writing’, he asserts. This affectionate