Shayna Blumell
AP Literature 2A
Mr. Donahue
February 24, 2015 In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet there are two main women characters Ophelia and Gertrude. Is it simply a coincidence that these women, the only women in the play end up letting themselves go crazy, and are continually manipulate, controlled, and taken advantage of by the male characters in the play? Is it really coincidental that when ophelia's love is taken away from her that she goes mad, and when Gertrude is suddenly without a husband, she marries his brother? These things are not a coincidence. They were done purposefully, now the questions is why? Why did Shakespeare choose to portray the women in his play Hamlet like this, and why did he have the other characters in the play relate to them as frail, weak, and even as letter humans? The truth is that every writer, when writing will capture a bit no matter how small of themselves in their work. There work will be a reflection of their perspectives, of their opinions, and of them. This comes as no surprise, because if you aren't going to write your own ideas, what is the significance of writing at all? Shakespeare for whatever reason's thinks of women as how they are portrayed in his plays. He considers them weak, frail, un-able to function for themselves without the help of a man, and less deserving of the prosperities that it means to be human.

After analyzing this play in deeper depth i’ve concluded that Shakespeare jus has this belief of women not be superior to men. This is obviously shown when Hamlet shows his own disdain for woman by saying, "fragility, thy name is woman (p.29)!" in those five words, hamlet basically sums it up. He pulls together all the feelings bout women that indirectly stated and shown throughout the book. He is saying that to be a women, is one who is frail, one who is weak. Now Shakespeare must have at least some feelings towards women that agree with that statement, if he is going to put something so strongly stating that point into his play. Later on in the play Shakespeare again clearly shows his views of women when he has Hamlet say to Ophelia, "Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners (p.130)?" Here Hamlet is telling Ophelia that he never loved her, and that she should go