Hamlet Tombstone Essay
In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Ophelia intentionally kills herself. Once spiraling into depression, Ophelia quickly became unable to coherently understand those around her. In her final hours, Ophelia surrounded herself with the beauty of nature to comfort herself. Gertrude states, “Her clothes spread out wide in the water, and buoyed her up for a while as she sang bits of old hymns, acting like someone who doesn’t realize the danger she’s in, or like someone completely accustomed to danger” (4, 7, 170). This statement shows Ophelia’s candid assumption about death and her willingness to put herself in harm’s way. Gertrude explained to Laertes, “Climbing into the tree to hang the wreath
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These symbols, a wild wreath, and Rosemary were chosen because they represent her innocence and virtue. Gertrude states, “There’s a willow that leans over the brook, dangling its white leaves over the glassy water” (4, 7, 165). From this, it can be understood that Ophelia decided to surround herself with nature’s beauty. Gertrude explains to Laertes, “Ophelia made wild wreaths out of those leaves, braiding in crow-flowers, thistles, daisies, and the orchises that vulgar shepherds have an obscene name for, but which pure-minded girls call “dead men’s fingers”” (4, 7, 165). This tells us that the wild wreath and the willow tree were utilized in the description of Ophelia's death and held symbolic meaning to …show more content…
This quote comes from Ophelia during her time of ever increasing insanity. However, once examined, this statement makes an astonishing point. To me, this quote summarizes the sudden and unexpected changes in Ophelia’s life prior to her death. She became lost after the death of her father and confused by Hamlet’s intentions. Ophelia states, “And he’s made the holiest vows to me, to back up what he says” (1, 3, 110). From this, it can be understood that Ophelia thought Hamlet’s intentions were purely honest. In her own words, Ophelia symbolizes how drastically an event can alter a person’s life. Shakespeare did an outstanding job exercising the point that we’re all in control of our own destinies. Hamlet insults Ophelia, saying, “You shouldn’t have believed me, since we’re all rotten at the core, no matter how hard we try to be virtuous. I didn’t love you” (3, 1, 105). This statement contradicts whether or not Hamlet loved Ophelia in the first
Hamlet believes that he must have a false character, this will help him in his plan to kill the king. This sense of false character that Hamlet conveys, however, is a fatal flaw that would ultimately lead him to be a tragic hero. This false sense of character is later when realized when Ophelia exclaims, “Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced...with a look so piteous in purport/ As if he had been loosed out of hell”(2.1.80-85). Ophelia implies here that she cannot beleive the overall state of Hamlet, she believes that Hamlet no longer loves her.
While Ophelia is supposedly not making sense after her father’s death; she gives out flowers saying, “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance….And there is pansies, that’s for thought….There’s fennel for you, and columbines. There’s rue for you….There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died” (4.5.172-179). All the flowers she gives out during this scene represent individual characters. Rosemary symbolizes remembrance; which she imagines for Hamlet in hope that he will remember her. Pansies represent thought which she gives to Laertes, so that he would think of her instead of just revenge. Ophelia gives Claudius fennel, which indicates strength and praiseworthiness; which are qualities that he desires but does not possess. Rue signifies regret which Ophelia gives to Gertrude because of her regret for remarrying Claudius. Daisies express innocence; which is what Ophelia needs since she lost her virginity. Ophelia gives violets; which illustrate faithfulness and modesty to her father’s grave because she failed to be faithful to him. All of this suggests that Ophelia still was sane since she could discern what problems each character identified with. In this part of the play, Ophelia was just overwhelmed with grief from her father’s death and the ending of her relationship with Hamlet. She
Later in the play Ophelia is soon pronounced dead, when she is laid in the grave Laertes goes mad and climbs into the grave with her dead body. Then Hamlet jumps into the grave with him and they start fighting over her. Hamlet is getting attacked by laertes and proclaims “ I prithee take thy fingers from my throat;/ For though i am not splenitive and rash,/...Hold off thy hand.” (Act 5 Scene 1 lines 259, 260, 262). This symbolises how even when she is finally at peace she still has men trying to control
Throughout the play Hamlet, Ophelia is associated with floral imagery. Her father, Polonius presents her with a violet, she sings songs about flowers when she turns mad, she drowns amid garlands of flowers, and finally, at her burial, Queen Gertrude tosses flowers into her grave. Flowers symbolize her fragile beauty, blossoming sexuality, and a condemned innocence. Flowers are not deeply rooted. They are beautiful living things at the mercy of their surroundings. With no means of self-preservation, a flower's life relies on the natural forces around it. Ophelia's life mirrors this frail existence. She is entirely dependent upon the men in her life to make her choices. With no control over the storm brewing in her own life and no strength to withstand it, her shallow roots are ripped from under her. She loses her mind and takes her own young life.
