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Section 3: Overview

Gender Roles

We will read Act 4 of Hamlet and explore the play through a feminist lens, answering the following questions:

  • How are the characters of Ophelia and Gertrude portrayed in the play?

  • What stereotypes do they embody? What stereotypes do they defy?

  • How are they treated by the male characters?

  • What power do they have?

We will compare Ophelia’s portrayal in the play with her depiction in the famous painting Ophelia by John Everett Millais. We will explore multiple perspectives of Ophelia in the essay “Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism.”

  • Lesson 1:

    We will engage in a one-on-one philosophical chairs discussion that explores whether literary criticisms present justifiable interpretations of Hamlet.

  • Lesson 2:

    We will read the informational text “Hamlet: A Feminist Argument” to explore differing perspectives about feminist criticism. We will analyze the central ideas of the text and use a range of strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words in the text.

  • Lesson 3:

    We will discuss Act 4, Scenes 1 and 2. We will read Act 4, Scenes 3 and 4 and explore the scenes through multiple critical lenses.

  • Lesson 4:

    We will view a film adaptation of Act 4, Scene 5 and examine Ophelia through a feminist lens.

  • Lesson 5:

    We will read Act 4, Scene 6 and explore how the scene contributes to the structure of the play. We will read Act 4, Scene 7 and examine its use of verbal irony.

  • Lesson 6:

    We will continue our analysis of Act 4, Scene 7. We will examine a visual representation of Ophelia and compare its interpretation to the original text.

  • Lesson 7:

    We will participate in a “silent conversation” to examine multiple feminist perspectives on the character Ophelia.

  • Lesson 8:

    We will return to our original group’s “silent conversation” chart paper, examine our peers’ written responses, and have a discussion about the quotations, interesting ideas, and lingering questions. We will read “Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism” and begin unpacking its central ideas and structure.

  • Lesson 9:

    We will examine the structure of “Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism.”

  • Lesson 10:

    We will evaluate the evidence and reasoning in “Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism” and begin drafting our support paragraphs for the Section 3 Diagnostic.

  • Lesson 11:

    We will engage in a peer review of our supporting paragraphs and draft our thesis statements.

  • Lesson 12:

    We will draft an introduction and conclusion for our response to the Section 3 Diagnostic.

  • Lesson 13:

    We will finalize our well-developed, multiparagraph literary analysis that defends or challenges a claim of the literary criticism. We will support our analysis using a variety of well-selected, relevant evidence from Hamlet and any other texts we have read or viewed.

  • Lesson 14:

    We will review feedback on the Section Diagnostic. We will use the feedback to make revisions to our work.

  • Lesson 15:

    We will share the understanding we have gained through our independent reading and continue to read our texts.