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Juliet Fletcher

Mendoza

ENC 1102

24 April 2014

Gendered Characterizations in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

The characters of Shakespeare’s Hamlet are written to have intentionally

gendered identities, particularly Ophelia, the female victim; Horatio, the voice of logic;

and Hamlet, the embodiment of male insecurity. These characterizations consistently

serve to advance the plot towards its violent, tragic end.

Ophelia is one of the first occurrences of the trope of the female victim, which

makes up the entirety of her identity. The only distinct traits of her character are her lack

of autonomy and her symptoms of emotional trauma. Ophelia is portrayed as extremely

passive, soft spoken and eager to please. Every action she takes, prior to her supposed

insanity, is precipitated by orders from men. In her first scene, she receives cautionary

advice from her brother and father. When her father, Polonius, questions the

authenticity of Hamlet’s affections, she responds, “I do not know, my lord, what I should

think,” as if she is waiting for instruction (1.3.104). With few words of protest, she vows

to follow her father’s orders to cease contact with Hamlet. When Claudius and Polonius

ask her to position herself in the hall with a book to enable them to spy on Hamlet, she

does so without question. Shakespeare writes Ophelia as speaking briefly and mildly

through the first three acts, particularly in contrast with Hamlet’s long winded and

assertive rants.

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  Victims of manipulation and abuse, such as Ophelia, often begin placing blame

on themselves for the abuse they are subject to and for any misfortune of their abusers.

 After insulting Ophelia for rejecting him, and declaring that he never loved her, Hamlet

refuses to speak more on the issue and says, “  it hath made me mad.” (3.1.146)

Following this abusive outburst, Ophelia refers to herself as “deject  ” (3.1.155). The use

of this word in this context is most often interpreted to mean the adjective form dejected,

or depressed. Deject, however, is the verb form meaning to make dispirited.

Considering Shakespeare’s prevalent use of puns, Ophelia’s ignorance of Hamlet’s

other plans, and her emotional trauma resulting from years of abuse, it is more

reasonable that she is expressing self-blame for Hamlet’s madness or dispirited state.

In her songs of supposed insanity, Ophelia sings of St. Valentine’s Day and a maid

being coerced into having intercourse with a promise of marriage, only to be rejected by

the man afterward (4.5.47-54). The only clear reason for Shakespeare’s inclusion of this

anecdote is to imply that Ophelia and Hamlet have been intimate and it serves as an

example of her expressing regret and shame, which are symptoms of emotional trauma.

In stark contrast to Ophelia, Hamlet is ruled by ego and masculine panic.

Shakespeare portrays him as the epitome of an emotionally immature, young male.

Self-centered to the point of paranoia, he often assumes actions of others, such as the

murder of his father and his mother’s remarriage, as maliciously affecting him. Anxieties

caused by feelings of inadequacy from the emotional expression of the player, his

inability to kill his Claudius, and the soldiers’ willingness to fight, emasculate him. In

conversation, he responds to perceived threats to his masculinity with deflective,

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sarcastic retorts. As the plot develops, his mounting anxieties and egotistical drive to

affirm his masculinity bring him to the point of violent recklessness. He declares, “  from

this time forth, /My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!  ” (4.4.65-66). Throughout

the play, he acts on his own will. He never once hints at a capacity for empathy towards

others, such as Gertrude and Ophelia. He continuously insults them and blames them

for his depressed state, despite their innocence.

 Alternatively, Horatio is treated as an equal, logical, and trustworthy peer. His

name even includes ‘ratio’ by which Shakespeare is undoubtedly is alluding to his

‘rational’ and level-headed nature. Hamlet confides in him regarding his suspicions

about the circumstances of his father’s death, and he seeks and trusts his judgment of

the authenticity of the ghost and of Claudius’s reaction to the play.

The outcomes of the interactions of these characterizations are the tragic

violence Shakespeare is known for. Hamlet directly murders three people, orders the

killing of two, and indirectly causes every death in the play with the exception of his

father’s. Ophelia remains innocent, dying without ever having wronged a single person

and Horatio survives the entirety of the play, living to tell what happened.

Shakespeare’s intent is impossible to confirm, and beyond recognizing his remarkable

awareness of the circumstances of social interaction still relevant today.

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Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark." Open Source

Shakespeare. George Mason University. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.