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The Possibility Of Hamlet Being Female

            
             The idea of a women acting has Hamlet is not incredibly new. In 1899 Sarah Bernhardt took on the role of Hamlet. Bernhardt was later deemed "tres grande dame." Today there is an organization known as the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company (LAWSC) with casts plays (not necessarily Shakespearean plays) with all female casts. In 1995 the LAWSC cast Hamlet in an all women ensemble. .
             It has been brought up that a woman playing the role of Hamlet will create a tension between representations of masculinity and femininity. In Elizabethan theatre, males were the only actors on the stage. .
             In 1920 a female Hamlet was produced with the belief that Hamlet could never have been a man due to Hamlet's procrastinating tendencies. This comes from a Victorian interpretation of Hamlet that could trace its roots to Edward P. Vining. This example is clearly not an open, liberal casting of Hamlet, it is rather a sexist production that puts forth the idea that women are the ones who postpone and men are persistent workers.
             Fatma Girik's Hamlet of 1977 casts Hamlet as a female who is raised as a male. This plot occurs strictly for reasons of the throne. Hamlet is a women and a daughter, creating a lady of action. The main plot must be radically different in order to accommodate this wildly different circumstance. .
             In modern times we have seen very different actors play Hamlet, both male and female. These actors include: Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Angela Winkler. .
             I have seen a female read Hamlet's part in a class. It became clear as the play progressed that she did a better job of reading the part then any other class member probably could have done. I write this because I have also seen her read Macbeth's part and did an excellent job. If anything she underplayed Hamlet's femininity. .
             In Shakespeare, there are so many things to think about; therefore it is unreasonable to worry about the person behind the role.


Essays Related to The Possibility Of Hamlet Being Female

1. Examples of Humanity in Shakespeare's Hamlet

Imperfection is innate to the human condition and it is exemplified in "Hamlet." ... "Hang on him increase of appetitefed," conforming to their virtuous or unchaste dichotomy constrained expressions of female independence in order to maintain control of the perceived flaws in women. The intense personal relationship of Gertrude and Hamlet is constructed in a form in which Hamlet's fixation is provided little context, allowing for the development of speculative interpretations. ... " Referencing the historical figure Alexander the Great is utilized to promote the pertinence...

  • Word Count: 875
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Graduate

2. Hamlet

The enormity of the stress that Gertrude puts upon Hamlet makes Hamlet develop a substantial resentment towards her. ... She is a convenient target because, being a woman who loves him, she does not fight back against Hamlet (in addition, Hamlet's insanity also prevents her from doing so). ... This latter development would eliminate the possibility that Hamlet might feel estrangement from motherly love in attempting to kill or from succeeding in killing Claudius. ... Hamlet, being their blood relative, will likely feel the same). ... in Hamlet's decision-making calculus. ...

  • Word Count: 3498
  • Approx Pages: 14
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Hamlet and One Flew

Both Hamlet and R.P. ... Both Ratchet and Claudius begin to feel fouled; they are compelled out of fear for their own well being and fear of being disclosed into exerting the pressure their power allow them. ... Yet another issue both heroes have with the female gender that is a prominent characteristic in each is a lack of respect for women in authority. ... Queen Gertrude is viewed in a similar fashion by Hamlet. ... Possibly their relationships with females in powerful positions reflects on their use of non-threatening girls as objects of sexual desire. ...

  • Word Count: 2440
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Literary Definitions

Much like the famous play staged by Prince Hamlet. Although paradox is essentially a form of wit and humor and Hamlet is well- renown for its tragic events. ... Even though choosing Hamlet to refer to is a slight paradox in itself there is much scope for formalist criticism (of which paradox is a part) in Hamlet, after all the theme of the plot as Shakespeare wrote is "cowards die many times before their deaths." ... Yet Elliot who, unusually for a female of the time, strayed away from the popular Romantic style, with her choice of writing being not dis- similar to that of a male. ... Th...

  • Word Count: 1750
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. Women in Shakespearian Comedies

Some of the most interesting female characters in Shakespeare's writing are Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Viola and Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark and Hamlet's mother, in Hamlet. ... Theseus, clearly invested in maintaining the prevailing social order because it advances his own interests.In other words, gender roles and expectations are being stated to this strong female character in no uncertain terms. ... In the rest of the play, however, Hermia reveals other aspects of her personality that confirm how complex every human being is, whether...

  • Word Count: 2208
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Graduate

6. Poetry

I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; 112 Am an attendant lord, one that will do 113 To swell a progress, start a scene or two, 114 Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, 115 Deferential, glad to be of use, 116 Politic, cautious, and meticulous; 117 Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse; 118 At times, indeed, almost ridiculous-- 119 Almost, at times, the Fool. 120 I grow old ... ... Prince Hamlet: not Shakespeare's noble prince, who resisted the temptation to commit suicide in his "To be or not to be" speech (alluded to at line's end), but ins...

  • Word Count: 6460
  • Approx Pages: 26
  • Grade Level: High School

7. James Bond

In addition to being one of the most unforgettable of the "Bond Girls", Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore is one of the toughest and most self-sufficient women to cross 007's path. ... Bond tracks Goldfinger to Switzerland, where late one night he sneaks into a factory belonging to Goldfinger and discovers Goldfinger's Rolls-Royce being melted down. ... Goldfinger uses Pussy Galore's (Honor Blackman) Flying Circus of female pilots to spread what he thinks is nerve gas across the Fort Knox military base. ... Even faced with certain death, he can cheer himself by focusing instead...

  • Word Count: 2504
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Comparative Study - A Midsummer Night's Dream

Introduction In this comparative study I will examine the representation of the magical creatures in two adaptations of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream: the eponymous video registration of Benjamin Britten's opera performed at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1981, conducted by Bernard Haitink,...

  • Word Count: 9832
  • Approx Pages: 39
  • Grade Level: High School

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