In Hamlet by Shakespeare, deception is commonly known to each of the characters except for two, Ophelia and Horatio. Shakespeare uses Ophelia and Horatio to represent purity and innocence while they live amidst the lying and deceit.
Throughout Hamlet, Ophelia is represented as a pure and obedient woman to the men in her life who all live a life of deceit. Ophelia’s father, Polonius, uses his authority over her to tell her what her emotions and thoughts should be towards the love of her life, Hamlet. Ophelia tells her father “I do not know, my Lord, what I should think” (1.3.104). In response to her feeling lost and helpless her father says “Marry I’ll teach you. Think yourself a baby/ That you have ta’en these tenders for true pay,/ Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly.” (1.3.105-107). Polonius is explaining to his daughter that she need not to lose her purity and dignity to a mad fool, even if she does love him. Polonius believes that Hamlet is just using his daughter for what she sees as affection, and is lying to Ophelia of his love for her. Ophelia is blind to all of the lying that is
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All this can I/ Truly deliver” (5.2.421-42) This is part of Horatio’s speech to the people explaining the tragedy of what has happened in the castle. Horatio is honest of the “unnatural acts” that have occurred and does not lie of what his own eyes have seen. Along with Ophelia, while his innocence and purity have remained intact, the lying and deceit put a toll on his well being and almost took his life.
Shakespeare used purity and innocence in Ophelia and Horatio to help them stand out from the norm of lying and deceit. Because they did not lie or deceive others’ their lives took on a different kind of turmoil that killed Ophelia and nearly took Horatio’s life. They were weaker than the others and felt empty and stripped in the
“Pretty Ophelia,” as Claudius calls her, is the most innocent victim of Hamlet’s revenge in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Hamlet has fallen in love with Ophelia after the death of his father. Ophelia “sucked the honey of his music vows” and returned Hamlet’s affection. But when her father had challenged Hamlet’s true intentions, Ophelia could only say: “I do not know, my lord, what I should think.” Ophelia was used to relying on her father’s directions and she was also brought up to be obedient. This allowed her to only accept her father’s views that Hamlet’s attention towards her was only to take advantage of her and to obey her father’s orders not to permit Hamlet to see her again.
Although the play Hamlet is largely centered around the “tragic hero” Hamlet, it is the minor foil characters that gives us a deeper understanding of the text and a more conscious understanding of the internal struggles experienced by Hamlet. Each of these characters contrasts a specific aspect of Hamlet that would otherwise be overlooked. Horatio consolidates all of the desirable features that Hamlet wants to be into one person. Fortinbras, although in the exact same situation as Hamlet with his father dead and his uncle on the throne, is the complete opposite of Hamlet by choosing action over inaction. Finally, Ophelia personifies Hamlet’s innocence and the death of his innocence after the death of his father. Despite being opposites of each other, each of these characters bring a new outlook on the tragedy of Hamlet.
Similarities are an important part of being a foil. One similarity that Hamlet and Ophelia share are that they both are children of controlling parents. [SV - 1] Hamlet's father, who is murdered, comes back as a ghost to tell him who his murderer is. This news is his father's way of controlling him from the grave. Hamlet's mother and stepfather are also controlling him by persuading Hamlet not to go to Wittenburg. Ophelia is also controlled by her father. She tells him how Hamlet has tried many times to express his affections for her. Ophelia's father does not believe Hamlet is sincere and orders her to stay away from him. Ophelia obeys her father's wishes. Women were expected to do as they were told and believed what they were told to be true.
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
The main plot of Shakespeare's Hamlet centers around Prince Hamlet's desire to repay King Claudius for his evil deeds. Around this central action revolve the stories concerning the minor characters of Polonius and Ophelia. Though they do not motivate Hamlet's actions towards the King, these characters act as forces upon Hamlet himself, trying to spur him to do things he does not want to do. Both Polonius and Ophelia try, unsuccessfully, to manipulate Hamlet into a place of inferiority.
