As a woman in today's society, it is pretty obvious how much our lives throughout the day differ compared to the daily life of the typical man in society. Women for the last hundreds of years have never felt comfortable or at ease while walking down an empty street later in the night, and now it has even escalated to women no longer feeling well enough to go into a public bathroom by themselves. Unfortunately, these habits have become too normal and have resorted to becoming regular behavior for today's women, as there is a very slim chance that you will see a young woman late at night alone.

In the fall semester of 2017, I took my first British Literature class where we continuously studied the Shakespeare play "Hamlet". For our last project of the semester, we were asked to take any few lines from one of our favorite plays and turn those lines into a new form of media. This meaning, to show the audience a new approach to the lines that they may not have thought of while reading them in the text. I decided to choose "Hamlet" seeing many similarities between the lines I had chosen, and the behavior of today's women in society.

The lines I chose in particular were from a scene where the character Laertes is speaking to his younger sister Ophelia, and telling her to beware of Hamlet and any other man that tries to win her heart, for she is only safe in fear rather than standing up for herself.

"If she unmask her beauty to the moon..."

"Virtue itself scapes not calumnious strokes..."

"And in the mourn and liquid dew of youth..."

"The canker galls the infants of the spring..."

"Contagious blastments are most imminent..."

"Too oft before their buttons be disclosed..."

"Be wary then; best safety lies in fear." - Laertes from Hamlet by William Shakespeare

My purpose for taking these pictures was to show viewers what it looks like for a young woman to be alone out on the streets with the fear of dangerous conditions coming her way. Taking the words that William Shakespeare wrote and applying them to certain situations, and even possibly showing a new meaning, can hopefully turn into an eye-opening experience for many who do not understand the daily struggles women in society have to go through. Such as nothing to protect yourself with except your own strength, a car key, or just running. The story of "Hamlet" is one that is considered a classic and will be a timeless play that will never be forgotten, but the messages for women portrayed in the play will also never be forgotten when put side by side with the constant struggles women still to this day face.