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Analysis of ophelia from shakespear's hamlet
Character of ophelia hamlet
Analysis of ophelia from shakespear's hamlet
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True Love’s Madness
“... never doubt that I love” (2.2.119) shows Ophelia’s belief in love; In the play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare. Her character changes drastically because of the events that happen around and to her during the course of the play. Ophelia's innocent character is not able to handle everything that happens to her. She goes from being an innocent and trusting person to being used and exploited by the people she loves, ultimately, leading her to her death.
Ophelia’s innocence and belief in her boyfriend, Hamlet, leads her to believe she will one day marry him “And hath given countenance to his speech my lord, / With almost all the holy vows of heaven” (1.3.123). Ophelia's innocent belief in true love makes her believe all of Hamlets “Many tenders/ of his affection” (1.3.99-100). Ophelia is blinded by her love for Hamlet. Ophelia says to her father Polonius and tries to argue with him about spying on Hamlet, ultimately she had to to what she was ordered “I shall obey my lord” (1.2.136).
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Ophelia's obedience begins to take over her innocent belief in love. Ophelia's innocent character becomes exploited and used from both her boyfriend Hamlet, her brother, Laertes, and her father, Polonius, “I loved you not” (3.1.129) says Hamlet to Ophelia to which she replies “I was the more deceived” (3.1.130).
Ophelia believed every word Hamlet had told her. Ophelia’s boyfriend, Hamlet, kills her father, Polonius, making her go crazy. Ophelia's trust in Hamlet leads people to believe that she lost her virginity to Hamlet. Ophelia sings to gertrude “If with too credent ear you list his songs/ or lose your heart or your chaste treasure open” (1.3.34-35). Basically implying that she had sex with Hamlet. Hamlet saw the chance and took it “Young men will do’t, if they come to’t;/ By cock, they are to blame” (4.5.65-66). As Ophelia sings to Gertrude she says that young men will have sex with you when they have the chance, and that is exactly what Hamlet did, inflicting so much pain for
Ophelia. Ophelia's loss of her father and her boyfriend using her and leaving her ultimately leads her to her death “... poor Ophelia/ divided from herself and her fair judgement” (4.5.91-92). Ophelia was basically robbed from her sanity. Ophelia had enough of the things going on around her “alas then she is drowned” (4.7.209). By Ophelia being exploited and used she drowns and lets it happen because she believes she has nothing left to live for. Many believe her death was very suspicious including the Priest in the play “as we have warranty. Her death was doubtful” (5.1.243). As the people begin burying her body they believe that she shouldn't be buried there if she committed suicide. The events that happened to and around Ophelia drove her to madness. She was used by not only her boyfriend Hamlet but, as well as her own father. Ophelia's innocent character went thru many challenges in the course of the play leading her to her death. While many factors drove her to her death the main reason she went mad was because of Hamlet. Hamlet used Ophelia for sex and left her stating that he never really loved her even though he told her he did love her.
“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.
In hamlet, Ophelia is in love with Hamlet and she wants to be with him. Her dad poloniuss does not want her to be with him, and he merely tells her that she is not good enough to be with hamlet because he will have to marry an heir to the crown. Poloniuss tells Ophelia to stop talking to hamlet and to let him go. She does obey her father and from this she stays away from Hamlet. Until Hamlet comes storming into her room one night and stares her straight into her eyes and
Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” is full of intrigue. Is there really a ghost? Does Hamlet truly go mad? And where in the world did the pirates come from? Yet, even with all these questions, the most compelling is whether Hamlet truly loves Ophelia. One of the most iconic romantic relationship ever to be penned, and the love is still questionable. Does he really love her? Before the argument can be continued, the definition of romantic love which is used throughout must first be defined. It is a simple beauty— Love is caring for someone more than yourself. If held to this standard, Hamlet does not truly love Ophelia by the end of the play, though he may have loved her a some point. By the end of the play, where once existed some form of love for
Ophelia is a character in Hamlet that is chronically faithful to everyone else but herself. Ophelia is deeply in love with Hamlet, and she is certain that he loves her as well. This is clear from the assertions she makes in Hamlet’s defense: “My lord, he hath importuned me with love in honest fashion. And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord, with almost all the holy vows of heaven” (1795). Ophelia’s downfall emerges when she doubts her own feelings and beliefs about Hamlet, upon instruction and advice from her brother and father. Ophelia, a confident and intelligent woman, begins to rely on others to tell her what to think and how to act. “I do not know, my lord, what I should think” (1795). Upon Polonius request, and going against her own hearts desires, she starts to avoid Hamlet. “No, my good lord, but, as you did command, I did repel his letters and denied his access to me” (1806). By doing what her father advises and wishes Ophelia is no longer capable of making decisions for herself. The loss of Hamlet’s love and the death of her father leave her with confusion and doubts about her future. “Well, Go...
