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Feelings and emotions in hamlet
The portrayal of women in Shakespeare's plays
Shakespeare's portrayal of women
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Hamlet is a true shakespearean tragedy, and characters spiraling into madness is not uncommon. One of the few female characters in the play is Ophelia, and throughout the play she slowly becomes more and more mad. Ophelia first lost her brother, Laertes when he left for France, then she lost her father, Polonius when he was killed by Hamlet. She is then only left with Hamlet to talk to, but Hamlet is acting strangely towards her. She believes that Hamlet is supposed to be with her, but Hamlet thinks otherwise, so she now has lost another person she that she loved. Losing all those people means that Ophelia has no one to talk to, and her feelings are being ignored, and her voice is only heard until after she has died. Ophelia’s madness is not her …show more content…
She loves Hamlet, and the story implies that they had sex and because of that, Ophelia expects Hamlet to be with her. Instead of either choosing to be with Ophelia or choosing not to, throughout the whole story Hamlet is either in love with Ophelia, or is making crude comments towards her and making her feel uncomfortable. Hamlet is constantly insulting or rejecting her, for example when he says, “Get thee to a nunnery” (3.1.131), he is rejecting her and then goes on to speak about how he hopes she is chaste, as he does not think she should have children. Ophelia is clearly upset by his comments as well as confused because earlier he had declared his love, as mentioned before. Right before Hamlet rejects her, Ophelia expresses her distress saying, “And I, of ladies most deject and wretched,/That sucked the honey of his music vows,/Now see that noble and most sovereign reason,…/out of time and harsh” (3.1.169-171; 172). At this point, Hamlet is also descending into madness and both her confidants are gone. If Ophelia had someone to talk to about the situation she was in and guide her, perhaps she would have been able to deal with the complexity of it
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
Ophelia was driven mad by the death of her father Polonius and how Hamlet betrayed her love with his own wave of madness which was just an act. In her madness, Ophelia talks about her father and his death and about the “Tricks in the world” (terrible things that happen to people). Ophelia’s madness was also the extent of her being used by her father so he could spy on Hamlet to see if he was truly crazy and then by Hamlet when he claimed he no longer loved her and that he didn’t send her any letters (remembrances). Ophelia’s speech and her fragments of songs are unsensible. Her song was about her father’s death “He is gone, He is gone” (4.5.220), and a maiden who is tricked into losing her virginity with a false promise of love and the possibility of marriage. “To be your valentine, then up he rose and donned his clothes and duped the chamber door” (4.5.56-58)
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.
This can be proven by the change in Ophelia’s actions and behavior. Ophelia starts to sing strange songs in front of Gertrude about her father’s death and Hamlet’s madness. Ophelia sings to Gertrude and sings, “He is dead and gone, lady, he is dead and gone, at his head a grass-green turf, at his heels a stone” (4.5.26-29).This tells us that Ophelia is a very soft and is a very weak character and can easily get heart broken. She cares about her family and the death of her father has shattered her into pieces, it may cause problems for her to
Ophelia is a perfect example of how the poison of revenge of the kingdom of Elsinore does not only affect the person committing these acts, and as the victim, but the innocent bystanders as well. Originally Ophelia had nothing to do with King Hamlet’s unjust death, but her relationship and involvement with Hamlet, her father, and Claudius and Gertrude is enough to make her a lunatic and at last her deplorable death. Shakespeare shows Ophelia’s heartbreaking downfall in her speeches after her father’s passing “There’s/ rue for you, and here’s some for me.../Oh, you must wear your rue with a difference.—There’s a daisy. I would/ give you some violets, but they withered all when/ my father died. They say he made a good end” (Hamlet: IV.v.51). It is clear that the corruption in the kingdom causes Ophelia to become insane. She cannot cope with or overcome her father’s unfortunate death because it was committed by her love, Hamlet. As Ophelia becomes insane due to her father’s death, she is also affected by Hamlet’s treatment of her. Ophelia wants to trust Hamlet and does not understand his antic disposition, but still tries to be loyal to him. However, the way Hamlet treats Ophelias contributes to her insanity and is arguably the most recognizable cause of her misfortune “Get thee to a nunnery,/...Or, if thou wilt needs marry,/ marry a fool,
It is impossible to get around Hamlet's murder of Polonius being a trigger for Ophelia's decent into madness. However, upon closer examination it is not this trigger alone that is the cause for her madness and it is surely not only this that leads to her eventual suicide. Ophelia is expected to be a perfect lady, which in part meant following the orders of the men in her life. In addition to that pressure and cruelty is the added cruelty of how often those men change their minds about her and what she should do. Adding to that the repeated abandonment and the murder of her father by her lover, it is no wonder she went into a madness that ended in her death.
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.
With the men’s constant abuse, they each start telling her different things. Unsure of whom to listen to, she starts to get confused and starts losing herself. When finally there was no one there to tell her anymore she goes mad, and on the brink of her madness she ends up killing herself. Throughout all these events, no one stops to think of her as an actual person, but instead like a rag doll they could just toss around. The play Hamlet itself was discussed without any bother of Ophelia for nearly four hundred years before scholars started to think of her and read the play with a Feminist viewpoint.
Ophelia trusts the advise given and her obedience is very evident in this matter as she avoids contact with Hamlet until she is told by her father, with the King and Queens approval, to meet up with him by 'accident' in the lobby. Deceit not being in her nature, believing that her father, the king and queen are right and true; that Hamlet is mad; and probably curious to know if Hamlet is "mad in love" with her the young, obedient, powerless Ophelia does her part to search out the truth. But tragically this one forced step outside of her true character begins her downfall. In a precarious predicament, loyalty to her father compelled Ophelia to lie to Hamlet when he asked about her father?s location at that moment saying he was at home instead of behind a tapestry right the...
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.
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.
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...
Does Hamlet love Ophelia? Hamlet truthly loved Ophelia but in the story he acts like he hates her , it might sound really controversial but Hamlet had some reasons to act like that and the main one was that he didn’t want her to get involved in his revenge. As an illustration, after Hamlet knew what happen with his father , he was devastated and tried to talk to Ophelia about it but the event resulted in: “He raised a sigh so piteous and profound As it did seem to shatter all his bulk And end his being. That done, he lets me go, And, with his head over his shoulder turned, He seemed to find his way without his eyes, For out o’ doors he went without their helps, And to the last bended their light on me”(2,1,95-102).To explain this situation we have to consider that he swear not talk about he knew but he trusted her and he wanted to share it and this situation show that he really loved or at least he wasn’t using her as the most people think.