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Ophelia as a Foil to Hamlet
In Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, the audience finds a docile, manipulated, scolded, victimized young lady named Ophelia. Ophelia is a foil to Hamlet. Plays have foils to help the audience better understand the more important characters in the play. The character of Ophelia is necessary so that the audience will give Hamlet a chance to get over his madness and follow his heart.
Similarities are an important part of being a foil. One similarity that Hamlet and Ophelia share are that they both are children of controlling parents. [SV - 1] Hamlet's father, who is murdered, comes back as a ghost to tell him who his murderer is. This news is his father's way of controlling him from the grave. Hamlet's mother and stepfather are also controlling him by persuading Hamlet not to go to Wittenburg. Ophelia is also controlled by her father. She tells him how Hamlet has tried many times to express his affections for her. Ophelia's father does not believe Hamlet is sincere and orders her to stay away from him. Ophelia obeys her father's wishes. Women were expected to do as they were told and believed what they were told to be true.
Another similarity between Hamlet and Ophelia is the feelings they have for each other. In the beginning of the play, we are led to believe that Hamlet loves Ophelia. This frightens Ophelia, but that does not mean she does not have feelings for him also. It is her father who encourages her to suppress any feelings she may have then. Later in the play Ophelia confesses her love for Hamlet, and he then hides his feelings and denies that he loved her. He suggests that she go to a nunnery. This makes Ophelia feel worthless and not wanted.
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... when Ophelia takes her life, Hamlet does just that. [SS-1] He again admits to his love for her and apologizes to her brother Laertes for the death of their father. At the end of the play Hamlet's madness is also brought to an end, and he joins Ophelia again.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Pennington, Michael. "Ophelia: Madness Her Only Safe Haven." Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. of "Hamlet": A User's Guide. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996.
Pitt, Angela. "Women in Shakespeare's Tragedies." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint of Shakespeare's Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.
Lets Foil In the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare, the character Hamlet is a multi-dimensional character with multiple personalities that give the play a greater depth and perspective. Through his monologues and soliloquies, many different personalities of Hamlet are exposed, including his three basic contrasting personalities: clear-minded vs. troubled, action vs. inaction, and obedience/innocence vs. revenge. Throughout the story, both contrasting personalities are depicted by both Hamlet himself and other similar foil characters who are in similar circumstances but react in drastically different ways. Three such foil characters are Horatio, who shows a clear mind in the midst of his troubles, Fortinbras, who chooses action over inaction, and Ophelia, who depicts innocence throughout the midst of the chaos of the play.
Living in an environment of deception and hostility, the reader can easily identify with Hamlet's anger. Most all compassionate audiences will be sympathetic to his plight. However, the origins of Hamlet's vehement actions toward his once beloved Ophelia can be debated from several different points of view. Whatever his reasoning may be, it is probably correct to assume that he regrets deeply every harsh world spoken toward Ophelia. He only realizes again what a beautiful and kind person she was- after her death.
Ophelia serves as a mirror or foil of Hamlet throughout the play. Being a weak and sensitive woman, Ophelia compliments Hamlet’s strengths in his ability to cope with problems he faces and the corruption within his family. Where Ophelia is weak, Hamlet is
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html
To stay in control, the men in Hamlet taught Ophelia to fear her every day, natural thoughts causing her not to think for herself. Gabrielle Dane's article, "Reading Ophelia's Madness," discusses Polonius and Laertes retarding Ophelia's identity. Dane writes, "Both brother and father smother Ophelia in an incestuous strangle-hold, each the self-appointed tutor of her moral, intellectual, even psychological development" (407). Ophelia's father and brother telling her what to think only hurts her development instead of helping it in the long run. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia looks to others for answers because she does not possess her own thoughts. Shakespeare shows how Polonius responds to Ophelia when she says she does not know what to think:
the rights of the citizens of the United States. Following these Amendments can afford our
Ophelia begins the play as an innocent, trusting, and spirited young girl, full of promise and full of life. But, all too soon her view of men and the world in general is tainted. Her brother warns her that Hamlet may be toying with her affections and to, "fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister..." (1.3.33). With these simple words he implants the seeds of distrust and betrayal. These themes of distrust and betrayal are interwoven throughout much of the play, from the murder of the King, to the constant spying of Polonius.
2. Similarities are an important part of being a foil. One similarity that Hamlet and Ophelia share are that they both are children of controlling parents. [SV - 1] Hamlet's father, who is murdered[,] comes back as a ghost to tell him who his murderer is. This news is his father's way of controlling him from the grave. Hamlet's mother and stepfather are also controlling him by presuading [persuading] Hamlet not to go to Wittenburg. Men in those days went away to get an education. There was no need for Hamlet to do so because he was a prince. [As a Prince, he might have been even more likely to go abroad for his education.] Ophelia is controlled by her father also. She tells him how Hamlet has tried many times to express his affections for her. Ophelia's father does not believe Hamlet is sincere and orders her to stay away from him. Ophelia obeys her father[']s wishes. Women were expected to do as they were told and believed what they were told to be true.
Bankruptcy is where an individual or in this case a corporation claims that is not able to pay its lenders and/or creditors any more. By doing this the filer gains protection from its lenders while reorganizing itself to stay in business. Bankruptcy is defined by the Congress under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, in which the Congress revised in 2005 called Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA). This act addresses the increased number of bankruptcy filing, loopholes and incentives that allowed for abuse and the financial ability of debtors.
There is much similarity between Gertrude and Ophelia in the play. Both are attractive and simple minded, and are easily shaped by opinion, desires and ideas of others. Ophelia and Gertrude seem to be the same women at different stages in their lives. This may be one of the reasons why Hamlet was first attracted to Ophelia and now the reason why Hamlet rejects Ophelia.
Hamlet provides his own self-torture and does fall victim to melancholia and grief - his madness is feigned. They each share a common connection: the loss of a parental figure. Hamlet loses his father as a result of a horrible murder, as does Ophelia. Her situation is more severe because it is her lover who murders her father and all of her hopes for her future as well. Ultimately, it is also more detrimental to her character and causes her melancholy and grief to quickly turn to irretrievable madness.
In the play “Hamlet,” Gertrude and Ophelia share similarities and they are also contrasting characters. Gertrude, the mother of Hamlet, is a loving, honorable, protective mother. Ophelia, Hamlet’s love interest, is young, foolish, and underestimated. One of the main stances, to which they both contrast, is their love for Hamlet.
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia is the most static character in the play. Instead of changing through the course of the play, she remains suffering in the misfortunes perpetrated upon her. She falls into insanity and dies a tragic death. Ophelia has issues surviving without a male influence, and her downfall is when all the men in her life abandon her. Hamlet’s Ophelia, is a tragic, insane character that cannot exist on her own.
Ophelia’s betrayal ends up putting Hamlet over the edge, motivating him in his quest for revenge. Ophelia is one of the two women in the play. As the daughter of Polonius, she only speaks in the company of several men, or directly to her brother or father. Since we never see her interactions with women, she suppresses her own thoughts in order to please her superiors. Yet, however weak and dependent her character is on the surface, Ophelia is a cornerstone to the play’s progression.
...yal for the unrequited love Hamlet gave Ophelia. Due to her loss of a father, and a man with whom has lost interest in her, she has no one to confide to, so he commits suicide. Hamlet feigning madness and Ophelia’s true insanity ultimately lead to their tragic deaths.