The Athenian Feminist: The Role of Women in Hamlet and Oedipus Rex Stephanie Pilla 11th Grade

Historically, women have been characterized by their apparent weakness, their subservience and their dependence on men. Exploring literature from the past, writing often reflects the degradation of females that has marred society for centuries. Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex both illustrate patriarchal societies in which women are depicted as the weaker sex. These texts present sexist attitudes relevant to the time period, however, Jocasta from Oedipus Rex defies the sexist stereotypes of her time and emerges as the unlikely powerful female character.

Men are most frequently predominant characters in any piece of literature, whereas female characters are often background personalities whose identities contribute very little to the narrative. In Hamlet, Hamlet’s mother Gertrude is able to influence her son’s emotions and fuel his motivation for vengeance over his father’s death. Her overhasty, incestuous marriage to her brother-in-law Claudius leaves Hamlet torn, feeling as if the world is contaminated like an “unweeded garden, / That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature / Possess it merely” (1.2.139-141). Despite her unruly actions, the ghost of old King Hamlet advises his son to spare his mother and...