Giorgos Kottas, William Peters, Ryan Olson, Noa Harrison, Nathan Emeny-Smith, Jack Hanlock
What are the key elements of this theory?
Overall, the interdisciplinary field of gender studies is incredibly versatile using various gender representations as focal points for analysis. Almost all areas of research can be broken down to gendered categories including queer studies, men’s studies, and women’s studies. When interpreting Shakespeare’s Hamlet through a gender studies lens, scholars tend to focus on Ophelia and her roles, or lack of a role, throughout the tragedy. From Shakespeare’s day to our own, Ophelia has been used both to reflect and to challenge evolving ideas about female psychology and sexuality. On the stage, Ophelia was costumed in virginal white to contrast with Hamlet’s scholarly black, and in her mad scene she entered with dishevelled hair, singing suggestive songs, and giving away her flowers, symbolically deflowering herself. Drowning, too, was a symbolically feminine death. As a madwoman, she is seen as a heroine for rebelling against the gender stereotypes and social orders of the Shakespearean era, at enormous cost. Her madness is used as a device to survive the trauma of dating Hamlet, giving her no known or usable past but an infinite future.
What are the origins of this theory or these ideas?
The study of genders has often been broken up into three subcategories, biological sex, gender identity, and gender expression, under the umbrella field of feminism. After the conclusion of the women’s liberation movement from the 1960s to the early 1980s, feminist scholars began to question the characteristics of women and men. This new perspective of gender began by viewing the different events which have created our current attributes of each gender: cultural, social, and historical. Initially, feminist women began inspecting the traits that categorize femininity, however, eventually men began looking at ways of masculinity, thus creating the broader study of gender. Today, this new approach to the study of gender theory has classified previous men and women characteristics as “historical subjects”.
A huge area which gender historians study is the way which differences with which genders are perceived has affect social constructs. Depending on a certain cultural, religious, or political understandings at certain points in history, gender norms have thus been affected and changed.In recent feminist movements, many are claiming that by examining what our current norms are today, we may have a different understanding of gender norms. With women having different characteristics and identities due to class, race, religion, etc., the field of gender theory only continues to expand. On the other side, the role of masculinity which often surrounds the perspective of males has had a different history. Gail Bederman, the author of Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States, 1880-1917, claims that there are two types of “men’s history”, one which has been built upon off of women’s history and “analyzing masculinity as part of larger gender” and the other which sees men in early generations as themselves.
As briefly discussed, gender in religion has played an enormous role in gender theory. With the devotion to global religions such as Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, the divine or spiritual figures often has a role in distinguishing the classification of men. The capabilities and strength of god/gods, some have translated this image to the male gender in past views. Religious texts often pair a male and a female are a coupling to form a family, therefore creating another outlook for those studying gender.
What are the limits or constraints of this theory?
The main constraint of gender theory is bias due to difference of opinion and interpretation. Studying the genders can be a complicated task because based on the person’s identity and belief, it can shape their perception on how they view the genders and their attributes. The difference in beliefs between simply a man and a woman when it comes to the genders, let alone between people with significantly different ideologies, can lead to widespread variance in understanding. All in all, gender studies is a topic where it is tough to identify constraints because it is a very generic subject. Specifying aspects of the theory can help with this issue, and except for addressing gender bias, there is not a whole lot you can do with limitations on the more general topic.
What other theories is it similar to or different from?
Gender theory, although mainly investigates the roles and stereotypes of the two sexes, shares many similar qualities with that of queer theory as well as ethnic studies. The main premise of queer theory is focused on questioning the traditional categories and roles of each gender and how they are possibly reversed or mimicked to challenge standard gender roles. Gender theory however, accepts the presumption that there are only two universal genders and simply analyzes each character’s personal unique characteristics and how they align with gender stereotypes, rather than questioning the fixed gender normalities that queer theory challenges. Nevertheless, the two theories are centering their main points of analysis around gender and how it is used to promote an agenda.
Ethnic studies, also known as minority studies, is the study of the production of literature and art from disenfranchised or marginalized groups. This is similar to gender roles in the sense that this theory’s analysis is centered around the physical attribute of race or ethnicity, similarly to gender and sexuality. Although it does not focus on the ethnicity and roles of race in the play or book, it’s argument is focusing mainly on how race can affect different factors surrounding the literature, similar to that of gender theory.
How does this theory explain or otherwise apply to Hamlet?
