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Hamlet character analysis essay ophelia
The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia
Hamlet character analysis essay ophelia
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Through the play you see people and how they minds changes. Some become wise and others become insane. The two that I want to look at and how they change throughout the play is Ophelia and Hamlet. They both change but in different ways. Ophelia is going from rational to suicide. When Hamlet is going from sane to insane. In Act one you see both being reasonable and normal. They understand what is going on and what they are doing. In this quote, “Hamlet. Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, 'That can denote me truly. These indeed seem, For they are actions that a man might play; But I have that within which passeth show-These but the trappings and the suits of woe.” (I.ii.285-289) You can see that Hamlet is sane because he understand …show more content…
ii 215-216) Hamlet is questioning her in a rude way about her reasoning for getting close to him. This makes Ophelia question herself motivations which makes her insanity spike up. Hamlet becomes unreasonable and Ophelia tells him that in this quote; “Ophelia. And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, That suck 'd the honey of his music vows, Now see that noble and most sovereign reason, Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh” (III.i.1846-1849). She is saying that he isn’t the man that he once was new. Sense he was calling her rude names it shows that his emotions were getting the better of …show more content…
The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body. The King is a thing-“ (IV.ii.2702-2703) This is after he killed Polonius and he is speaking in nonsense. Then he spikes up to to paranoid. Ophelia on the other hand is become insane after the quilt of her father’s death. She is paranoid and everyone can see that, "Gentlemen: She speaks much of her father, says she hears There’s tricks i’ th’ world, and hems, and beats her heart, Spurns enviously at straws, speaks things in doubt That carry but half sense” (IV,v,4-7) She is unstable and very confused about the situation on
Pennington, Michael. "Ophelia: Madness Her Only Safe Haven." Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. of "Hamlet": A User's Guide. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996.
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
In Hamlet, Shakespeare incorporates a theme of madness with two characters: one truly mad, and one only acting mad to serve a motive. The madness of Hamlet is frequently disputed. This paper argues that the contrapuntal character in the play, namely Ophelia, acts as a balancing argument to the other character's madness or sanity. Shakespeare creates a contrasting relationship between the breakdown of Ophelia and the "north-north-west" brand of insanity used by Hamlet in that while Hamlet's character offers more evidence for a contriving manipulation, Ophelia's breakdown is quick, but more conclusive in its precision.
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
to predict how they will treat other women in their life. Hamlet is a good
In the first scene of Act II, Polonius and Ophelia discuss the meaning of Hamlet's odd behavior. Though the two characters agree his actions arise out of the torment of spurned love, they arrive at that point through very different means. At the beginning of the dialogue, Ophelia says that she has been "affrighted" by Hamlet in her bed chamber. (II,i 75) Her encounter with the Prince left her scared about his real intentions. She says that he looks like he has been,"loosed out of hell/To speak of horrors". (II,i 83-4) The very fact that Hamlet does not speak one word to Ophelia makes him look even more intimidating. By not speaking anything, Hamlet at once strengthens his image as a madman, as well as shrouding his real intentions towards those around him. Just following this passage comes a place in the text where we can see how the character of Ophelia has been manipulated by Polonius. After his "hint" that he might be doing this out of frustrated love, Ophelia says that that is what she truly does fear. (87) Her feelings of pity and concern are shaped by her father in order to fit his case of madness against Hamlet.
Even Polonius catches on to his act and mentions “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.” (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 205-6). Polonius feels as though Hamlet’s insanity is nothing more than possibly rudeness and sarcasm, instead of genuine loss of mind. Perhaps Hamlet truly is sane and has little fits of hysteria as the world seems to stack up against him. His anger and feelings of betrayal overload with explosive outbursts that can be interpreted as real madness.
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.
