Through much of English literature woman are portrayed as objects. During the Shakespeare time period of the 1600's women were not considered to be worth much beyond their beauty. In Shakespeare’s time women were not even allowed in the theaters to see his plays. Women had only two roles, wife and mother. There to stand behind their man, do to please them. Women were used for the men's own purpose. They walked in the man's shadow, for without men they would be nothing. Women were used for men's personal gain, flaunting their sexuality. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, women are faced with high expectations and double standards. Men and women have an obligatory relationship, women are to remain loyal and faithful to their man, honest and fair, and uphold the most beauty. There are only two women who are important in Hamlet, the queen and loving mother Gertrude and the beautiful, young Ophelia. Although they may be big characters, they do not have big roles. Both are used by the men, manipulated for the men's needs. They do not say much, and what they do say is often over looked. Hamlet portrays the women to be clueless and a bit evil.
Back in the Elizabethan era, women were sexual icons. Their beauty was held high for sexual innuendos. Women who had more beauty were more prone to lose their virginity at false love in Hamlet's mind. Ironically, he is talking about Ophelia. He told Ophelia that he loved her so she slept with him. Ophelia realizes this, “Young men will do't, if they come to't; by cock, they are to blame. Quoth she, before you tumbled me, you promised me to wed. so would I ha' done, by yonder sun, an thou hadst not come to my bed." (IV.v.60)Ophelia is not the only girl in history that has been fooled by a man's fake promises. She believed that Hamlet loved her and would marry her, so she slept with him so he would not think she was a prude. But then Hamlet does not love Ophelia because she is no longer pure. Critics would describe Ophelia as "merely young...