Hamlet 4.5

Question 1

does gender restrict in Hamlet?

Answer 1

Women were viewed as chaste or promiscuous, Elaine Sholwater views the madness of Ophelia as sexual hysteria
The melancholia for Hamlet was seen as fashionable for young men at the time, his overthinking some have noted is too feminine,

Question 2

how does Elaine Showwalter view Ophelia?

Answer 2

she refuses very few times in the play, she believes that her tragedy is subordinated to that of Hamlet
Critic lee Edwards noted that “we can imagine Hamlets story without Ophelia, but Ophelia has no story without Hamlet”

Question 3

the significance of madness within the play

Answer 3

madness was associated with melancholy- the 4 humours
Ophelia has been used in a study of female mental illness

Question 4

what is the cause of Ophelia’s madness?

Answer 4

Tosh, 2016- “distracted woman pushed into insanity by love”
Showalter- “love-madness”