What is Shakespeare suggesting about women through Hamlet's disposition towards his mother overall?

Answer 1

Hamlet's varying disposition toward his mother tells us a lot about Hamlet but not a lot about women. Yes, he says "Frailty, thy name is woman!" but that's just Hamlet being steamed off by his mother's remarriage. We shouldn't conclude as a result that Shakespeare thought that women were frail. On the contrary.

If you want to get an idea of what Shakespeare thought about women, you are better advised to look at what they do, rather than what the men around them think of them. Othello may have been persuaded that Desdemona is immoral and incapable of monogamy, but we know that on the contrary she is incredibly faithful to him, even when he mistreats her. Ford may have been jealous of Mrs. Ford, but she and Mrs. Page are both levelheaded and morally true, although mischievous.

If you look at Gertrude through Hamlet's eyes you may see a monster, but if you look at what she does, she is not a bad person. She genuinely cares for Claudius (as he does for her), and married him in good faith, not knowing what he did to get her. She also genuinely cares for Hamlet, and is interested in his well-being. She does not betray him to Claudius (although Claudius has figured out what is going on) and although it is not clear, she may also have agreed to Hamlet's suggestion to stop having sex with Claudius. (Some have said that this is why he says, "Oh, Gertrude, Gertrude, when sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions"--the first sorrow is that their love life has tapered off). A further example of her kind and loving nature is her treatment of Ophelia. At the same time she feels guilt (that spills itself in fearing to be spilt), although it is not clear why.

That will tell you much more about what Shakespeare might think about women than everything that Hamlet says.