Hamlet Gender Roles

American politician and feminist Shirley Chisholm once said “The emotional, sexual and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, “it's a girl”. In saying this, Chisholm draws attention to the idea that from birth females are stereotyped and victimised, purely as a result of society’s ingrained attitudes towards women. This unfortunate, patriarchal portrayal of females as the less dominant gender is a theme that is not only reflected through the Shakespearean play ‘Hamlet’, but in many areas of contemporary society. Although times have changed since the Elizabethan era, women are still oppressed and restricted by male-constructed orders and societal attitudes, along with unequal power structures between the sexes to a lesser extent.

In the play ‘Hamlet’, Shakespeare’s characterisation of Ophelia is one that reflects the restrictive and harrowing consequence of living within a rigid, male-dominant society. As you may already know, Ophelia is expected to conform to social norms and obey the orders set by male characters such as Laertes and
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average full-time working female makes a staggering $283.20 less than a full-time working male per week (Australian Government, 2014). Another recent study noted women make up just a quarter of those employed in the key leadership positions of Australian companies (ABC, 2015).This means that whilst females put an equal amount of time and effort in, they are paid considerably less than their male counterparts. Why is this you ask? The harsh reality is, not unlike the Elizabethan era females, women of today still continue to be discriminated against and seen as the apparent “less-powerful gender” by members of