Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Analysis of hamlet
Hamlet character development essay
Literary analysis on hamlet
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the playwright Hamlet by William Shakespeare, there are many characters that change throughout the play. For example, Hamlet is one of the characters who changed a lot throughout the play. Hamlet changes a lot because at first, Hamlet was depressed then became suicidal and in the end, Hamlet wanted revenge. However, Ophelia is also a character that changes throughout the play. In my opinion, I believe that Ophelia’s change throughout the play is the most important because Ophelia was obedient at first, then she became depressed and lastly, she became insane. To begin with, there are many characters that change throughout William Shakespeare’s playwright Hamlet. However, I believe Ophelia’s transformation is the most significant because
In Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, the audience finds a docile, manipulated, scolded, victimized young lady named Ophelia. Ophelia is a foil to Hamlet. Plays have foils to help the audience better understand the more important characters in the play. The character of Ophelia is necessary so that the audience will give Hamlet a chance to get over his madness and follow his heart.
The life of Hamlet is without a doubt very interesting, he suffers from unfortunate events in his time that are often major blows to his ego. His father dies while he’s away at college, Hamlet is next in line to be king until his “uncle-father” steals it from him; but it is to be known his “uncle-father” would not have stolen it if his “aunt-mother” hadn’t allowed it. It’s very apparent from the beginning of the play that he is very well obsessed with his mother and her doings. He harasses, humiliates, and abuses her because she has done such an unforgivable act by marrying Claudius. His thoughts and feelings towards his mother are very strong and well known, he even describes the odd pair as “little more than kin and less than kind.” That’s not all with Hamlet; his mother remarrying is just the tip of the iceberg so deeply rooted in the ocean of his emotions. His relationship with Ophelia is twisted, Hamlet goes through episodes of
Ophelia serves as a mirror or foil of Hamlet throughout the play. Being a weak and sensitive woman, Ophelia compliments Hamlet’s strengths in his ability to cope with problems he faces and the corruption within his family. Where Ophelia is weak, Hamlet is
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).
The story of Hamlet is a morbid tale of tragedy, commitment, and manipulation; this is especially evident within the character of Ophelia. Throughout the play, Ophelia is torn between obeying and following the different commitments that she has to men in her life. She is constantly torn between the choice of obeying the decisions and wishes of her family or that of Hamlet. She is a constant subject of manipulation and brain washing from both her father and brother. Ophelia is not only subject to the torture of others using her for their intentions but she is also susceptible to abuse from Hamlet. Both her father and her brother believe that Hamlet is using her to achieve his own personal goals.
People have mostly seen women inferior to men because women have been thought of as simple-minded and could not take care of themselves. Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows how men treated and thought of women during the 1500s. There was an order most did not interfere with; however, some did. In the 1500s, women were supposed to conform to men’s wishes. Throughout the play, Ophelia first obeyed her father and brother’s wishes, ignored the social norms later, and then went mad, which caused her to never gain her own identity.
Ophelia is a crucial character because the role she plays in setting up Hamlets antic disposition, she is used by a number of characters including her father for the sole purpose to deceive and gather information and “misjudges Ophelia’s” ability to gather accurate information due to Hamlet’s deceitful character (The World Of Hamlet 260). Hamlet is the first to use her when he sets up his antic disposition early in the play, which ignites many of the events that lead to the tragic ending of Hamlet. After Polonius speculates that Hamlet has gone mad with love for Ophelia he reports this info to the king. To confirm this, he watches their interaction in the nunnery scene. Polonius wants to prove his theory and deception is what leads him to investigate more thoroughly, believing Hamlet is truly mad with love for Ophelia he ease drops on Hamlet and Gertrude’s conversation and it ends up bringing about his death. Once again, we see that deception is the most important theme of Hamlet because it is responsible for moving the plot along through
..., Kean made no such revolutionary changes. He is credited with being the first to break from the psychological consistency the Hamlet character always seems to have. Kean’s Hamlet reacted calmly, with affection and eagerness upon seeing his father’s ghost. Also, Kean is the first to depict Hamlet as treating Ophelia lovingly, rather than somewhat brutally. Ophelia was portrayed as a significant character in this production, which was a first. In later productions, Ophelia’s character gains incredibly prominence, as women’s rights progress.
