Duality In Hamlet's Duality Of The Human Condition

Duality of The Human Condition

The complexity of the mind has yet to be uncoded. This is a story of two characters that both lose a parent unexpectedly and somewhat violently at the hands of a close person. Their reactions are vaguely similar in their emotional intensity. However, one turns into a paranoid vigilante, and the other becomes a despaired suicide victim. The connection between Ophelia and Hamlet seem to be a reversed reaction. As Hamlet’s insanity is somehow resolved by overcoming his cowardice to deal with his father’s death, Ophelia’s grip on reality becomes more fragile as she comes under attack from her love and the unfortunate murder of her father. In this essay, we will explore the influence of the people in this story

She then obliges her father’s and King Claudius’ plan to read a book as they conspired against Hamlet. Whether it’s a sweet disposition or a result of a motherless upbringing, it’s hard to decide if Ophelia’s fate was predetermined or is just a product of a series of unlucky events.

While Hamlet’s achelis was his inability to adapt to the new realities he had come back too, Ophelia’s weakness was adapting to the will of everyone around her. This consequently lead her to lose herself in the end. The clear pattern of her willingness to please those around her at the cost of her own peace of mind is obvious from the beginning of the book as we are introduced to her.Her scene with Laertes sets the pace of her relationships as he attempts to dispense some advice in the form of a long winded cautionary tale against love and consequent betrayal. Her ‘concerned’ brother barrages her in Act 1 scene 3 against the treachery of men and the importance of virtues.

...Perhaps he loves you now,

And now no soil nor cautel doth

This is followed by Polonius, in the same scene chastising her not to ‘speak like a green girl’ highlighting her inexperience and dispensing his own advice too.

As Hamlet becomes more and more disillusioned with love and the opposite sex, Ophelia retained her optimistic somewhat naivety. This is clearly shown in Act 3, scene 1 when she and Hamlet exchange words and how they remember accounts differently. She doesn 't seem to lose hope in him in spite of denying his love and telling her to join a nunnery. She instead answers with a prayer ‘O heavenly powers, restore him!’ thinking that he has truly gone mad and finding a legitimate excuse for him.

Furthermore, she is once again deceived by Hamlet’s disposition in Act 3, Scene 2 as they sit to watch the play he produced. She mistakenly assumes his change in disposition and sitting at her feet as him being ’merry’ and asks him about that. Her oblivion, whether an act or a sign of her true self might be debated. Her father’s mention of his thespian past in playing Julius Caesar that is later killed unexpectedly by Brutus foreshadows his death making the following acts harder for the reader not to sympathize with