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
She believes Hamlet loves her “Young men will do ‘t, if they come to ‘t; By Cock, they are to blame… Before you tumbled me, you promised me to wed.”(4.5.?) Polonius thinks she is naïve in thinking Hamlet loves her “… Unsifted in such perilous circumstance” Hamlet does love her though, “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum…” (5.1.284-286) but does not show this until after her death. She has no choice but to betray Hamlet and his love, and she is also naïve in thinking what her father wants her to do is in her best interest when really he is using her relationship to find out Hamlet’s
Ophelia’s obedience towards her untrusting father is indescribable ( I; iii; 101-103. "Affection? Pooh! You speak like a green girl, unsifted in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his tenders, as you call them"?). Why a grown woman would listen to her father and not help the man of her dreams in his time of need is disheartening. A man’s girlfriend should be there for him when a family member passes away, no matter what. If she had been with him on the plan to kill Claudius and knew about his fathers ghost who told Hamlet that Claudius was the one that murdered him, than neither one of them would have went crazy.
As the play opened, Hamlet and Ophelia appeared as lovers experiencing a time of turbulence. Hamlet had just returned home from his schooling in Saxony to find that his mother had quickly remarried her dead husband's brother, and this gravely upset him. Hamlet was sincerely devoted to the idea of bloodline loyalty and sought revenge upon learning that Claudius had killed his father. Ophelia, though it seems her relationship with Hamlet is in either the developmental stage or the finalizing stage, became the prime choice as a lure for Hamlet. Laertes inadvertently opened Ophelia up to this role when he spoke with Ophelia about Hamlet before leaving for France. He allowed Polonius to find out about Hamlet's courtship of Ophelia, which led to Polonius' misguided attempts at taking care of Ophelia and obeying the king's command to find the root of Hamlet's problems. Ophelia, placed in the middle against her wishes, obeyed her father and brother's commands with little disagreement. The only time she argued was when Laertes advised her against making decisions incompatible with the expectations of Elizabethan women. Ophelia tells him, in her boldest lines of the play:
In the play Hamlet, Ophelia’s downfall is dependent on love. Being one of the two women in the play, Ophelia lives in a very male dominated society. When the ties are broken between her relationships with the significant men in her life, it breaks Ophelia to
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.
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 ...
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.
Another significant female character is Ophelia, Hamlet's love. Hamlet's quest for revenge interferes with his relationship with Ophelia. There is much evidence to show that Hamlet loved her a great deal, but his pretense of madness drove her to her death. Ophelia drowned not knowing what was happening to her. This can be deduced by the fact that she flowed down the river singing and happy when in truth she was heartbroken. Ophelia was very much afraid when she saw Hamlet "with his doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle" (Act #. Scene #. Line #). She described him as being "loosed out of hell" (Act #. Scene #. Line #). In addition to that he scared her when he left the room with his eyes still fixed on her. She is especially hurt when Hamlet tells her that he no longer loves her and that he is opposed to marriage. He advises her to go to a nunnery and avoid marriage if she can.