Roles of the Women in Shakespeare's Hamlet

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the roles of women are minor yet essential to the plot and flow of the play. The only two women in play are both portrayed exclusively in terms of their direct relationship to the main character, the reluctant avenger, Hamlet. Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, is central to the plot due to her marriage to the new king, Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. The other female role is Ophelia, who Hamlet is romantically involved with or, according to her brother Laertes, who Hamlet is merely "trifling of his favour" (Act 1 Scene 3, Line 5).