#lesbian hamlet

[evilwhimsy]

do i write an analysis comparing lesbian!hamlet / hamlet in general to iliwys by the 1975 or do i revise for my english lang exam tomorrow

[evilwhimsy]

so i have been fuelled on my lesbian hamlet rant . i have a google doc with things i believe would / wouldn't change in hamlet's life if SHE were a lesbian woman

to begin, her feigning madness (and later decent into) would be perceived differently by those around her. polonius probably wouldn't consider her madness a result of her love for ophelia - and would consider it a case of female hysteria. she'd be seen as volatile or just a product of "female hysteria" and perhaps would not be seen by an elizabethan audience as strategic but impulsive and imprudent.

the relationship , not only between ophelia would change but perhaps Gertrude too. as a woman herself hamlet's misogynistic comments would perhaps be looked past or considered in gest. i feel as though hamlet's hatred toward her mother would be much more confusing for her to dissect. she'd understand the societal pressure as a woman to marry quickly but equally as queen gertrude would be allowed to make the final decision on the matter. in my opinion she'd still consider the marriage incestuous but would be less inclined to voice this to anyone other than perhaps horatio.

on the other hand, i don't believe hamlet's feelings for ophelia would change. their relationship would still be strained by polonius' strictness (perhaps worried that hamlet is corrupting ophelia, turning her to ways of "the female persuasion") however to audiences of the time their relationship would probably be interpreted in more of a sisterly light , only properly being dissected as romantic to a modern reader. i believe that hamlet would still do much of what she did to convince those around her of madness (breaking into ophelia's bedchamber , writing her love letters of which she later denounces & using misogynistic language toward her, referring to her as "a breeder of sinners" and such)

her agency would be taken less seriously in society, expected to marry before inheriting the crown or even worse , would encourage claudius and gertrude to birth a boy , a rightful heir to the throne. her quest for revenge would be more poignant, breaking free from her gender constraints in order to be seen as successful. claudius would underestimate her as a threat making her later crimes more shocking to not only the audience but to claudius himself. the way claudius treats hamlet would differ too , he'd perhaps rely more on manipulation to keep her down - reducing her to nothing but a woman.

in her portrayal of , and later genuine madness, I feel as though much of her “sense in nonsense” attitude remains. she speaks in riddles and confusing terms. as well as much of her vulgar humor stays in tact , shocking for those around her as well as an elizabethan audience. her wit is integral to her character , she uses it as deflection and intellectual dominance exposing hypocrisy amongst the court. her behaviour would be more shocking than that of a male hamlet and perhaps be a further reason for polonius to advise ophelia to stay away from her. she’d use it as a weapon in a world that undermines her.

she retains much of her bawdiness but would be interpreted differently. a typical reading of this behaviour could perhaps be seen as jealousy for the ease of ophelia’s life in comparison to hamlet’s. similarly it would be a reflection of her internalised misogynistic behavior and a projection of her hatred for her mother. i believe it would also contribute to the same sex subtext i’m convinced would happen if there be a female hamlet but her “inappropriate” jokes would be fuel toward a disdain from those who observe ophelia and hamlet , specifically in the “play within a play” in act three.

rant over

[dandizettes]

some concept hamlets. the book was supposed to be a 1950s lesbian pulp novel but i couldn’t really get it in so tiny (its “forbidden sex” by joan ellis, in case anyone was wondering)

[willowtreewillowtree]

i see my lesbian hamlet post is making the rounds again, bless

[dandizettes]

this is disorganized and messy but i have so many THOUGHTS on Rage Lady Dyke Hamlet

just so we're clear, in this hypothetical production hamlet is like 19ish. (i think it's VERY hard to take hamlet as a character seriously when they're portrayed as 30 years old. i know that's what the script says but they like Really have the emotional turbulence and maturity of a teenager)

(also in this hypothetical production horatio is a girl as well. the hamlet/horatio dynamic isn't touched on in this post but don't worry i will be getting to that)

so obviously like SO many aspects of hamlets character are impacted by making them a girl-- all the misogyny becomes either internalized or even maybe some sort of commentary on womanhood; "frailty thy name is woman" feels almost like an "im not like other girls" situation-- because shes talking explicitly about women in an heterosexual framework (gertrudes marriage) when she herself is decidedly alienated from heterosexuality-- she is at once distancing herself from conventional, heterosexual womanhood and condemning it. "get thee to a nunnery" becomes almost like hamlet trying to tell ophelia that there is no way to win at womanhood-- that performing womanhood "correctly", won't win her subjectivity in the eyes of the men in her life, and only serves to hurt her further. particularly, with different gender dynamics, the "make your wantonness your ignorance" bit at the end of hamlet's tirade reads much less like hamlet criticizing women for experiencing sexuality than criticizing "correct" women like ophelia for dissociating from their sexuality-- the "ignorance" is the problem here, not the "wantonness". (mind you, she's being very mean about it and there is certainly a degree of internalized misogyny throughout-- but still it's no where near as cruel as how that scene plays with male!hamlet. and i know some of this might sound like a reach, but to be fair this narrative was really not intended for my purposes). with this reading, when hamlet says "it hath made me mad" it is no longer a man policing women's behavior-- women being full humans is what has made male!hamlet "mad"-- but a woman pushed to the brink by misogyny-- womanhood as it exists under patriarchy, and especially teenage girlhood as it exists under patriarchy, is what has made female!hamlet "mad".

[the-mad-prince-of-denmark]

Lesbian Hamlet moodboard for @butchaes