Shakespeare´s Hamlet: A Tale of Love

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In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the concept of love for Ophelia is often difficult to understand. Hamlet has deep and troubling emotions including betrayal, madness and love. Does he truly love Ophelia? Did he stop loving her? Did he ever love her? From the play there is a vast amount of evidence directing toward the conclusion that Hamlet always loved Ophelia, but just the same there are also some points where Hamlet rejects Ophelia cruelly. His reasons though can be backed up as a way to protect her from his mission of avenging the murder of his father, the late king of Denmark.
The status of the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is introduced through conversation between Polonius and Ophelia. “He hath, my lord, of late made tenders of his affection to me.”(Act1, Scene 3 line 100) Both Hamlet and Ophelia have been courting and he has shared his affections for her immensely. “My lord, He hath imported me with love in honorable fashion.” (Act1, Scene 3 line 110) The manner Ophelia responds about Hamlet indicates that she trusts him and shares the same feelings. Ophelia was trying to convince her father about how Hamlet displays his affections are true and honest. Polonius though does not want her to be at risk of being ruined, he forbids her to have any encounter with him.
These sources prove that Hamlet does love Ophelia and recently was deeply engaged in their relationship. Correspondingly as Hamlet becomes engrossed in his mission of vengeance, he is revealed blind; as he drives a wedge between the once raging affections for Ophelia.
Following this further, take a look at a quote recited by hamlet to Ophelia. “Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of h...

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...not with all their quantity of love make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?”(Act 5, Scene 2 line 229-231) Hamlet is saying that he loved her with all he had in him. There was no way anyone could have valued her more. His vows of love are evidence that through his madness and mistakes he had always loved Ophelia. This tragedy was so awful that Hamlet could not keep himself together. Emotions ran deeper than ever.
On the whole, does he truly love Ophelia? Did he ever love her? Yes. Hamlet proved his love for Ophelia even though at times he was deceitful. He managed to avenge his father’s death but at a price, a heavy price that concluded in tragedy.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William, and Samuel Barclay Charters. Literature and Its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007. Print.

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