Analysis of Ophelia from Hamlet
Ophelia is gentle, loving and beautiful. She is also obedient to her father and loyal to her family and it is this which draws her into the circle of disaster and leads to her "untimely death". She is deeply in love with Hamlet and believes his "tenders" to be sincere, but her obedience to both her father and her brother must come first. Laertes tells her to beware of Hamlet's interest as it is driven by lust, not love. He also points out the difference in their background and rightly concludes that Hamlet is not in a position, as heir to the throne to choose freely who he will marry.
Polonius is also scornful of Hamlet's motives and concerned that he will be discredited by Ophelia's conduct. His command to her not to see Hamlet again is brutal, as is his decision to use her as a decoy to sound out the reason for Hamlet's eccentric behaviour. The fact that she obeys would be quite understandable to Shakespeare's audience, if not to a present day one, since filial obedience was a fundamental part of the life of the time. Note also how differently Laertes is treated by his father, compared to the lack of regard shown to Ophelia by Polonius. Women had little status, and Ophelia's wishes are not considered at any time. Torn apart as she is by divided loyalty it is no wonder that the strain on her eventually leads to her madness and subsequent death.
That she loves Hamlet is without question. She is distraught when she observes his behaviour before the nunnery scene, and after his savage rejection of her in that scene she laments his "noble mind..here o'erthrown" She also grieves for herself, "Oh woe is me, t'have seen what I have seen, see what I see." She is sophisticated enough to understand the ways of the world, too, as we see in her dialogue with Hamlet before the mousetrap play, when she obviously understands the meaning of his bawdy remarks, and also in her quick understanding of her brother's likely conduct when he is away at school.
Her madness is triggered by loss of her father, murdered by Hamlet, whom she also believes to be mad. The pathos of the mad scene is emphasised by the language of loss in some of the songs she sings and the overt sexuality of others. In fact the sentiments of Ophelia for Hamlet in the nunnery scene, are, ironically applicable to herself later in the play.
Her story paralle...
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... Claudius uses these lines to lead Laertes into a plan to
kill Hamlet, asking him what will he do to prove his love for his
father in ActIV, scene vii. Hamlet comes back; what would you
undertake to show yourself in deed your father’s son more than in more
than words? It can be easily seen how Laertes, influenced by Claudius
in the heat of his anger, could conspire to murder Hamlet and it is in
this attempt that Laertes loses his own life to the very poison he
kills Hamlet with. Once again, a member of Polonius’ family loses
their life as a result of a conflict that they are oblivious to,
making Laertes’ death a tragedy as well.
Contrary to popular belief, the tragedy associated with Hamlet
is not about Hamlet or his family. It is, however , about the tragic
fate of Polonius’ family , whose deaths are not the result of any sins
they omit but by their being manipulated by Hamlet and Claudius for
reasons they are unaware of. Although the death of Polonius’ family
stands out as being the most tragic, many other characters in the
story are killed as well. In fact, the death of a character in Hamlet
almost becomes commonplace near the end of the play.
He believed that Hamlet was only with her out of lust and Hamlet said that he wanted to marry her only so she would sleep with him. Laertes told her that Hamlet comes from a royal family and she does not, therefore Hamlet will not marry her, nor does he love her. Ophelia disregarded most of what Laertes had said about Hamlet. Right after that Polonius came to speak to Laertes before he had gone to England. They spoke briefly and Polonius gave him advice to follow. Before saying farewell, Laertes told Ophelia to remember what he had said. Curious of...
Ophelia in the fourth act of Hamlet is demonstrably insane, but the direct cause of her slipped sanity is something that remains debatable, Shakespeare uses the character Ophelia to demonstrate how women during this time were unable to break away from social norms. While it is evident that Ophelia is grieving over the death of her father, Polonius, as Horatio says of her “She speaks much of her father, says she hears / There’s tricks in the world, and hems, and beats her heart” (4.5.4-5), as lines from one of her many “songs” points towards grieving over an aged relative, “His beard as white as snow / All flaxen was his poll” with flaxen indicating a white or grayed head of hair (4.5.190-191).
Her tragedy began with her brother. Laertes knew of Ophelia’s love relationship with Hamlet; however, he also knew that she was only the daughter or a courtier and Hamlet was a prince. In those days, princes were not allowed to marry inferior women. When Laertes was getting ready to leave on his trip to Paris, he advised Ophelia to “Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood: A violet in the youth of primy nature, forward, not permanent, sweet, and not lasting; the perfume and suppliance of a minute; no more.” (Hamlet) In other words, Laertes told his sister to con...
