Female Characters In Hamlet

Hamlet is an alluring play to study. There are many different characters who each have diverse personalities. The thing that is noticeable about play is that there is an overwhelming number of male personalities while only a few female ones. This leads to a very interesting topic on female characters. This essay will explore the character of Ophelia, specifically the idea that she was a major key into Hamlet’s tragic ending.

There are many characters in Hamlet, all with diverse personalities and different levels of importance. With the multitude of male characters, one is able to take a detailed look at the few female personalities. Ophelia is especially interesting because of her relationship with Hamlet. At the beginning of the play it is

One quote that backs up the point that Ophelia represents a tragic character is from the Bloom’s Literature document which goes into detail on Ophelia as a character, stating that, “Ophelia 's nature is abundantly affectionate; her wounded but faithful love—both for her father and for Hamlet—makes her one of the most touching of Shakespeare 's characters” (Boyce 1). Boyce also go on to state that, “the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is not a love story” (Boyce 1), which is why we see things fall apart between the two characters. It is very clear to us that Hamlet still had feeling towards Ophelia but felt betrayed by her which is the reason that he shut her, and all women out of his life, which you can find evidence of when he states, “man delights not me: no, nor woman neither” (2.2.301). The reason that Ophelia is one of the major factors to

She is still fully aware of what is going on and begins to make very astute comparisons of some of the characters to different flowers. Other that the opservation that she is actualy in a somewhat stable mental state it is very easy to believe that she is overcome with grief. She is not able to take all this stress, sorrow, and loss and so she makes her way to the river and dose the only thing that she can think of to remove the pain and kills herself. This death is what ends up causing Hamlets confrontation, as talked about in the previous paragraph and so her madness is connected with the downfall of Hamlet. We are able to see that Hamlet was one of the causes of her madness but it was her fault for being so loyal to her father that she turned away from the man he loves, initiating the rejection in the first place. The relationship between Ophelia and hamlet is shown to have a profound effect on the outcome of the play causing Hamlet to end up in a fencing match that will end up taking his life.

Overall we are able to see that through advertent and inadvertent actions Hamlet was very much effected by Ophelia. This had many consequences, the greatest of them being an actual confrontation with Laertes and Claudius which lead to his death. Ophelia’s actions caused Hamlet also shut himself from the world with no one left to trust