论文hamlet女性共性与差异.doc

On the Commonness and Individuality of Female Image in Hamlet William Shakespeares Hamlet is one of the four great tragedies. Male characters make up most of the characters in this drama, and only two are female characters: Queen Gertrude and Ophelia. As minor roles, they can not attracted much attention inside and outside this drama usually just like adornments. These two roles seem simple but in fact full of meaning. By analyzing their commonness and individuality, it can be recognized that the low social status of women and William Shakespeare’s progressive view on women. Speaking of their commonness, the most obvious point is that they both are the most innocent tragic figures in this drama. They both serve as a cat’s paw in the cruel political struggle and the victims of the revenge. Ophelia is pure, kind and thoughtful. Undoubtedly, she is very innocent unless her excessive purity is regarded as a sin. Because of her excessive simplicity, she is vulnerable and gullible. On the one hand, for disguising his consciousness, revenging Ophelia’s betrayal and venting his anger, Hamlet, who is her old flame, questions her honesty and furiously rants at her, insisting that she should go “to a nunnery.” On the other hand, for taking credit, his father ruthlessly deceives her into testing whether Hamlet is mad or not. To make things worse, her father is killed by her lover accidentally. A sequence of merciless blows defeats her physically and mentally. She even can not have a decent burial because she is suspected of committing suicide. It can be said that she does nothing wrong. Perhaps, the only and last mistake she makes is to believe others too easily. But why should she pay for the men’s struggle and revenge with her dignity, consciousness and, finally, her life? As for Queen Gertrude, it is commonly thought that she is an abandoned and dissolute woman and she is guilty for betraying her ex-husband and marrying to her brother in law. Is she really guilty? She is a