As far as we know, up until the recent events, Ophelia has had a comfortable life. Her father counsel to King Claudius has landed the family in a high part of society, shielded from the effects of poverty. She is beautiful, rich, and has the boy, well only for a little while. During the time of the passing of King Hamlet, Polonius has forbidden his daughter Ophelia to see her one and only lover, the man she believed she was going to marry, she sings, “Quoth she, “Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed.” He answers, So would I ha' done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed.”(Shakespeare IV.V) She has given herself completely to Hamlet, but on orders from her father she must sever all ties. This has her grieving, grieving over love lost, true love lost. She is still in love with Hamlet, but must obey her father despite her grief; this is putting a tremendous amount of stress on poor Ophelia. She is torn between family, ...
Hamlet and Laertes share a different but deep love and concern for Ophelia. Laertes advises her to retain from seeing and being involved with Hamlet because of his social status. He didn’t want her to get her heart broken by Hamlet, since he believed that his marriage would be arranged to someone of his social status, and that he would only use and hurt Ophelia. Hamlet on the other hand, was madly in love with Ophelia but it languishes after she rejects him. Ophelia’s death caused distress in both Hamlet and Laertes and it also made Laertes more hostile towards Hamlet.
Hamlet's antic disposition may have caused him in certain times that he is in a roleplay.
The causes of Ophelia's decent into madness start long before she is raving and signing rude songs. It is a madness brought of mistreatment; a mistreatment that started with her father. Upon first hearing of Hamlet's affection for her Polonius is very dismissive of it. He even tells her not to waste her time with him as a result "I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth Have you so slander any moment leisure As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet." (Shakespeare & Bevington, 2009, pp. P1105 L133-135) This is given as an order, which Ophelia says she will obey. The earlier exchange is quite dismissive of the affection between Ophelia and Hamlet, despite her defending it in terms of Hamlet having shown that love both in words and gifts and the defense of him courting her in an honorable fashion. Polonius is again quick to dismiss his daughter's view of the world saying "Affection? Pooh! you speak like a green ...
Ophelia’s madness is because of what she encounters throughout the play by everyone around her. Her character is often looked past, people really don’t give her a second thought, and her emotions and wellbeing are almost entirely forgotten about. When her father and brother are telling her to stay away from Hamlet, she tries to speak up and tell them that she knows that Hamlet truly loves her. She tells them her feelings, but they say no, she is not to speak to Hamlet again and must obey. They didn’t take a second to try and look things over from her perspective. After Polonius and Claudius plan for Ophelia and Hamlet to meet and talk while they hid to listened, Ophelia is verbally abused by Hamlet and her father is too caught up with Hamlet’s
It is obvious throughout the play Ophelia is ordered around by Laertes and Polonius, and obeys them without a moment's thought. They act like she has no mind of her own, but she listens and does as they wish, so it seems she cannot think for herself. Polonius and Laertes treat her as though she is worthless. Laertes urges Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet ...
In Elizabethan times, Ophelia is restricted as a woman. She is obedient to the commands of the men in her life although she often attempts to do the right thing. Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet all have a grasp on Ophelia and who she is. She does not have the freedom to change her fate as Hamlet does. Shawna Maki states, “Ophelia’s life is determined by the whims of men who control her” (1). Polonius takes advantage of his relationship with Ophelia by using her to achieve a better relationship with Claudius. Polonius and Laertes teach Ophelia how to behave, therefore, abusing their power in allowing Ophelia to become who she wants to be (Brown 2).
