Samantha Gordon
Hamlet’s “Frailty”
The definition that the Oxford English Dictionary provides for “frailty” as “moral weakness; instability of mind; liability to err or yield to temptation” (OED, 2nd Edition, s.v. “Frailty,” 2a) touches upon many themes in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Hamlet frequently calls the moral states of his mother and stepfather into question, both in regard to their marriage and move “with such dexterity to incestuous sheets,” (I.2.157) and later when he begins to suspect Claudius of his father’s murder. “Instability of mind” becomes a recurring motif as Ophelia becomes “divided from herself and her fair judgment” (IV.5.85) with grief for her father, and Claudius is increasingly tormented by his conscience after murdering his brother, the King. Hamlet especially exhibits an unstable mood and mind, as he feigns madness, and alternates between periods of careful planning, indecision, and the occasional “rash and bloody deed.” (III.4.27)
The “liability to err,” in particular, is a major theme throughout the play. Hamlet is obsessed by his search for the truth about his father’s death, and delays his actions repeatedly while he formulates complex plans to collect proof of Claudius’ guilt. Hamlet’s fear of making an error arises again in his soliloquies regarding suicide, where he wrestles with the question of “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune/ or to take arms against a sea of troubles/ and by opposing end them.” (III.1.57-60) However, despite his carefully laid plans, Hamlet cannot escape his “liability to err,” which becomes obvious when he accidentally kills Polonius, thinking that he might be the King.
Though it alludes to many of the play’s themes, the actual term “frailty” is directed quite specifically in the context of Hamlet. “Frailty, thy name is woman,” (I.2.146) Hamlet says, regarding what he sees as Gertrude’s “moral weakness” in marrying Claudius. Interestingly, though Hamlet makes this statement about his mother, it is Ophelia, the other major female character in the play, who is best described as “fragile.” Ophelia’s weakness is seen in her absolute dependence on the men; despite her love for Hamlet, she obeys her father’s instructions to test his sanity, and loses her own mind when Polonius is killed.
His implication that women themselves are “a fault rising from infirmity, or a weakness” (OED, 2nd Edition, s.v. “Frailty,” 2b) is the first of many misogynistic attitudes that Hamlet adopts. Hamlet sees women as likely to “yield to temptation,” lust, and, therefore, moral corruption. Though Hamlet warns Ophelia to “be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow…get thee to a nunnery,” (III.1.136-7) so that she will not become a “breeder of sinners” (III.1.122) like his own mother, it seems as though he has misplaced the blame. Neither Gertrude nor Ophelia initiates any of the actions that occur in the play, but end up betraying Hamlet as a result of their loyalty to and compliance with Claudius and Polonius, respectively. In both cases, it is frailty that is each woman’s tragic flaw; Gertrude’s “liability to err or yield to temptation,” and Ophelia’s lack of moral strength and independence are what eventually lead to the downfalls of Hamlet and themselves.