William Shakespeare wrote about a distraught prince trying to avenge the wrongful death of his father while all his faith in honesty and the good of man was nearly destroyed. In his play Hamlet, Hamlet is the prince and he is the one who would have lost all his faith in the good of man had it not been for his loyal friend Horatio. Many critics say that Horatio did not play such an important role in the tragedy, that he merely was the informant for the audience and that his character was not developed beyond that fact that he was just the honest confidant of Hamlet. That may be true, however, Horatio does serve two central purposes to the drama, and it is through these purposes that show the qualities that make Horatio memorable and admirable. Horatio is the harbinger of truth. It is through Horatio that the actions taken by Hamlet gain credibility. He is the outside observer to the madness. Hamlet could soliloquize on and on, but it is his conversations with Horatio that gives sanity to Hamlet’s thoughts. His second role is to be the loyal, truthful confidant of Hamlet.
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.
Leaving her only with the response saying “I shall obey, my lord”(1.3.145 ). Why Ophelia is unable to say more than a few simple words is made clear by societal expectations of the time. During this time daughters were the property of their fathers and were obligated to do their bidding. Campbell says “if she refuses Polonius, she risks social ostracism and grave insult to the man who capriciously controls her future” (58). Ophelia fears the backlash of disobeying her father, believing there is no other choice than doing what he has asked her to do. Even though a woman's virtue is a sacred and a very personal choice, her father leaves Ophelia with one option: to do what he says. “The issue of Ophelia’s chastity concerns Polonius as a parent and a politician—a virginal Ophelia has a better chance of attaining Hamlet’s hand in marriage” (Floyd-Wilson 401). This relationship Ophelia has between her father is very one-sided and unhealthy. It is formal and proper with very few emotions attached to each other. However, because Polonius is the only parental figure Ophelia has and loves him, his death was extremely difficult for her. Her father, hasn’t left her like Laertes and hasn’t rejected her like Hamlet. Making his unexpected death the final straw to her losing her sanity. Without someone to guide her, she is lost. She is unable to blindly follow a man but is to racked with emotion to think clearly.
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.
Ophelia, in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, represents a self-confident and aware female character. She analyzes the world around her and recognizes the multitude of male figures attempting to control her life. Her actions display not only this awareness, but also maturity in her non-confrontational discussions. Though she is demeaned by Laertes, Polonius, and Hamlet, Ophelia exhibits intelligence and independence and ultimately resorts to suicide in order to free herself from the power of the men around her.
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, women are oversexualized, and are given no role other than to be the item of a man’s desire. The promiscuity of the only two women in the play, Gertrude and Ophelia, detracts from their power and integrity, and allows Hamlet a certain amount of control over them. Gertrude’s sexual lifestyle is often mentioned by her son, Hamlet, and Hamlet uses his knowledge of Gertrude’s sexuality as a means to criticize her. Ophelia’s sexuality initially appears to be controlled by Laertes and Polonius, and Hamlet takes advantage of the naive image that she is required to keep. However, in her later madness, Ophelia taints this image by revealing that her innocence is feigned. By exposing the sexual natures of both Gertrude and Ophelia, Hamlet strips these women of any influence they may have had, and damages their once-honourable names.
Poor Ophelia lost everything. She lost her lover and the social position and security that would have come when she became Hamlet's wife. She lost her father and an honorable burial and her trust and respect for her Queen and King. Finally, she lost her life. The innocent destroyed with the deceitful. Perhaps Shakespeare used Ophelia's innocence to provide an even greater contrast to the deceit of the characters that engulfed her.
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 ...
In William Shakespeare’s tragic play Hamlet, Prince Hamlet conspires to avenge his father’s murder. Throughout the play, Hamlet spirals through bouts of insanity, depression, and hostility. However, across his tragic tale, Hamlet’s old friend Horatio remains a constant. A scholar and a loyal friend to Hamlet, Horatio acts as one of Hamlet’s many character foils, meaning his characteristics contrast to Hamlet highlighting certain personality traits and allowing the reader to understand Hamlet.
Gertrude and Ophelia are manipulated and belittled. In their weak will, they end up betraying Hamlet. Observing their manipulation by other people, Hamlet is able to justify and go through with his actions. Despite Ophelia’s weak will, the male characters respond dramatically to her actions, proving that women indeed have a large impact in Hamlet. Her obedience is actually her downfall, because it allows the male characters to control and use her in their schemes.