Although Ophelia’s madness may not be as “method”-ical as Hamlet’s, Ophelia’s sayings, songs and riddle like remarks confirm Laertes suspicion, “This nothing’s more than matter.” (4.4.183) While Laertes remarks suggest that Ophelia’s words might be significant, it is actually Laertes words which hold the “key” to Ophelia (1.3.90). For this “nothing” or “no-thing” is bawdy wordplay which refers to Ophelia’s vagina and the “matter” is Ophelia’s pregnancy or unborn child (Bate and Rasmussen 70).
With Laertes in Paris and Polonius dead, the faithful guardians of Ophelia’s “chaste treasure” (1.3.33) are unable to protect Ophelia’s virginity (Bate and Rasmussen 20). Singing “Saint Valentine’s day” Ophelia reveals: Then up he rose, and donned his
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Shakespeare, playing on words, uses “rose” to represent a man with an erection and “dupped the chamber door” is a pun on “tupped” or “to copulate (with a woman)” (OED Online). Finally, a “maid” who “never departed more” signifies Ophelia’s loss of virginity (Bate and Rasmussen 98).
Initially, one might be tempted to lay the crime on Hamlet. However, Ophelia will “make an end on’t,” revealing the culprit through riddle and song (4.4.57-58). With Gertrude and Horatio in attendance, Ophelia sings to the King, Quoth she, ‘Before you tumbled
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First, it is an “importunate” and “distract” Ophelia (4.4.2) who specifically seeks the “beauteous majesty of Denmark,” Queen Gertrude (4.4.22). Upon recognition, Ophelia asks “How should I your true love know/From another one?” (4.4.24-25). A rhetorical question, Ophelia supplies the answer by explaining that Gertrude’s true love can be distinguished “By his cockle hat and staff,/And his sandal shoon” (4.4.26-27). However, the pilgrim Ophelia refers to is “dead and gone,” thereby implying his spiritual quest for indulgence takes place in the afterlife (4.4.30-31). King Hamlet, “twice two months” (3.2.121) dead, would be the only character with a gravesite of “grass-green turf” and a “stone” (4.4.32-33). Interestingly, the gravesite Ophelia sings of is inverted; whereby, the “stone” is “at his heels” and the “grass-green turf” is “at his head”
“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.
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
...She had lost her father and her lover while her brother was away for school, and she was no longer useful as a puppet in a greater scheme. Ophelia was displaced, an Elizabethan woman without the men on whom she had been taught to depend. Therein lies the problem - she lacked independence so much that she could not continue living without Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet. Ophelia's aloneness led to her insanity and death. The form of her death was the only fitting end for her - she drowned in a nearby river, falling beneath the gentle waters. She finally found peace in her mad world. That is how Ophelia is so useful as a classic feminist study - she evokes imagery of the fragile beauty women are expected to become, but shows what happens to women when they submit as such.
During Hamlet, Polonius and Laertes use Ophelia for their own self-gain not taking her feelings in consideration. In the article “Jephthah's Daughter's Daughter: Ophelia,” Cameron Hunt reveals that Polonius disregards Ophelia’s wants for his ...
"Motherless and completely circumscribed by the men around her, Ophelia has been shaped to conform to external demands, to reflect other 's desires." (Dane) Through both the misogyny of the time period and the overbearing males in Ophelia 's environment, Shakespeare took a character that could have had some depth and complexity through these environmental factors and flattened her character into this one dimensional, fragile damsel in distress whose sole purpose is to portray Hamlet and the rest of the men in her life as dominant and strong males. Through analyzing her dialogue and actions towards these men it becomes clear that Ophelia isn 't this innocent and naive songbird with a character flaw, and instead a woman who can 't fight against the males in her life, instead just deals with them in a quiet manner.
Before she dies, Ophelia makes garlands of flowers, like a child would. "Fantastic garlands did she make/ Of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples" (4.7.169-170). During this time, she is reflecting on her childhood, her innocence, and the way life was when everything surrounding her was good and u...
Ophelia provides a prime example of the duality of human behavior that is prevalent in the play. At the beginning, Ophelia is the good spirited, innocent, and stable-minded maid. As the play progresses, Ophelia seems to lose her good nature and innocence until finally she succumbs to madness. Claudius comme...
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 is an underestimated character. She goes through an emotional roller coaster with Hamlet, in addition to the death of her father at the same time. She hided her true emotions and true love for and from Hamlet, which possible causes her meltdown in the end. Ophelia’s insanity starts to show when she hands Gertrude and Claudius the flowers she picks “hers rue for you — it symbolized repentance” (251). The authors purpose in this quote is to show Ophelia’s true identity. She is an innocent, sweet character, who follows her fathers orders, and at last she breaks. Artist are
Many people have read Hamlet, and may or may not have been confused about two specific character’s affection for one another. Many questions are asked as to whether or not Hamlet truly loves Ophelia. Not only do people wonder if he ever loved her, but they wonder what has caused Hamlet’s actions towards her. Another question that was raised was whether or not Hamlet was responsible for Ophelia’s suicide. William Shakespeare does a great job at hiding Hamlet’s love for Ophelia, but there is evidence that shows how he truly does love her.
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 is a girl of 16 years old that lives in a world full of love illusions. As a young girl that she is, it is easy for other people to take advantage and control her. Hamlet, her lover, apprises Ophelia in his feelings towards her. She believes every word said. Laertes her brother, and Polonius her father, both believe Hamlet is not enough for Ophelia. Hamlet is only a prince and has no power, which does not benefit Ophelia’s family members. Laertes te...
Ophelia loves Hamlet; her emotions drive her to perform her actions. Some would say that Ophelia’s emotions could have actually been what ended her young
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet, he portrays a young Ophelia, who battles with her desire to please her father and Hamlet, eventually driving her to her own demise. The way Ophelia is perceived by the other characters in the book is not how the reader perceives her. Her love for Hamlet is strong, and very apparent throughout the play. The other characters, however, view her in the opposite manner. Her own father, Polonius, labeled her as a whore, casting her aside as useless. Ophelia’s pain consumes her as she fails to please her family and the man she loves dearly.
The Western world in Shakespeare’s time was male dominated, and men only had regards for women when it was connected to their bodies. The sexual objectification of women was normal in that society and women were seen as the property of their husbands. In Shakespeare’s time the word “nothing” had double meanings, one of which referred to the female genitals. Ophelia represents the object of Hamlet’s male desires and in Act three he says to her: