Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on The Roles of Gertrude and Ophelia in William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page paper which examines whether these women merely fulfill gender roles or if they also add to an understanding of Hamlet’s character. Also considered is how Hamlet’s attacks on these women affect response to the play. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGgoham.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
female characters, were merely included by the playwright to fulfill gender roles, at least as conceived by sixteenth-century Elizabethan society. After all, the action is generated by and dominated
by male characters, and centers around a young Danish princes desire to avenge his fathers murder and his feelings of betrayal about his mothers hasty remarriage to his fathers brother,
Claudius. The men are clearly the primary focus and seem to control every aspect of the plot and conflict, whereas Hamlets mother and girlfriend are blatantly constructed to subordinate
and to submit to all of the whims and desires of their male counterparts. But this complacency serves as a social mirror to the times in which the play
was written. If a woman dared to step out of character and do something to please herself, as the play demonstrates in key climactic scenes, there would be dire
repercussions. This is not, however, the extent of Gertrudes and Ophelias functions within the play. They both contribute to a greater understanding of Hamlet, and his venomous attacks
on them affect the overall response to the play. Queen Gertrude occupies little time onstage and says even less. She is often "little more than a litany of abuse
echoing and amplifying the indictments men level against her" (Corum 183). She is accused of committing adultery, of defiling her husbands memory by not observing a prolonged period of
mourning, of committing incest by marrying her brother-in-law, of disloyalty to her son, and even of prior knowledge of Claudiuss conspiracy to murder King Hamlet (Corum 184). While Gertrude
is clearly not perfect, and may have been judged as guilty of adultery, betraying her husbands memory, and even incest as defined by the moral standards of Shakespeares time.
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