Ophelia is a perfect example of how the poison of revenge of the kingdom of Elsinore does not only affect the person committing these acts, and as the victim, but the innocent bystanders as well. Originally Ophelia had nothing to do with King Hamlet’s unjust death, but her relationship and involvement with Hamlet, her father, and Claudius and Gertrude is enough to make her a lunatic and at last her deplorable death. Shakespeare shows Ophelia’s heartbreaking downfall in her speeches after her father’s passing “There’s/ rue for you, and here’s some for me.../Oh, you must wear your rue with a difference.—There’s a daisy. I would/ give you some violets, but they withered all when/ my father died. They say he made a good end” (Hamlet: IV.v.51). It is clear that the corruption in the kingdom causes Ophelia to become insane. She cannot cope with or overcome her father’s unfortunate death because it was committed by her love, Hamlet. As Ophelia becomes insane due to her father’s death, she is also affected by Hamlet’s treatment of her. Ophelia wants to trust Hamlet and does not understand his antic disposition, but still tries to be loyal to him. However, the way Hamlet treats Ophelias contributes to her insanity and is arguably the most recognizable cause of her misfortune “Get thee to a nunnery,/...Or, if thou wilt needs marry,/ marry a fool,
Leaving her only with the response saying “I shall obey, my lord”(1.3.145 ). Why Ophelia is unable to say more than a few simple words is made clear by societal expectations of the time. During this time daughters were the property of their fathers and were obligated to do their bidding. Campbell says “if she refuses Polonius, she risks social ostracism and grave insult to the man who capriciously controls her future” (58). Ophelia fears the backlash of disobeying her father, believing there is no other choice than doing what he has asked her to do. Even though a woman's virtue is a sacred and a very personal choice, her father leaves Ophelia with one option: to do what he says. “The issue of Ophelia’s chastity concerns Polonius as a parent and a politician—a virginal Ophelia has a better chance of attaining Hamlet’s hand in marriage” (Floyd-Wilson 401). This relationship Ophelia has between her father is very one-sided and unhealthy. It is formal and proper with very few emotions attached to each other. However, because Polonius is the only parental figure Ophelia has and loves him, his death was extremely difficult for her. Her father, hasn’t left her like Laertes and hasn’t rejected her like Hamlet. Making his unexpected death the final straw to her losing her sanity. Without someone to guide her, she is lost. She is unable to blindly follow a man but is to racked with emotion to think clearly.
As the play opened, Hamlet and Ophelia appeared as lovers experiencing a time of turbulence. Hamlet had just returned home from his schooling in Saxony to find that his mother had quickly remarried her dead husband's brother, and this gravely upset him. Hamlet was sincerely devoted to the idea of bloodline loyalty and sought revenge upon learning that Claudius had killed his father. Ophelia, though it seems her relationship with Hamlet is in either the developmental stage or the finalizing stage, became the prime choice as a lure for Hamlet. Laertes inadvertently opened Ophelia up to this role when he spoke with Ophelia about Hamlet before leaving for France. He allowed Polonius to find out about Hamlet's courtship of Ophelia, which led to Polonius' misguided attempts at taking care of Ophelia and obeying the king's command to find the root of Hamlet's problems. Ophelia, placed in the middle against her wishes, obeyed her father and brother's commands with little disagreement. The only time she argued was when Laertes advised her against making decisions incompatible with the expectations of Elizabethan women. Ophelia tells him, in her boldest lines of the play:
When reading the text, one can comprehend that Ophelia is caught in the middle between two opposite sides. Her family (father and brother) believe that Hamlet is a womanizer rather then the philosopher that he is. They also believe that he will use her in order to achieve his own purposes, and that he would take her precious virginity only to discard it because he would never be her husband. But, Ophelia's heart mesmerized by Hamlets cunning linguistics is set on the fact that Hamlet truly loves her or loved her, even though he swears he never did. In the eye of her father and brother, she will always be a pure, wholesome girl, an eternal virgin in a sense, (due to a parents nature to always see their offspring as a child) they want her to ascend into her stereotypical role in life as a vessel of morality whose sole purpose of existence is to be a obedient wife and a committed mother. However, to Hamlet she is simply an object used to satisfy and fulfill his sexual needs. He also seems to hold her at a distant which suggests that he may...
Sweet and innocent, faithful and obedient, Ophelia is the truly tragic figure in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. "Her nature invites us to pity her misfortune caused not by any of her own self-initiated deeds or strategies"(Lidz 138). Laertes tells us convincingly how young and vulnerable Ophelia is, (act I. iii.10) likening her budding womanhood's destruction from Hamlet to a process as "the canker galls the infants of the spring,/ Too oft before their buttons be disclosed, /And in the morn and liquid dew of youth / Contagious blastments are most imminent". "He advises her to stay away and she lovingly banters back, typically like a young teen, reminding him to act as he advises" (Campbell 104). We then learn more of how pure and innocent she is as her father counsels her (Act I.iii.90). Telling her that she is a "green girl" and to think of herself as "a baby" in this matter, he insists that she must stop seeing him.