The protagonist, Hamlet, is someone who has a large influence on women in the play. In
the play, women are not main characters and were only made to be love interests with men. A
feminist lens can be used in this play by analyzing how women affect men, and how men treat
women.
In the play, women are merely supporting characters, and do not have a voice of their
own. Men often use women to find information about other people. For example, Gertrude has
been taken advantage of multiple times, and her opinions never see the light of day.
In addition, the women have been given no control in their life. The character, Ophelia, is
depicted as submissive and powerless. She never denies commands when told to do anything,
even if it is not in her interests(especially her father Polonius).
To summarize, women are not main characters and were only made to be love interests
with men. Gertrude and Ophelia show what life is like for women, and how they were controlled
and used by males.