There are many ways gender studies applies to Hamlet. Ophelia for example, is treated as an object for the majority of the play. Hamlet and others like Laertes use Ophelia for political or sexual desires. It is not until her father’s death that she gets agency in the play, however it comes at a cost when she starts to lose her mind. This leads to the sexist viewpoint Shakespeare has on women. Before Ophelia goes mad, although she has no agency, characters think of her as a beautiful, virtuous and harmless object. It is not until she is treated like a person, that the characters view her as mad, ugly and powerful. Moving away from Ophelia, Hamlet is another character that shows the application of gender in Hamlet. He develops a harsh view of women because of his experiences with his mother and Ophelia. Hamlet sees them as weak and pathetic, and is usually using women to please his sexual desires. He blames his mother’s sexually weak nature for her marriage to his uncle. Hamlet thinks of women as frail and that is not more apparent then when he says, “Why, she would hang on him as if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on; and yet within a month – let me not think on’t – Frailty, thy name is women…” He specifically says “Frailty, thy name is women,” and not Frailty, thy name is Gertrude, which shows how Hamlet projects his problems with women by belittling them.
How can your theory be applied to history or world events?
Gender studies is a theory which has strong historical roots. The women’s liberation movement was prominent in the mid to late 20th century, and sought to question the traditional gender roles which existed at the time. Many female scholars wanted to create programs for the purpose of making sure that significant female achievements were recognized, and given just as much attention as was being given for male achievements. During the late 20th century, there was a widespread increase in interest when it comes to prominent social topics such as gay rights. Furthermore, there was a lot of confusion as to what exactly are the differences between gender and sexuality. Thus, scholars felt it was necessary to create the field of gender studies to examine these significant concepts. In recent years, given the legislative understanding of U.S. history, many felt it was in the hands of state officials to decide on gay/lesbian rights. Whether states voted yes vs. no, many feminist groups still argued that such a matter should be country-wide. However, a 2015 Supreme Court case declared same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states ending the long debated controversy. Another interesting issue on the gender theory issue relating to equality is Title IX. Title IX, a part of the Education Amendments Act put into place in 1972 to provide equal opportunity in education for everyone. While this proposal seemed to be a quite legitimately fair act for the most part, it has also sparked up some controversy in relating to collegiate sports. NCAA college football, a gigantic spectator male-only game across the country is a sport which provides dozens of scholarships to athletes on each team. Given the revenue and profit it accumulates for big alumni state schools, colleges see the benefit in this program. Nevertheless, colleges must maintain a perfectly equal number of scholarship money to both males and females across the school. Because football grants numerous scholarships to males, other coed collegiate sports teams suffer by only being able to offer a selectively limited number of males while allowing more funding to be spent on females. Though the equality aspect of the overall funding seems understandable, many argue that football should be exempt from such an issue because of the profit it provides for the overall school and to other varsity teams.
Article Summary
In Sandra K Fischer’s JSTOR article titled Gender and Tragic Discourse in Hamlet, she discusses the portrayal of Hamlet representing the “essence of man”, and Ophelia as a representation of the “other” in the play. Femininity, according to Linda Bamber, is a principle of “otherness”, unlike the Self, who is male, represented by Hamlet. However, Fischer also describes Ophelia as being essential only because she is “linked forever, for centuries, to the figure of Hamlet”, and Ophelia’s story is nothing but the repressed story of Hamlet in that they share similar experiences. For example, both are given edicts by their fathers that ignite suspicion; both fail to understand how they are being worked upon by court forces; both go mad (though for different reasons), both feel betrayed and feel isolated; and both lose their father due to unusual circumstances.
Fischer then explores Carol Neely’s feminist approach to the play, which is that female characters, who are stereotyped as “others”, are to be read in as real and seriously as the male characters, for things such as: grappling with their identities, conflict resolution, and the denial of full voice, with regards to soliloquy and communication. Because of this, Ophelia’s voice is nothing compared to Hamlet’s, who suppresses the quieter and less powerful voices. Ophelia, compared to Hamlet, and most other male figures in the play, is “the invisible and unheard sex”.
Another feminist reading approach that Fischer acknowledges is through the recognition of “textual politics”. She suggests that Ophelia’s voice is a juxtaposition against Hamlet’s soliloquies, and in order to fully hear Ophelia, one must acquire a “new set of critical ears”, because Ophelia’s utterances are almost always forced and pressured upon between silences.
Ophelia as an object is also shown through Laertes’ successful attempt in denying her access to adult interchange with Hamlet. Polonius and Laertes also continuously treat her as if she is a child with no knowledge about the ways of the world. This, along with the fact that she is typically allowed only half lines compared to Laertes’, a male, illustrates the disposition between genders in the play.
Hamlet: A Gender Study 