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Relationships and their significance in the play Hamlet
Relationships and their significance in the play Hamlet
Relationships and their significance in the play Hamlet
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The life of Hamlet is without a doubt very interesting, he suffers from unfortunate events in his time that are often major blows to his ego. His father dies while he’s away at college, Hamlet is next in line to be king until his “uncle-father” steals it from him; but it is to be known his “uncle-father” would not have stolen it if his “aunt-mother” hadn’t allowed it. It’s very apparent from the beginning of the play that he is very well obsessed with his mother and her doings. He harasses, humiliates, and abuses her because she has done such an unforgivable act by marrying Claudius. His thoughts and feelings towards his mother are very strong and well known, he even describes the odd pair as “little more than kin and less than kind.” That’s not all with Hamlet; his mother remarrying is just the tip of the iceberg so deeply rooted in the ocean of his emotions. His relationship with Ophelia is twisted, Hamlet goes through episodes of …show more content…
It causes me to wonder if he ever cared about them or was it just himself that he worried about. How he felt, what he wanted, things going his way, if I am thinking superficially yes I believe Hamlet was selfish and only cared about himself but if I am looking at the bigger picture I think not. The bigger picture is that back in the times of Hamlet there were no such findings like mental disorders. I pity Hamlet because anyone in their right mind would know he is sick. If he was a real person I would say he was suffering from Bipolar I (Manic Depressive disorder) and during the times of his mania he has symptoms like high energy, paranoia that he is being set up (which sometimes is right), impulsiveness, racing thoughts, and most importantly a loss of touch with reality, it’s also accompanied by episodes of depression where he has loss of motivation to get revenge and brooding thoughts of
In Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, the audience finds a docile, manipulated, scolded, victimized young lady named Ophelia. Ophelia is a foil to Hamlet. Plays have foils to help the audience better understand the more important characters in the play. The character of Ophelia is necessary so that the audience will give Hamlet a chance to get over his madness and follow his heart.
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
Even though Hamlet is a prince, he has little control over the course of his life. In that time many things were decided for the princes and princesses such as their education and even who they married. This was more or less the normal way of life for a child of the monarch. But in the case of Hamlet, any of the control he thought he had, fell away with the murder of his father. Having his father, the king, be killed by his own brother, sent Hamlet into a state of feeling helpless and out of control. Cooped up in a palace with no real outlet, he tries to control at least one aspect of his life. Hamlet deliberately toys with Ophelia's emotions in order to feel in control of something since he cannot control the situation with Claudius.
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)
Ophelia in the fourth act of Hamlet is demonstrably insane, but the direct cause of her slipped sanity is something that remains debatable, Shakespeare uses the character Ophelia to demonstrate how women during this time were unable to break away from social norms. While it is evident that Ophelia is grieving over the death of her father, Polonius, as Horatio says of her “She speaks much of her father, says she hears / There’s tricks in the world, and hems, and beats her heart” (4.5.4-5), as lines from one of her many “songs” points towards grieving over an aged relative, “His beard as white as snow / All flaxen was his poll” with flaxen indicating a white or grayed head of hair (4.5.190-191).
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.
People have mostly seen women inferior to men because women have been thought of as simple-minded and could not take care of themselves. Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows how men treated and thought of women during the 1500s. There was an order most did not interfere with; however, some did. In the 1500s, women were supposed to conform to men’s wishes. Throughout the play, Ophelia first obeyed her father and brother’s wishes, ignored the social norms later, and then went mad, which caused her to never gain her own identity.
In the play Hamlet, everyone has a role that they must perform.Some characters are meant to push the story forward, and some are meant to make us question the symbolism that they represent. Ophelia plays both of these roles. She pushes the story forward, and she represents many important ideas.Ophelia plays a victimized character; she is the innocent bystander in the play that dies off due to manipulation that leads to her madness. Hamlet, the king, and even her father all use her as a pawn to gain something they want, ignoring whether she wishes to follow along or not. With her death, the significance of her role is seen through the events that transpire. This makes Ophelia one of the importantcatalysts for the end game of Hamlet; her death
Melancholy, grief, and madness pervade Shakespeare's great tragedy, Hamlet. The emotional maladies presented within Hamlet, not only allow the audience to sympathize with prince Hamlet, but also with the tragic lady Ophelia as well. It is Ophelia who suffers at her lover's discretion because of decisions she was obligated to make on behalf of her weak societal position.
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.
Frail Ophelia of Hamlet Throughout Hamlet, Shakespeare makes it evident that Ophelia is very unstable. She continuously changes her mind about the way she feels. Laertes and Polonius command her to do things that she does not agree with, but she does them with no argument. Afraid to stand up for herself, she stands back and watches everyone else control her life.
The common problem of lack of communication has plagued couples since the beginning of time. The relationship Hamlet and Ophelia share in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, is no more immune to these human tendencies. Throughout the drama, many misunderstandings cloud their relationship. Unspoken problems and pressures within Ophelia’s and Hamlet’s private lives lead to overlooked, unnoticed love. For Hamlet, his bond with Ophelia pales in comparison to the weight of the les talionis obligation thrust upon his soul. Ophelia faces trouble of a different nature. Having been raised to be very obedient to her father and to let him think for her, she is coerced into pushing Hamlet away and not giving into her love. It is the very lack of communication of these personal dilemmas between Ophelia and Hamlet that ultimately leads to Ophelia’s untimely demise and brings Hamlet to the verge of hysteria.
In Hamlet 's eyes, Ophelia did not treat him with the love, care, and respect he deserved. Hamlet and Ophelia cared for one another in the beginning of the play, until she is ordered by her father to break off all contact with him due to the fact that Polonius suspected Hamlet only wanted to have sex with her and that he was not truly in love with Ophelia. Hamlet is understandably upset and outraged when Ophelia severs their relationship with no explanation although he knows it was the work of
I think Ophelia committed suicide because she had hard time throughout the play. She encountered a lot of rejections and tragedies in her life. Hamlet treated her terribly, telling her he does not love her anymore and she was always controlled by Hamlet, her brother and father. Being trapped in the amount of control and dominance the men she loved gave her, she must have had a hard time living. In addition, even though her father Polonius was controlling, Ophelia was willing to obey his directions because she loved her father and he was all she had left. In the end, she is likely to have committed suicide because of grief from the loss of her father.
In Act III.II.I-XLVII of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet gives the actors who are to star in the famous “mousetrap play” a list of advice: the to do’s and not to do’s. Hamlet’s advice, specifically lines XVII-XXXVII, serves as a mirror to nature as its purpose is to ensure that the play is a device for truth, and consequently an exposé for flaws. Hamlet’s advice appears to be for the good of the play, but, in actuality, its purpose is to reveal his feeling towards Claudius, Gertrude, and Ophelia.