Hamlet, Ophelia’s lover, accidentally kills her father and “confesses” he never loved her, Hamlet toys with Ophelia's emotions intentionally and unintentionally to solidify his madness. Even though she was the who initiated the “breakup”, her sorrows of the relationship are much more public than Hamlets. Hamlet’s madness scares Ophelia away which he used as a defense mechanism to not be hurt anymore. His madness looks as though he had been "loosed out of hell to speak of horrors" (2.1.83-84) and she "truly [did] fear it"(2.1. 86). His insanity and rudeness suffocated any love she had for him. She admits that their "their perfume [has been] lost" (3.1. 99). This helped Hamlet solidify his insanity by cutting ties with the ones he loves, and having them tell others he is mad. This comes with the cost of discontinuing his relationships: especially with Ophelia. Both have hinted around in the text of an intimate affair. This makes the emotions and breakup even more difficult for both of them. Their relationship was a love, not an innocent crush or courtship. Poor Ophelia initially thought she caused Hamlet's madness due to the abrupt ending of their affair. But because of her naivety, she lacks to see his other internal struggles. Ophelia’s trust in Hamlet left her heartbroken. Hamlet’s agenda of or getting justice for his father occupied his mind more than Ophelia did. Which left her feeling
1. Plays have foils to help the audience understand important characters in the play. Foils are minor characters that have similarities and differences with a more important character in the play. Sometimes the minor character is just there for the character to talk to; this is the basis for being a foil. In the play "Hamlet," [Titles] by William Shakespeare, the character Ophelia is a foil to Hamlet.
The reader is left guessing on Hamlet’s true feelings for Ophelia through his various insults, sexual innuendos, and admitted desire. Hamlet’s claim, “God hath given you one face, and you / Make yourselves another.” (3.1.155-156) is laced with irony and hypocrisy given Hamlet’s own deception regarding true feelings. This proclamation comes at the end of a lengthy tirade against Ophelia and womankind in general for their conniving deceit leading men astray. The fact that Hamlet cannot see this duplicity in his very own actions shows the double standard he holds for females. Ophelia’s immediate reaction is one of shock and defense due to the aggressive nature of Hamlet’s attack. She calls out “O, woe is me!” (3.1.174) in distress to the ferocity of Hamlet and is unable to form a particularly coherent response akin to the ones seen against Laertes and Polonius. She does show her intelligence and rebellion from this assumption of power by Hamlet in her songs while Hamlet is gone. While many attribute her madness to the death of her father, a large portion of her instability should be attributed to Hamlet and his earlier actions. In her first introduction as insane she sings, “And I a maid at your window, / To be your Valentine. / Then up he rose and donned his clothes / And dropped the chamber door, / Let in the maid, that out a maid / Never departed more.” (4.5.55-60). Due to her references to sexuality and deceit 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.
Hamlet and Ophelia are both characters in the play that are insane (or so pretend to be). Both characters, however, are mad in their own sense. Primarily, Hamlet’s madness is willed, he consciously takes the decision of putting “an antic disposition on” (1.5.179). He is “mad” only when he is in the company of others in the castle. When he is alone or with Horatio such as in the famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy or the graveyard scene, his madness is completely gone. Everything Hamlet says at all times in the play make complete sense, to the reader that is. To others, his speech is unusual because they do not understand his underlying goal and his knowledge of Claudius’ deeds. Ophelia’s madness on the other hand is more true in that her madness is not a conscious decision but rather the eventual result of several burdens in her life, primarily her father’s death and secondly, Hamlet. She also acts crazier than Hamlet; this is especially evident in Act 4, scene 5 of the play. Her looks are empty and her speech, according to Gertrude, “is nothing” (4.5.8). She changes immediately in topic from love to death in the same song, exits the room, re-enters and continues with her singing. This is unlike Hamlet’s madness who is considered mad because people cannot understand him and because he has occasional violent outbursts, due to his anger about his unfortunate situation. Both madnesses are similar in that they stem from the loss of a father; the madnesses of the two
In Hamlet, Ophelia is unaware of the evil is spreading around her. She is an obedient woman, and is naive in that she takes what people say at face value, which makes her an innocent lady. "You should not have believed me, for virtue/ cannot so inculate our old stock but we shall relish of/ it. I loved you not." (III.ii. 117-119). Hamlet says these lines as a mask of his madness, but Ophelia does not understand his true motives and takes Hamlet's words very seriously to heart. The words that Hamlet says to Ophelia both confuse and hurt her greatly. Hamlet's lines are what eventually lead Ophelia to insanity, and Ophelia's insanity is what causes her death by drowning.
Ophelia serves as a foil to many characters, specifically Hamlet. Her madness was genuine and severe, while Hamlet’s was faked and arduous. While he rambles on about nonsense, Ophelia’s “nonsense” reveals her true ailments and struggles to continue her life. Her two main issues in Act 4 Scene 4 are the death of her father and the loss of her love, Hamlet. Ophelia’s singing is only further evidence of her insanity, as no sane person sings everything they say and think. One of her