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia is the most static character in the play. Instead of changing through the course of the play, she remains suffering in the misfortunes perpetrated upon her. She falls into insanity and dies a tragic death. Ophelia has issues surviving without a male influence, and her downfall is when all the men in her life abandon her. Hamlet’s Ophelia, is a tragic, insane character that cannot exist on her own.
In the English play Hamlet, Shakespeare incorporates deep analytical thought in his writing by the use of character, symbolism, and motifs. Specifically, readers can find these characteristics through analytical reading of the character Ophelia. While initially reading the story, Ophelia represents a character that is typical of the women in the 1600s, one who is too submissive and directed by the people around her. First impressions of Ophelia's character seem much too simplistic- one that is emotionally governed and trivial, in a sense. However, when her words are analyzed along with her motives and state of mind, it appears that there is a greater sense of understanding, an underlying motive that is directed and well thought out by her words. Deeper insight into her character reveals that Ophelia not only has her own opinion, but may possess a larger capacity for independent thought than the people she surrounds herself by. In fact, it isn't her lack of intelligence and understanding that leads to her ultimate demise, but instead, it is her lack of action to certain circumstances. This type of behavior can be symbolic of Shakespeare's views on English politics. It seems that a lack of action within the populace can lead to utter ruin in the state. A passiveness and lack of defense, as Ophelia characterizes, is also symbolic of the eventual downfall that is likely to occur if these characteristics are expressed in society. In addition to being a direct contrast of Hamlet, analysis of Ophelia as a character leads to the fact that she is intelligent in her understanding, but her lack of action is to blame for her eventual insanity and untimely death, which is characteristic of the society in England.
Ophelia and Hamlet are greatly juxtaposed against each other in Hamlet. Ophelias role in the play is the foil to both Hamlet and to her brother Laetres. In the play Ophelia is the catalyst, the means of Laertes and Hamlets actions and she acts like a mirror and enables the audience to view them though a more heroic perspective. Throughout the play, Ophelia sparks events and although she isnt a well developed nor a main character her part in the play is crucial. As the catalyst she causes the battle at the end of the play, as she did persuade revenge on Hamlet by Laertes.
One thing about the casting of Ophelia is that she has to be pretty if she isn 't then you lose the effect of Ophelia.(Mabillard) She seemed misguided and would do anything to please her family, for example, she stopped talking to Hamlet because her brother Laertes and she Father Polonius demanded she speak no longer to him. Yet she knew she was pregnant with Hamlet 's baby and respected her family 's wishes. However, she was used as a spy to figure out what was wrong with Hamlet and when Hamlet went off on her saying she was a slut and she needed to get herself to a nunnery because he knew she was carrying his baby. I started to pity her because Hamlet wasn 't thinking clearly and saying some really uncalled for things and when she still expressed that she loved him, but was confused about what was going on with her love Hamlet. I felt bad for her because all she has is her looks and she knows that, but she also blows it when she has a chance to tell Hamlet the truth of where Polonius is on page one-hundred and forty-six act three scene one line one-hundred and thirty-nine she says “At home, my lord” When he was really behind the drapes spying on the both of them. I really felt bad for her because she had just started to lose all hope in Hamlet and pretty much that is when you realize she has finally given up. Claudius is probably one of the characters that most people would say he got
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.
Ophelia's insanity is driven by the fact that she has basically been cut out of Hamlet's life. " Like sweet bells jangled, out of time and harsh,/ That unmatched form and feature of blown youth/ Blasted with ecstasy" (III.i. 158-160).Her role as an "innocent lady" is to complete the picture of faithfulness and obedience. Without Hamlet, it is difficult for Ophelia to fulfill her role. Ophelia is completely pushed over the edge whe...
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.