Quotes About Ophelia's Suicide

Ophelia’s Suicide

Insane. Obedient. Innocent and naïve. Heartbroken. “Goodnight, ladies, goodnight, sweet ladies, goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.”(4.5.72) These are what define Ophelia, an intelligent, but naïve girl living in a male dominated society in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. She is in love with Hamlet, but her family uses her relationship to find out what is wrong with Hamlet, regardless of how she feels. This among other stressful incidents, ultimately, leads her to her untimely death.

Ophelia is obedient and loyal in the way that she loves Hamlet, but has no choice but to obey her father’s whims “I shall obey my lord” (1.4.10). She doesn’t argue and goes along with what she is told “…But as you did command, I did repel

his letters…”(2.2.107-109) When really Polonius is using her relationship with Hamlet to find out Hamlet’s motives. She does what others tell her rather than deciding for herself, She has to because she lives in a male dominated world “I do not know my lord, what I should think” She does not think for herself and lets others decide her feelings for her. (1.3.104) She wants to please both her father and Hamlet.
Ophelia is innocent because she has no choice, but to betray his love to be obedient to her father’s whims, as she is living in a male dominated society.

She believes Hamlet loves her “Young men will do ‘t, if they come to ‘t; By Cock, they are to blame… Before you tumbled me, you promised me to wed.”(4.5.?) Polonius thinks she is naïve in thinking Hamlet loves her “… Unsifted in such perilous circumstance” Hamlet does love her though, “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum…” (5.1.284-286) but does not show this until after her death. She has no choice but to betray Hamlet and his love, and she is also naïve in thinking what her father wants her to do is in her best interest when really he is using her relationship to find out Hamlet’s

motives.
At various points in the play, Hamlet is cruel and mean to Ophelia because he becomes very upset by Polonius’s actions and Ophelia’s willingness to have her nature and their relationship used and exploited for her father’s purpose.

He calls her a “breeder of sinners” (3.1.132) and suggests that she “get thee to a nunnery” he says these out of anger at her, that she would betray him for her father. (3.1.131) Ophelia becomes heartbroken at this, both by the pressure of her family wanting her to break up with Hamlet, always constantly doing what they want and never making decisions for herself, and her relationship with Hamlet, “And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, that sucked the honey of his music vows” (3.1.13) She is saying here that she was susceptible to his words and deceit. Hamlet becomes so consumed by grief and the desire for revenge that he kills Ophelia’s father Polonius, and this is when Ophelia takes a turn for the worse and goes insane. She gives away flowers to her loved ones, “There’s fennel for you, and columbines. There’s rue for you, wear your rue with a difference… I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.”(4.5.205) I believe this is her way of saying goodbye, giving flowers to her loved ones, and showing them representations of how she feels and what they mean to

her.
Like her life, Ophelia’s death is passive. When the queen says she accidentally falls into the water and did not save herself from drowning. Her behavior in death is a metaphor for how she behaves in life- she goes along with what happens to her without protest. She does not deserve her fate, but rather chooses it.