Hamlet is one of the best of Shakespeare’s plays. The ability to compose speeches and dialogues that make this effects is one of Shakespeare’s most noteworthy achievement. Hamlet has mesmerize audiences and readers for hundreds of years. Like most of the standard
Shakespearean plays, Ophelia may be a feminine character, who is torn between family tie and private love. Unaware of all the dirty schemes and deceits occurring behind her back, innocent
Ophelia is flat out taken advantage of by two people she really loves the foremost in the world: Polonius, her father, and Hamlet, her lover. Ophelia is infatuated with Hamlet, however like such a big amount of ladies, she is at the gesture and decision of her family initial and foremost. Ophelia
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That is the reason, once she falls for Hamlet, her passion that has been suppressed through the span of years, gets exploded. She, at some point, dismisses terrible things individuals are saying in regards to Hamlet, which once again demonstrates a defiant side of Ophelia.
When her father had challenged the honor of Hamlet 's desires, Ophelia could only reply "I do not know, my lord, what I should think". Used to relying upon her father 's direction and brought up to be always following all orders and rules, she can only accept her father 's belief, seconded by that of her brother, that Hamlet 's "holy promises" of love were simply designed for her leading away from what 's right, usually for sex. She was to exactly follow orders her father 's orders not to permit Hamlet to see her again. Her father also wanted to prove Hamlet 's madness to the king. He used Ophelia as bait so he and the king could listen to Hamlet 's words. Ophelia willingly obliged to her father 's desires. By not thinking for herself and only doing as her
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He was looking for her innocent face for some sign of loving truth that might restore his faith in her. He took her silence for a sign of her guilt and found her to be a false person, like his mother. In his letter to her, having addressed the letter as "the most beautified Ophelia" and he ended the letter with "I love thee best, O most best, believe it" (English Book). He used the word "beautified" to display a honest message of thanking her, and it is obvious he still loves her. His tries to win her feeling of love. Ophelia is still too much under the influence of her father to question his wisdom or authority, and she has no idea of how much she has made her lover suffer. No matter how much it pained her to not see Hamlet, all she could see in his present behavior is the madness that scared
...sulted her when he knew that her father and his uncle were watching and taking notes. In addition, I do not understand why Hamlet waited until now to reveal his true feelings about Ophelia. Her death was probably what caused him to realize that he was unable to save her by telling her to leave the castle, instead he unhinged her sanity.
Ophelia is portrayed as a sensitive, fragile woman. Easily overpowered and controlled by her brother and father, Ophelia is destined to be weak. Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, warns and pushes Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet and is further supported by their father Polonius. “Polonius enters and adds his warning to those of Laertes. He orders Ophelia not to spend time with Hamlet or even talk to him. Ophelia promises to obey” (“Hamlet” 95). Ophelia’s obedience to her father’s directions prove the side she
During Hamlet, Polonius and Laertes use Ophelia for their own self-gain not taking her feelings in consideration. In the article “Jephthah's Daughter's Daughter: Ophelia,” Cameron Hunt reveals that Polonius disregards Ophelia’s wants for his ...
In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare developed the story of prince Hamlet, and the murder of his father by the king's brother, Claudius. Hamlet reacted to this event with an internal battle that harmed everyone around him. Ophelia was the character most greatly impacted by Hamlet's feigned and real madness - she first lost her father, her sanity, and then her life. Ophelia, obedient, weak-willed, and no feminist role model, deserves the most pity of any character in the play.
Ophelia is an obedient daughter who is dependent on her father, Polonius for guidance. Ophelia and Hamlet were deeply in love, until his mother, Gertrude married his uncle, Claudius, the day of his father's funeral. After seeing this, Hamlet believes that all women, including his love, Ophelia are weak and only wanted sex from men. Hamlet gets even more upset when he finds out that Ophelia is becoming her father's puppet because she starts to follow Polonius's orders without having any say in any of her own situations. For instance, her father did not want her marrying Hamlet because he wanted all the power. If Ophelia was to marry Hamlet, she then would gain more power than her father. This is exactly what he did not want, that is why Polonius, told her she could no longer see him. Without any hesitation, Ophelia agreed to his arrangement. When Ophelia goes back to her father, to ask for advice on Hamlet, he responds in his own liking by saying, “You do not understand yourself so clearly/ As it behooves my daughter and your honour" (1.3.105-6). According to Woolf, “...
