1

Phoebe Gilmore
Long Essay Proposal
ENGLIT 0580
Kathleen Davies
Silent and Submissive: Women in Shakespeare
Dame Ellen Terry, a 19th century British actress, once said, Wonderful women!
Have you ever thought how much we all, and women especially, owe to Shakespeare for
his vindication of women in these fearless, high-spirited, resolute and intelligent
heroines? Many scholars, like Terry, view William Shakespeare as a proto-feminist: a
man who liberated women through the use of his written works. While Shakespeare was
certainly progressive for his time when it came to womens issues, I find it quite farfetched to refer to him as proto-feminist. To illustrate my point, I will turn to the
character of Ophelia in his 1603 play Hamlet and his characters of Hero and Beatrice in
his 1623 play Much Ado About Nothing.
Ophelia is often considered an essential character in Hamlet, typically because she
is the love interest of the plays namesake. Freudian critic Jacques Lacan argues that,
Ophelia is obviously essential. She is linked forever, for centuries, to the figure of
Hamlet. Whats interesting is that Lacan does not discuss the nature of Ophelias link
to Hamlet. Essentially, Hamlet owns and completely controls Ophelia after her father
Polonius gives her to him, much like one would give an object away.
From the get-go, there are marked differences between the portrayals of Hamlet
and Ophelia. Shakespeare offers a rich and in-depth description of Hamlets past. We are
told about his relationship with his father, his old friends, and his college education.

2
Ophelia, on the other hand, drops into the storyline without any hint as to any of her past
experiences. Because of this, she remains virtually ambiguous to readers. The problem
of Ophelias ambiguity in the play is only worsened by her rare appearances. Of the
plays twenty scenes, she appears in only five. Is it fair or accurate to call her an essential
character in the play when she is absent for three quarters of it?
But even when Ophelia is present in the play, she is overpowered by the male
forces in her life: her brother Laertes, father Polonius, and lover Hamlet. Her first
appearance in the play is when Laertes and Polonius tell her how to deal with Hamlet.
Laertes says, For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favour, hold it a fashion, and a toy in
blood; a violet in the youth of primy nature, forward, not permanentsweet, not lasting;
the perfume and suppliance of a minute; no more (1.3 6-10). Here, Laertes tells Ophelia
how to act rather than recommending how she should act. She is not afforded autonomy;
she is a sort of puppet for the male figures in her life, acting out their will rather than
choosing her own path.
Polonius acts in a similar fashion. Like Laertes, he instructs Ophelia how to act in
regards to Hamlet. In one scene, he tells her, And that in way of caution, I must tell you.
You do not understand yourself so clearly as it behooves my daughter and your honour
(1.3 104-106). Here, Polonius directly speaks to Ophelia, calling her my daughter.
This signifies the complete dominance Polonius has over his daughter. He also speaks of
her honor, indicating that the way she acts is in direct correlation with his own social
status and thus must be closely monitored.
Later in act 1 scene 3, Polonius says to Ophelia, Marry, I'll teach you: think
yourself a baby; that you have ta'en these tenders for true pay, which are not sterling.

3
Tender yourself more dearly; ornot to crack the wind of the poor phrase, running it thus
youll tender me a fool (1.3 114-118). In Shakespearian times, the word tender was
defined as a proposal of marriage; offer of betrothal. Polonius use of the word
tender multiple times throughout this passage suggests his view of Ophelia in terms of
monetary worth.
Because Polonius and Laertes carefully construct Ophelias actions for her, she
really has no sense of identity. She does not know who she is or have a voice, so when
her father and brother are no longer around to make decisions for her, she is completely
lost. This leads to the demise of her relationship with Hamlet. Hamlet disowns Ophelia,
saying, You should not have believ'd me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but
we shall relish of it. I loved you not (3.1 129) and get thee to a nunnery (3.1 131).
With her father, brother, and lover gone, Ophelia has no one to direct her actions
and eventually goes mad. Even with all of the men and her life gone and her father dead,
Ophelia is still fixated on her male influences. She sings, He is dead and gone, lady/ he
is dead and gone/ at his head a grass-green turf/ at his heels a stone (4.5 34-37). This
passage clearly illustrates Ophelias lack of purpose without men to tell her how to live
her life.
In fact, the first and only decision that Ophelia makes for herself in Hamlet is her
suicide. But even this action is left ambiguousit happens offstage and whether or not it
is a true suicide is still up for debate. Nonetheless, I believe that Ophelia is the opposite
of a feminist character. She is rendered useless when the male forces in her life stop
directing her actionsher only purpose is to be their human puppet.