It is seen that women in the Elizabethan era do not have a much free will and the women depend on men for telling them how they should act. Hamlet reacts to Ophelia’s betrayal by mentioning that, “Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go, and quickly too. Farewell” (3.1.127-130). Ophelia is losing Hamlet’s trust due to her dependency on Polonius and Claudius when she shares Hamlet’s private love letters with Polonius and obeying his advice to stay away from Hamlet. Moreover, Ophelia even plays a part in the plan to test Hamlet to see if he is insane just because the king and her father ask her to, not caring how would Hamlet feel. Because of these reasons,Hamlet is telling Ophelia that nunnery is the only place where she will be faithful and cause the least amount of damage. This quote also conveys a theme of betrayal in the play, where Ophelia betrays her true love, Hamlet.Therefore, the attitude towards woman in the Elizabethan era is the reason why Ophelia betrays Hamlet . After her father’s death, Ophelia emotionally goes mad and sings, “He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone. At his head is a patch of green grass, And at his feet there is a tombstone. Oh, ho!”(4.5.27-30). Ophelia goes mad because she realizes the double loss of
It is widely believed that “Living life without honor is a tragedy bigger than death itself” and this holds true for Hamlet’s Ophelia. Ophelia’s death symbolizes a life spent passively tolerating Hamlet’s manipulations and the restrictions imposed by those around her, while struggling to maintain the last shred of her dignity. Ophelia’s apathetic reaction to her drowning suggests that she never had control of her own life, as she was expected to comply with the expectations of others. Allowing the water to consume her without a fight alludes to Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia as merely a device in his personal agenda. Her apparent suicide denotes a desire to take control of her life for once. Ophelia’s death is, arguably, an honorable one, characterized by her willingness to let go of her submissive, earth-bound self and leave the world no longer a victim.
Yet to Hamlet, Ophelia is no better than another Gertrude: both are tender of heart but submissive to the will of importunate men, and so are forced into uncharacteristic vices. Both would be other than what they are, and both receive Hamlet’s exhortations to begin repentance by abstaining from pleasure. “Get thee to a nunnery”; “Assume a virtue if you have it not.” (9)
The play states, “Ophelia: Good my lord,/ How does your Honor for this many a day?... Hamlet: To a nunnery, go.” ( Act3, Scene 1, Lines 99-162). This is where Hamlet calls Ophelia a liar and a cheat, he also mocks her dad by calling him a fool, and this is when he says he never loved her but he says it in the meanest way possible. His reasoning for calling Ophelia a liar and a cheat is because he is taking out his problems on her. Which is also why he says he does not love her anymore because he feels love does not exist due to what is happening to his mother. Although this may be his way to vent out his anger, it is wrong to do this to naive little Ophelia. A person who is not a jerk, would find a healthy way to release their anger, but since Hamlet is a jerk, he will take his anger out at someone else.
The name Ophelia has been most commonly associated with William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, where she is referred to as the title character's mad lover. She is believed to have killed herself out of madness by drowning herself in a river. Interpretations about Ophelia's character have ranged from being a woman who lost her sanity upon her father, Polonius' death to being the object of hatred by Hamlet. However, despite her supporting character in the play, her personality has roused numerous criticisms and interpretations from philosophers and critics. This is probably due to the fact that her role in the play is more of a descriptive character rather than a speaking one. There are also various symbolisms towards the current society such as gender issues which her character represents. The character of Ophelia portrays relevant symbolisms to the feminine history which is continuously open to different interpretations from the sixteenth century up to this present day. Ophelia's character embodies the intrinsic sexual struggle that women in her time have commonly encountered.
Even when Ophelia died, a girl who had always looked up to Gertrude, she didn 't have much of a sentimental aspect. “There on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds clamb’ring to hang, an envious sliver broke, when down her weedy trophies and herself fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide, and mermaid-like awhile they bore her up, which time she chanted snatches of old tunes, as one incapable of her own distress, or like a creature native and indued unto that element” (4,7,187-195) This is the description Queen Gertrude gives to Laertes, Ophelia 's brother when she finds out about Ophelia 's death. It almost seems like she was describing the death of a character in a novel who she had no connection with. This makes me wonder if Gertrude witnessed Ophelia 's drowning causing her to be in shocked and show no emotion towards Ophelia 's death when she went to share out the news with Laertes. If she did witness Ophelia 's death, she probably kept it a secret since she wasn’t able to do anything to safe Ophelia’s life. A similar reaction to Ophelia 's death is seen through Polonius
Going into the story of Hamlet, suicide is something that has been thought about coming from the mind of Hamlet, but we also see it happen with Ophelia. Hamlet was a man who had some serious problems going on within the family, most importantly
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 ...
The theatrical elements that Shakespeare employs in act 5, scene 1 are outstanding, and serve to crease an ambiguous atmosphere surround the Ophelia’s death. This ambiguity is partially formulated by the Gravedigger’s play on words, in which he reopens death of Ophelia that the Queen portrayed as a “drowning,” as she fell into the water “mermaid-like… chanting snatches of old lauds As one incapable of her own distress” (4.7, 175-177), and turns it into an appalling transgression, marking her death as a suicide, contending that she “willfully seek[ed] her own salvation” (5.1, 274). The controversy that the Gravedigger brings up creates this problematic situation that gives Hamlet one of its unique characteristics; after all, Ophelia-the-suicide is much more complicated than an Ophelia of accidental death, especially because the corpse would be thrown into unhallowed ground with a steak through her heart. Furthermore, giving Ophelia’s death a suicidal natur...
In the play “Hamlet,” Gertrude and Ophelia share similarities and they are also contrasting characters. Gertrude, the mother of Hamlet, is a loving, honorable, protective mother. Ophelia, Hamlet’s love interest, is young, foolish, and underestimated. One of the main stances, to which they both contrast, is their love for Hamlet.
After hearing this letter read aloud, both the king and queen are at least partially convinced that the denial of Hamlet’s love for Ophelia may be the impetus for his perceived insanity. Consequently, Polonius contrives a plan to send Ophelia out to speak with Hamlet while the king and him eavesdrop behind an arras to conclude whether Hamlet’s love for Ophelia is the true, deep-rooted cause of his madness. However, this hypothesis is quickly proven incorrect once the conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia commences. Ophelia reminds Hamlet of his professions of interest to her, but Hamlet simply states that he “did love [her] once,” but that she “should not have believed” him; Hamlet then brazenly declares, “I loved you not” (3.1.121,