Within a short period of time Gertrude remarries her brother in law as a way to receive the attention and protection that she seeks. Having these women lie in the shadows of the males reveals the power men have over women that Shakespeare suggests.
With the lost of independence the women of Hamlet take on the role as the weakest characters. This weakness makes public as they choose to escape their troubles in life by taking their own lives. Ophelia demonstrates her weakness as she is convinced by her father that Hamlet does not have good intentions, leaving her devastated and unable to find the courage to fight back. Therefore, Ophelia continues to listen to what her father has to say and begins to distance herself from Hamlet by returning his letters and responding to him with little interest. Not being able to be with the one she loves drives Ophelia to go mad especially because she knows the advice she is receiving is taking her in the wrong direction. With this, her madness worsens as Polonius dies leaving her to feel helpless. As a result, since she is so weak she kills herself where Gertrude describes it, .
When down her weedy trophies and herself fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide, and, mermaid-like awhile they bore her up, Which time she chanted snatches of old lauds, as one incapable of her own distress or like a creature native and endued unto that element. But long it could not be till that her garments, heavy with their drink, pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay to muddy death. (4.7.199-208).
Using Ophelia's clothing as a way to describe her death is a metaphor to reveal that her clothes represent the weakness that weighs her down to her death. As well, Gertrude explains that Ophelia did not fight her drowning; instead she let herself sink to the bottom to show the little strength women have.
The lack of strength women have can be explained with Shakespeare's thought that women are used only for their sexuality.