4
Described by her lover Claudio as, the sweetest lady that ever [he] looked on,
(1.8 147), Hero is a central character in Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing. Besides
being Claudios lover, she is the daughter of Leonato (the governor of Messina), and it
quickly becomes evident that this is nearly all the information given to readers about
Hero. In the first scene, she has exactly one line that refers to her cousin Beatrice: My
cousin means Signor Benedick of Padua (1.1 30). In fact, Hero has a mere 44 lines in
the entire play.
Heros silence throughout the play perpetuates a masculine agenda. In her book
Woman and Gender in Renaissance Tragedy, Dympna Callaghan asserts that, Woman is
marked by a very fundamental absence in the patriarchal scheme: lack both of a phallus
and phallic power, a deficiency upon which all absences are predicated. The injunction
to be silent is a crucial mechanism whereby this asymmetrical distribution of power
between the sexes can be maintained. Because Hero does not take advantage of her
opportunities to speak up, feminine issues fall by the wayside while masculine issues
reign supreme.
Much like Ophelia in Hamlet, Hero allows others to make her major decisions on
her behalf. She decides to be with Claudio because others encourage her. When she is
falsely accused of adultery, she is given the opportunity to finally stand up for herself and
have a voice. Callaghan says, A trial necessarily occasions female enunciation because
women characters must have a platform from which to plea their case. So once Hero is
given a platform to defend herself, what does she say? Nothing.
Perhaps Heros complete lack of autonomy is highlighted by her bold cousin
Beatrice. Beatrice is widely considered one of Shakespeares strongest female characters.

5
CliffsNotes refers to her as one of the most delightful characters in all of Shakespeare
certainly one of the most talkative and witty. Compared to Heros 44 lines in the play,
Beatrice has 106. Even Beatrice, however, cannot fully be considered a feminist
character.
Beatrice is certainly a spirited character. She jabs at her lover Benedick often,
saying such things as Lord, he will hang upon him like a disease! He is sooner
caught than the pestilence, and the taker runs presently mad (1.1 68-70) and Why, he is
the Princes jester, a very dull fool, only his gift is in devising impossible slanders. None
but libertines delight in him (2.1 114-116).
The speech differences between Hero and Beatrice are clear, but does that
necessarily make Beatrice a feminist? When placed next to Hero, she certainly seems to
be a strong feminist, but it she articulates that she cannot make any real change in society
as a woman. In act 4 scene 1, she says, Oh, that I were a man! What, bear her in hand
until they come to take hands and then, with public accusation, uncovered slander,
unmitigated rancorO God, that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the marketplace
(4.1 298-302).
In the preceding quote, Beatrice is telling Hero that she would give Claudio a
piece of her mind for slandering her in front of everyoneif she were a man, that is. As
a woman, Beatrice does not have enough leverage to be able to enact any true alterations
in society or to really talk back to any man. The only man she mouths off to throughout
the course of the play is Benedick, and he is her love interest. Her dialogue with him
perhaps appears much more pointed than it really is because of the lack of dialogue
between the other set of lovers, Hero and Claudio.

6
Beatrice also seems to contradict herself by marrying Benedick. Throughout the
course of the play, she denounces the idea of marriage, saying, Just, if He send me no
husband, for the which blessing I am at Him upon my knees every morning and evening.
Lord, I could not endure a husband with a beard on his face. I had rather lie in the
woolen (2.1 27-29). It is unclear about whether Beatrice is saying that she is completely
against the institution of marriage or is simply unconvinced that she will ever find the
right man for her. Either way, the idea of marriage does not excite her.
Yet, she ends up marrying Benedick like society commands her to. It is
disheartening that after she vehemently goes against the idea of marriage, she succumbs
to it. Their marriage feels rushed and obligatory. In fact, Beatrice and Benedick do not
even fall in love until they overhear the other professing their love for them.
Both Ophelia and Hero are considered weak female characters in Shakespeare.
They do not stand up for themselves and are in fact instruments used to support the
masculine agenda. However, even strong female characters like Beatrice may not be
that strong. In the end, all three give into male desires: Ophelia is driven mad by a lack
of male guidance, Hero marries Claudio after he publically slanders her, and Beatrice
marries Benedick after vowing to never marry.
Though Shakespeare makes a clear effort to create strong female characters, I
believe that his efforts fall short. As Peter Erickson articulates, His frequent
endorsement of benevolent patriarchy shows that he remains enmeshed in the assumption
that social harmony depends on male control, sensitively applied. The only Shakespeare
characters that manage to maintain any sort of control or power over others are men.

7
Women were not even allowed in the theater in Shakespearian times; it is hard to pursue a
feminist agenda when women cannot even set foot on the stage.
Feminism has come a tremendous way since the times of Shakespeare. But, to
call Shakespeare a feminist is simply inaccurate because his plays are streaked with
notions of the patriarchy and male privilege. Though Shakespeare made strides toward
gender equality, it is evident that Renaissance females were not equivalent to men. I
conclude that Shakespeare was a humanist, not a feminist.

8
Works Cited
Callaghan, Dympna. Woman and Gender in Renaissance Tragedy: A Study of King Lear,
Othello, the Duchess of Malfi, and the White Devil. Atlantic Highlands, NJ:
Humanities International, 1989. Print.
"Contact Us." The Myriad: Westminster's Interactive Academic Journal. Web. 16 Nov.
2015.
Erickson, Peter. "Shakespeare, Feminist Criticism Of." Shakespeare, Feminist Criticism
Of. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
"Much Ado About Nothing." Beatrice. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.
"Quotes About Shakespeare." No Sweat Shakespeare. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.
"Romeo and Juliet." Shakespeare's Words. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Shakespeare, William, and Stephen Greenblatt. The Norton Shakespeare: Essential
Plays, the Sonnets. Abridged 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2009. Print.
"Women In Hamlet." Women In Hamlet. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.