love for his father was not real He says Frailty thy name is woman This line shows Hamlet s deep disappointment with her mother and with women in general Here frailty means weakness To Hamlet Gertrude s quick marriage shows moral weakness and lack of loyalty Gertrude s Weakness Shakespeare presents Gertrude as a woman who depends too much on men The play never shows that she knows Claudius killed the king Her marriage seems foolish but not criminal She might have married quickly because she wanted safety after losing her husband So her weakness lies in her dependence on men She loves Hamlet deeply and worries about his strange behavior But she does not realize her son s true concern This is why she says this when Hamlet accuses her What have I done that thou so rude against me Gertrude does not see Claudius s evil nature until it is too late Finally she drinks from the poisoned wine cup and dies So Gertrude s dependence on men and her inability to realize her son s pain make her a weak character This fact validates Hamlet s observation about women Ophelia s Obedience and Tragic End Ophelia is another example of womanly frailty in the play She is young innocent and kind-hearted She loves Hamlet But she is also completely controlled by the men around her her father Polonius her brother Laertes and Hamlet himself When her father tells her not to meet Hamlet anymore she obeys without question She says I shall obey my lord This obedience shows her gentle nature but also her inability to decide for herself When Hamlet begins to act mad and speaks cruelly to her Ophelia becomes heartbroken and confused She cannot understand his strange behavior After her father s death at Hamlet s hands she loses her mental balance and falls into madness She sings sad songs and finally dies by drowning Shakespeare uses Ophelia to show how a pure but powerless woman can be destroyed by the harshness of the world around her Women as Victims of a Male-Dominated World Both Gertrude and Ophelia are victims of a world ruled by men Their lives and choices are controlled by fathers husbands or lovers Gertrude is ruled by Claudius s power and desire Ophelia is ruled by Polonius s commands They do not have the freedom to act according to their own will It shows us that women in that time were often dependent and emotionally fragile So Hamlet s words Frailty thy name is woman come from anger and disappointment but they also show the sad reality of women s lives in society In conclusion both Gertrude and Ophelia in different ways confirm Hamlet s observation about the frailty of women Gertrude s quick marriage shows her moral weakness and dependency Ophelia s blind obedience shows her emotional weakness Their frailty is not their fault alone it is the result of the society and men around them