Andrew Kihara 4/29/2014
English Hamlet
Mad under the Influence of Sex Sex is the root cause of destruction in Hamlet. It is what drives the people to become filled with anger and madness. Hamlet becomes so upset with his mother becoming lovers with Claudius, his father’s murderer, that he blames all women and categorizes them as “Breeders of sinners”. To Hamlet’s eyes, Women are all deceitful creatures who lust for sex and will utilize it in any way to get what they want. In this way the “Breeders of Sinners” effected, however, if women are the ones who breed the sinners, Hamlet, who is born from a woman, is also the sinner. Hamlet realizes this himself and repeatedly calls himself a hypocrite, terrible person, and liar. He must feel that he himself is crazy if he finds himself thinking about his own mother having sex with his uncle all the time. Sex drives the people throughout the story of Hamlet to become altered people, usually towards the path of madness, confusion, and anger. Gertrude’s lust of sex is the root cause of Hamlet’s anger towards women. Because they are lovers, Gertrude has a sexual relationship with Claudius; Hamlet thinks Gertrude should harbor feelings of anger and hatred towards the murderer of her husband. Hamlet believes that Gertrude has stooped to such a low level in order to preserve her position as queen. These thoughts keep filling up Hamlet’s mind to the point he imagines the two having sex every single moment. Hamlet is such a weird pervert and does not stop thinking of sex that when he attempts to guilt Gertrude of her decision to marry Claudius and have sex with him, the ghost of his father has to remind Hamlet of his original goal: revenge. Hamlet’s mind is now completely distorted and his image of women is so ruined that he spreads his hatred of women even to the people he truly loves, such as Ophelia. Ophelia is in a relationship with Hamlet even before the play starts. However, after Hamlet becomes distressed with his Mother’s sexual relationship with Claudius, he starts to treat Ophelia as if she was just like Gertrude, which results in Ophelia turning mad and committing suicide. Even though Ophelia is in a sexual relationship, she was an innocent, pure-hearted woman at first. When Laertes warns Ophelia to be careful of Hamlet, he says, “Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister,/ And keep you in the rear of your affection/ Out of the shot and danger of desire./ The chariest maid is prodigal enough,/ if she unmask her beauty to the moon:/ Virtue itself ‘scapes not calumnious strokes:/ The canker galls the infants of the spring, / Too oft before their buttons be disclosed, And in the morn and liquid dew of youth – Contagious basements are most imminent. – Be wary then; best safety lies in fear: Youth to itself rebels, though none else near.” (Act 1 Scene 3). According to Laertes, in order to stay safe, you have to avoid giving into having sex by comparing sex to a canker who kills all the innocent youth in the Spring. Ophelia doesn’t understand what Laertes says because she puts complete faith in Hamlet. She believes that Hamlet will deliver what he says. However Ophelia will learn that what Laertes warned her of was true. After Hamlet’s mind has been warped he tells Ophelia to marry a fool and go to a nunnery. “Farewell. Or, if though will needs marry/ marry a