The infamous Shakespearean play Hamlet is a story of irony, tragedy, and uncertainty. Based upon many themes and motifs, these ideas create the foundation of this profound literary work. William Shakespeare causes the reader to rethink the essence of life and to consider its uncertainty. The themes of incestuous desire and misogyny are two devices that create the character of Hamlet. Shakespeare coincides these two subject matters to reveal Hamlet's attitudes and behavior towards women.
             Part of Hamlet's feelings of anxiety and despair come from the marriage of his mother, Gertrude, and his uncle and brother to King Hamlet, Claudius. Two months after the death of her husband, King Hamlet, Gertrude marries Claudius, ironically out of love and also to remain Queen of Denmark. This incestuous union is difficult for Hamlet to endure because he thought his mother was indeed in love with his father. In Act 1 Scene 2, Hamlet states "she would hang on him/As if increase of appetite had grown/By what it fed on". Gertrude's demeanor toward her husband led one to believe that being with King Hamlet only made her want to be with him even more. However, despite the crying at the funeral, within a month she had shown "wicked speed to post/With such dexterity to incestuous sheets". Gertrude's manners and mentality disgust Hamlet because for the first time he understands his mother; she is a woman who seeks affection and social status more than moral integrity.
             Another theme of Hamlet is misogyny. Misogyny is defined as a hatred toward women. This theme relates not only toward Gertrude but to Ophelia, the sweet and maidenly daughter of Polonius with whom Hamlet has been in love. After witnessing the marriage of his mother to Claudius, Hamlet becomes skeptical about women in general, showing a distinct fixation with what he believes to be a connection between female sexuality and moral conception. Hamlet urges Opheli...