Hamlet, Ophelia’s lover, accidentally kills her father and “confesses” he never loved her, Hamlet toys with Ophelia's emotions intentionally and unintentionally to solidify his madness. Even though she was the who initiated the “breakup”, her sorrows of the relationship are much more public than Hamlets. Hamlet’s madness scares Ophelia away which he used as a defense mechanism to not be hurt anymore. His madness looks as though he had been "loosed out of hell to speak of horrors" (2.1.83-84) and she "truly [did] fear it"(2.1. 86). His insanity and rudeness suffocated any love she had for him. She admits that their "their perfume [has been] lost" (3.1. 99). This helped Hamlet solidify his insanity by cutting ties with the ones he loves, and having them tell others he is mad. This comes with the cost of discontinuing his relationships: especially with Ophelia. Both have hinted around in the text of an intimate affair. This makes the emotions and breakup even more difficult for both of them. Their relationship was a love, not an innocent crush or courtship. Poor Ophelia initially thought she caused Hamlet's madness due to the abrupt ending of their affair. But because of her naivety, she lacks to see his other internal struggles. Ophelia’s trust in Hamlet left her heartbroken. Hamlet’s agenda of or getting justice for his father occupied his mind more than Ophelia did. Which left her feeling
The term love can be exemplified in many variations. As complex as it is, it may be described as an experience rather than a tangible entity. Love’s paradoxical capacity consists of devotion and passion, which can be both liberating and binding in a relationship. A recurrent theme in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the portrayal of one character’s love for another, and how this obliges them to act in various circumstances. This is prominent throughout the play, as seen in Hamlet's adoration for his father, Horatio's self-less love for Hamlet, and Gertrude's unparalleled love for her son. However, the love illustrated in these relationships cannot be used to define Hamlet and Ophelia’s association. In its place, Hamlet’s lust for Ophelia is simply a
Hamlet shows much anger and disrespect to the women in his life. Ophelia’s believing her father’s words breaks Hamlets heart, being the reason for his treatment towards not just her but his mother. Ophelia
In the play Hamlet Ophelia is portrayed as an innocent young woman who does not have a say in anything. All the men control Hamlet, her father Polonius, and her brother Laertes. She is portrayed as inferior to all of them and lets herself be pushed around by them. She is unable to convey her opinions or emotions throughout the play. The men dominate her thoughts and behaviors. In Hamlet, Ophelia’s obedience to her father and brother, along with her dismissal by Hamlet, reveals that women were not allowed to assert their opinions, emotions, or desires in a courtly setting.
Hamlet is well aware that this plan merely uses Ophelia as a tool, and as such, she does not have much option of refusing without angering not only her busybody father but the conniving King as well. Hamlet readily refuses that he cared for her. He tells her and all of his uninvited listeners, "No, not I, I never gave you aught" (lines 94-95). Some critics stress, as does J. Dover Wilson, that Hamlet has a right to direct his anger to Ophelia because even though many critics "in their sympathy with Ophelia they have forgotten that it is not Hamlet who has 'repelled' her, but she him" (Wilson 159). It is possible that Wilson does not see the potential harm to Ophelia should she disobey her authority figures (i.e. her father and her king). Furthermore, Ophelia cannot know "that Hamlet's attitude toward her reflects his disillusionment in his mother . . . to her, Hamlet's inconstancy can only mean deceitfulness or madness" (Lidz 158).
Two of Ophelia’s difficulties arise from her father and brother. They believe that Hamlet is using her to take her virginity and throw it away because Ophelia will never be his wife. Her heart believes that Hamlet loves her although he promises he never has (“Hamlet” 1). Hamlet: “Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This was sometime a paradox, but not the time gives it proof. I did love you once.” Ophelia: “Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so.” Hamlet: “You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock ...
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.
Ophelia is exploited by Polonius and the King (mainly together), and is also used by Hamlet. Gertrude is used by the King, as well as Polonius. In “Hamlet,” the women throughout the play are used as pawns for men to get what they want, mainly from the other men. Ophelia is used not only by Hamlet, but also by Polonius and Claudius. Hamlet uses Ophelia after he goes mad.
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.
When Hamlet receives the letter from Ophelia he is affected terribly by her words. The next time she sees Hamlet she is surprised and even a bit frightened by his behavior. He did not look like he usually does, and he acted very strange towards her. He held her by the wrists and stared deeply into her face, long and hard, then storms out, leaving her intensely troubled and saddened. After that she tells her father, and he believes that Ophelias love is what made him mad.