Shakespeare - Hamlet's Problem with Women

Sexual Inexperience, Mother-Son Relationship and Delayed Revenge

Oct 12, 2008

Hamlet's problems, and the fate of Ophelia, in Shakespeare's tragedy can be blamed on his inability to reconcile the idea of Gertrude, his mother, and her sexuality.

Hamlet can be seen, according to W. Dyson Wood, as a young man of a delicate age of indecision generally, not yet fully in harmony with himself, sexuality and the culture around him. This certainly seems to be the case in the opening of Hamlet. He is out of tune with the rest of the court, in theatrical terms, standing apart from those whom he sees as hypocritical.

Gertrude and Sexuality

It is here that the root of Hamlet’s problem is discovered – his mother’s hasty marriage to Claudius. This is preying on his mind even before he discovers by means of the ghost that his father had been murdered by Claudius. He is still trying to come to terms with his mother’s sexuality and he has to work through these feelings before he can even really consider avenging his father’s death.

By Elizabethan law, the marriage is incestuous and Hamlet has every right to call it so. Elizabethans also had long terms of mourning for the dead, but Gertrude does not, which maybe is symbolised by her inability to see the ghost of her dead husband. This, together with the hastiness of her marriage could quite easily suggest to an audience as well as to Hamlet that Gertrude may have been guilty of adultery while her husband was alive.

During the time that Hamlet is railing at his mother and trying to come to terms with the way sexuality works, his thoughts have little scope left for thinking about killing Claudius. If anything, he appears to be acting out his revenge on his mother for her suspected crime against his father. This does not detract from the heroic ideal, however. Shakespeare uses the concept, but with a difference, portraying the sensitive, thoughtful hero, rather than a two-dimensional Homeric hero.

Condemning or Protecting Ophelia?

Hamlet displays a degree of ambiguous feeling towards Ophelia, resulting in his ultimate rejection of her. His behaviour stems from his undeveloped, juvenile feelings of sexuality surrounding his mother. Hamlet is obviously shocked and dismayed by what he assumes is his mother’s lack of moral strength. Critics such as Muir believe, therefore, that he heartlessly condemns Ophelia with:

because he assumes that Ophelia, like Gertrude, must be a corrupt female and, in saying this, he betrays his sexually inexperienced thoughts about all women.

However, it is possible that Hamlet sees the nunnery as Ophelia’s means of protecting herself against the sins of the flesh. He asks Ophelia:

This suggests that, although in his own mind he associates all women with hypocritical love, he is actually trying to protect Ophelia from corruption. This is highlighted further when Hamlet describes her as innocent when he discovers she is dead. Evidently, Hamlet has loved Ophelia as he not only sacrificed his own happiness with her earlier in the play, but he is stirred into action by the discovery of her death.

There is also another possibility, which is rooted in the inexperience of Hamlet himself. In expressing his wish to hide Ophelia away in a nunnery, it suggests Hamlet’s fear of sexuality and carnal love. It causes him to wish the removal of the only link he has with desire.

The Tragedy of Hamlet’s Psychology

It is a rash thought, and through Hamlet’s only rash deed of the entire play – that of killing Polonius, Ophelia’s father – that Ophelia’s fate is sealed. She thus suffers madness and death, due to Hamlet’s agitation and undeveloped knowledge about the relationships of men and women which prays on his mind throughout and is the reason for the catastrophic fatality of Polonius, Ophelia and Hamlet’s own happiness.

It can be seen. then, that the moral and sexuality-based distractions of a young, experienced Hamlet are at the root of both Hamlet’s delay in taking revenge for his father’s murder and of the fate of Ophelia, a true, tragic heroine.

But Hamlet can be sympathised with. A modern audience can see Hamlet has a point: Gertrude does settle rather quickly into her new role as queen to Claudius. To an Elizabethan audience, he is right is condemning his mother and he needs to work through these feelings before embarking upon any kind of revenge.

It seems only logical that Hamlet, as a young man, would be distracted by the possibility of morally dubious sexuality of his mother and contemplates his revenge. It is this inexperience – the flaw in his character - in true Shakespearean tragic form, which leads to the ultimate catastrophic chain of events for Ophelia.

Footnotes

Bibliolgraphy

Ed. Harold Bloom, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Chelsea House Publishers 1986.

The copyright of the article Shakespeare - Hamlet's Problem with Women in British/UK Fiction is owned by Claire Cowling. Permission to republish Shakespeare - Hamlet's Problem with Women in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.