The Significance of Direct and Indirect Definition of Masculinity and Femininity in Hamlet: Critical Essay

Introduction

The Play Hamlet is one of the many pieces of writing by William Shakespeare that deliver significant shreds of information on gender identity. Hamlet begins with Prince Hamlet's summon to Denmark to bury his father and is disturbed that his mother, Queen Gertrude is already remarried to Claudius, his uncle, brother to the late king. The play Hamlet is based on the occurrence that the ghost of the late appears to Hamlet telling him that he was murdered when someone poured poison in his ear while he slept. The ghost informs prince Hamlet that he must walk the earth and is consigned to purgatory at night until his murder is avenged. Based on this occurrence, William Shakespeare delivers significant information by focusing on the themes of masculinity and femininity through various characters in the play that ensure proper delivery of the message along with the use of other figures of speech. In the show Hamlet, the different events of masculinity and femininity are delivered indirectly and direct thus deriving the need to understand and comprehend the significance of both masculinity and femininity in Hamlet.

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The Significance of Masculinity in Hamlet

The masculinity trait embraces fearless and undaunted decision of characters in terms of strength and endurance, as well as courage and bravery in actions and deeds in various situations or events. In the Play Hamlet, there are multiple events covering masculinity as delivered by William Shakespeare. As the play is performed, it is delivered during a period at the turn of the 17th century when gender roles in women and men were different as the use of theater and art was one of the ways to depict such occurrences both directly and indirectly (Low, 1999). Within Hamlet, the nature of dialogue delivered by the characters in the play is one of the real and direct indications of masculinity in the play as Shakespeare incorporated elements of exaggeration, metaphors, wit along other occurrences. Through characters such as Prince Hamlet, events of manhood are evident all over the play depicting on great significance towards the message and context of the play. For example, the most distinctive masculine character used to deliver the theme is Prince Hamlet. In the scene when the ghost of the late king appears during the night, the soldiers were afraid and described the occurrence as "dreaded sight" however, as for Hamlet, he depicts no signs of despair or fear when the ghost confronts him, he challenges the ghost by stating, "... be thy intents wicked or charitable, thou com' st in such a questionable shape. That will speak to thee..." (Shakespeare, Act 3, scene 4. 11 40-5).

Moreover, when the ghost beckons Prince Hamlet to got to a more isolated location, he adheres to it despite warnings from Marcellus and Horatio who think that the spirit could be with him and cause his death. Therefore, masculinity is played this way in this scene with the significance of delivering that this trait is leading in the process of decision making during an action. The absence of masculinity would give a substantial change on the way the characters behave. The masculinity is revealed in the play as Shakespeare allows the audience to understand the overall characteristic and significant of masculinity in Hamlet. Even though masculinity is based on defining courage and bravery, Shakespeare aims to ensure that theme serves as an educative element through the influence on the audience targeting to outline and create the idea of masculinity and its role in life and the society as a whole (La Feminite, 2009). For example, it is directly portrayed through Hamlet as he seems ready to revenge the murder of the king, his father but seems hesitant as it appears in Hamlet during the play as he asks, "To be, or not to be: that is the question," (Shakespeare, Act 3, Scene 1). Prince Hamlet defeats the fear and makes his mind upon avenging for his father.

Correspondingly, the significance of masculinity in the play Hamlet is indirectly portrayed by Shakespeare as he derives the themes within Hamlet. According to the traditional ideas and concepts of gender identity, they hold that a man is a creature of thinking while on the other hand, a woman is a creature of feeling. In the case of the play, it is evident that characters such as Hamlet are responsive to every occasion either relevant or irrelevant to him. Beginning from his father's death, his mother's marriage to his uncle, to the concern on the rivalry between the adult actors and children's performing company, in that Hamlet's is always in thoughts. Even though Hamlet is caught in his philosophical ideas and makes it a pretext of his state of inactivity, this play plays a significant role in delivering details revolving the masculinity by marking its importance within the play. Majorly, William Shakespeare describes one of the eras when manhood was imperative in society.

The Significance of Femininity in Hamlet

Even though Shakespeare tends to center the play on the internal struggles suffered by Prince Hamlet, he does not fail to deliver a focus on the events of femininity throughout the play. In Hamlet, there are various traits believed to define and belong to women; such are hesitations, emotional exposure, and other cases of evasion of duties. One of the significant characters used to deliver femininity are Ophelia and Queen Gertrude but could also be linked to other male characters in terms of actions and behavior towards an inevitable occurrence. Additionally, numerous scenes deliver proper elaboration of femininity within the film that involves Ophelia, particularly when she receives advice from her father, Polonius, and Laertes, her brother as seen in Act 1, Scene 3.

Similarly, as the play was scripted during a time or era when gender or sexuality delivered a significant impact on society, women were also of major significance. During Shakespeare era femininity or the women were considered as either loathsome sinners or innocent maiden saints while sex is mostly the deciding factor. For example, Ophelia is delivered as an image of femininity since in most of the cases she is realized as powerless and fragile with minimal words such as "I shall obey, my lord" (Shakespeare, Act 1, Scene 3) and is rarely viewed as a woman that can control her agenda, and choices and is judged or viewed differently. Though such a direct presentation of femininity throughout the play, Shakespeare elaborates on its significance by defining that in every society, there are gender roles (Safaei & Hashim, 2013).

On the other hand, the first impression as created by the Shakespeare defines Queen Gertrude indifferent whereby the play begins by depicting the anger Prince Hamlet has against Gertrude as a result of her decisions and choices concerning her decision to marry the king's brother. The Queen finds herself in a position whereby she is not sure about her actions as she is portrayed as fickle particularly when it comes to her relationship with the people around her. Nonetheless, her motherly concern for Hamlet is evident in Act 2, Scene 4 as she creates a plan to speak to him after he accuses at informs her of his disappointment towards her; however, her final act provides a clear view on femininity as she sacrifices herself for her son. Gertrude drinks poisoned wine from Claudius, meant for Hamlet and are not depicted as loyal and not positivity. In a closer perception and look into the significance of femininity defined throughout the film, it is not only based on the active vices of the women but men as well. For example, hamlet's femininity is indirectly defined throughout the play as he is considered emotionally vulnerable. Within the role, Shakespeare signifies on Hamlet's femininity as he is put in situations where he ought to take actions but his inability to do so contrasts with his masculinity character.

Conclusion

To sum everything up, the events of femininity are significant in this play since they deliver an atmosphere on issues that affect and motivate the main characters. The characters are used to spur decisions towards the central theme of the play since it is clear from the roles of Gertrude and Ophelia in contribution to the life of Prince Hamlet. As the play Hamlet, delivers details and the intended message, the setting of the play, an era of gender roles between men and women, the direct and indirect definition of masculinity and femininity play a significant role throughout Hamlet.

Works Cited

La Feminite, De Hamlet, and Guo De-yan. "Hamlet's Femininity." Canadian Social Science 5.5: 2009.

Low, Jennifer. "Manhood and The Duel: Enacting Masculinity In 'Hamlet.'" The Centennial Review, vol. 43, no. 3, 1999, pp. 501-512. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23739979.

Safaei, Mohammad, and Ruzy Suliza Hashim. "Ophelia Transformed: Revisioning Shakespeare's Hamlet." GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies 13.2 (2013).

Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. SR Winchell & Company, 1885.