Hamlet Interpretation Of Hamlet

HAMLET:

No, not I. I never gave you aught. (105)

…

I did love you once. (125)

OPHELIA:

Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so. (126)

HAMLET:

You should not have believed me (127)

…

I loved you not. (129)

OPHELIA:

I was the more deceived. (130)

The exchange above, between Hamlet and Ophelia, gives deep insights into Hamlet’s character. One possible interpretation portrays Hamlet as emotional and thoughtless, but loving Ophelia, while another interpretation portrays Hamlet as manipulative and feeling no real love toward Ophelia. Two films of Hamlet, one by Kenneth Branagh and one by Ethan Hawke, each take on one of these interpretations. Right before the conversation, Ophelia attempts to give back the love letters that Hamlet wrote to her. Hamlet’s response is unexpected. Rather than accepting her gesture to

Doing so causes the phrases “I loved you once,” “You should not have believed me,” “I loved you not,” to occur right next to each other. Moving these emotional and contradictory messages so close causes them to seem less sincere. Moreover, he says the line “I loved you not” with much more deliberation, contrasting Branagh’s Hamlet who rushes through the statement very quickly. Hawke’s Hamlet’s lack of anger makes it clear that this line came from rational thought rather than intense emotions. He seems to really mean what he said. Ophelia in this version seems to take Hamlet’s words harder than Ophelia in Branagh’s version. A clip of a jet flying plays after Hamlet’s words, before the camera switches to Ophelia’s face. The jet and its loud noise seems to express the shock that Ophelia feels, the buzz of different thoughts in her mind. She pauses for a long time before turning her head away and whispering, “I was the more deceived.” Interpreting “I love you not” as a true statement completely changes Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia, lending it a darker