Part 2: Why does Hamlet hate the women he loves?
My last post [1] claimed that Hamlet is harsh with Gertrude and Ophelia, at least in part, because he loves them and wants them to avoid sin (Ophelia) or repent (Gertrude), to avoid the pains of purgatory (like his father) or eternal damnation. He fears for their eternal fate.
But this is not the whole story. Hamlet may have many motivations for being so harsh,[2] for hating the women he loves (as noted by many critics).
Just a few:
WHY HATE HIS MOTHER?
Personal reasons:
He wanted the throne to pass to him, not his uncle. When Gertrude married her brother-in law, for whatever reasons (passion; fear of attack from Norway), this ruined Prince Hamlet’s chances to become the next king after his father. He may hate her for that reason.
Cultural/Religious reasons:
Shakespeare’s culture was misogynistic: Henry VIII wanted a son to succeed him, not a daughter. Many agreed. Many assumed women were the “weaker sex”: The Bible portrayed Eve as being tempted in the Garden of Eden by the Serpent. Many believed sin, evil, temptation, and original sin came in large part from women, passed from mothers to offspring. Reasons to hate and distruct *all* women.
Historical/Political reasons:
The play was written for Shakespeare’s England, still suffering from consequences of Henry VIII’s decisions, first, to marry his brother’s widow, and later, to request an annulment from Rome; when that was refused, he broke with Rome to give himself the annulment he wanted and to marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn. Many died for Henry’s love life. Sex was Henry’s weakness, and to Hamlet it seemed his mother’s as well. For these reasons, Shakespeare’s audiences would have found the idea of a widowed queen marrying her brother-in-law to be something from which only trouble could follow - and reason to hate her.[3]
WHY DOES HAMLET HATE OPHELIA?
Personal reasons:
Hamlet was a prince, pampered, rarely disappointed or refused. He wrote love letters to Ophelia and expected to be welcomed, loved back. Polonius demands that Ophelia break it off. Hamlet wasn’t used to rejection. Easy to hate that.
Political reasons:
Hamlet lost the throne to his uncle. Polonius is chief advisor to the king. Claudius and Polonius had too much control over Hamlet’s life, to keep him from the throne, and from Ophelia. She allowed her father to do this. Yet he was kept from returning to school in Wittenberg, so Denmark was like a prison. What’s not to hate?
Personal reasons II:
If sex was the weakness of Henry VIII, and of Gertrude, this seems to have made Hamlet fear that sex could endanger his and Ophelia’s eternal fate. Hamlet takes out on Ophelia his feelings about his mother, sex, and his fear of damnation.
We hate it when those we love disappoint us, or make us fear for their futures. We may do this for selfish reasons, but also out of love. [4]
~~~~~~~~ NOTES:
[1] https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/01/hamlet-before-freud.html
[2] Sometimes, when people are harsh with those they love, they call this “tough love,” but sometimes this is merely a mask for abuse. Is Hamlet’s “tough love” emotional abuse? This could be debated, depending on what evidence is focused upon, and how one interprets the evidence. No one is perfect, and Hamlet is at times dishonest with Ophelia in his harshness, among other things, and could be considered emotionally abusive. [3] Because Shakespeare's England disapproved of Henry’s various marital decisions, they would have sympathized with Hamlet for disapproving of his mother’s second marriage; his hatred for his mother on this point would have had a definite appeal.
[4] For this whole post, I am indebted to Shobha Pawar, who often asks some of the very best questions and explores angles that I sometimes neglect.
She commented on my last post that she wasn’t sure that Hamlet loved his mother. I think the apparent (and general cultural) misogyny is one of the things that keeps us from recognizing Hamlet’s love for both Gertrude and Ophelia. But this can be debated and can differ by interpretation.
But another thing that causes doubt for some regarding Hamlet’s love for his mother is a line in the last scene: Gertrude has been poisoned by Claudius, has swooned and probably died, and Laertes reveals to Hamlet that it’s Claudius’ fault.
- When Hamlet kills Claudius, the last thing he tells Claudius is, “Follow my mother” (5.2.358).* Some have interpreted this to mean, “Follow my mother to hell,” because they assume Hamlet believes his mother Gertrude is damned. But I think this is a flawed assumption for which the text does not offer evidence of support.
Why would there be a tendency of some critics to assume Hamlet means this, and assumes his mother is damned? This may have to be the topic for a future post.
* References to Hamlet are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online version: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/
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IMAGES, L-R:
Hamlet tormented by the ghost, John Archibald Austen (1886-1948), London, 1922. Public domain via Folger Shakespeare Library: https://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/detail/FOLGERCM1~6~6~383993~133230:Hamlet--a-set-of-121-original-drawi
Ophelia (1910), John William Waterhouse (1849–1917), Andrew Lloyd Webber (private) Collection. Public domain via Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_William_Waterhouse_-_Ophelia,_1894.jpg#/media/File:Ophelia_1910.jpg
Hamlet and Gertrude, black and white, John Archibald Austen (1886-1948), London, 1922. Public domain, via Folger Shakespeare Library, via Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1034139133163642373/
Hamlet (color), 1894, “Scottish artist James Pryde” and “English artist William Nicholson” (pseudonymn: “The Beggarstaff Brothers”). Public domain, via Pinterest: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/57/5e/17/575e176024aa540a1605d10ff1c2aa22.jpg
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INDEX OF OPHELIA POSTS:
My 2023 series on Ophelia, and earlier Ophelia posts:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/10/index-of-ophelia-posts-2023-series-and.html
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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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Thanks for reading!
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