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The relationship of hamlet and ophelia
The relationship of hamlet and ophelia
Manipulations of ophelia in hamlet
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Ophelia was an object that male characters, i.e. Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes, etc., used to gain more political power or to get what they want. Polonius was greedy, he told his daughter to hold herself to a higher standard than Hamlet. Because Polonius wanted the marriage of Ophelia and Hamlet to happen, he went to the castle in Elsinore, which lead to his death. A connection through marriage to prince would be a huge power for the family. Ophelia was being used to gain more power. Hamlet only used her for sex and affection, which This show how no one really cared for Ophelia other that to use her.
Ophelia is a character in Hamlet that is chronically faithful to everyone else but herself. Ophelia is deeply in love with Hamlet, and she is certain that he loves her as well. This is clear from the assertions she makes in Hamlet’s defense: “My lord, he hath importuned me with love in honest fashion. And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord, with almost all the holy vows of heaven” (1795). Ophelia’s downfall emerges when she doubts her own feelings and beliefs about Hamlet, upon instruction and advice from her brother and father. Ophelia, a confident and intelligent woman, begins to rely on others to tell her what to think and how to act. “I do not know, my lord, what I should think” (1795). Upon Polonius request, and going against her own hearts desires, she starts to avoid Hamlet. “No, my good lord, but, as you did command, I did repel his letters and denied his access to me” (1806). By doing what her father advises and wishes Ophelia is no longer capable of making decisions for herself. The loss of Hamlet’s love and the death of her father leave her with confusion and doubts about her future. “Well, Go...
The Manipulation of Polonius and Ophelia in Hamlet. The main plot of Shakespeare's Hamlet centers around Prince Hamlet's desire to repay King Claudius for his evil deeds. This central action revolves around the stories concerning the minor characters of Polonius and Ophelia. Though they do not motivate Hamlet's actions towards the King, these characters act as forces upon Hamlet himself, trying to spur him to do things he does not want to do.
As the play opened, Hamlet and Ophelia appeared as lovers experiencing a time of turbulence. Hamlet had just returned home from his schooling in Saxony to find that his mother had quickly remarried her dead husband's brother, and this gravely upset him. Hamlet was sincerely devoted to the idea of bloodline loyalty and sought revenge upon learning that Claudius had killed his father. Ophelia, though it seems her relationship with Hamlet is in either the developmental stage or the finalizing stage, became the prime choice as a lure for Hamlet. Laertes inadvertently opened Ophelia up to this role when he spoke with Ophelia about Hamlet before leaving for France. He allowed Polonius to find out about Hamlet's courtship of Ophelia, which led to Polonius' misguided attempts at taking care of Ophelia and obeying the king's command to find the root of Hamlet's problems. Ophelia, placed in the middle against her wishes, obeyed her father and brother's commands with little disagreement. The only time she argued was when Laertes advised her against making decisions incompatible with the expectations of Elizabethan women. Ophelia tells him, in her boldest lines of the play:
Culturally, women have been expected to be soft spoken, gentle, delicate flowers. They should not question a man's opinion or go against their will. Ophelia, in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is an example of a young naive girl who faces the dangers that come from only following what others want, and not thinking for herself. The men in this play use her for their own benefit and she suffers the repercussions, which leads her to madness and “accidental” death.
When reading the text, one can comprehend that Ophelia is caught in the middle between two opposite sides. Her family (father and brother) believe that Hamlet is a womanizer rather then the philosopher that he is. They also believe that he will use her in order to achieve his own purposes, and that he would take her precious virginity only to discard it because he would never be her husband. But, Ophelia's heart mesmerized by Hamlets cunning linguistics is set on the fact that Hamlet truly loves her or loved her, even though he swears he never did. In the eye of her father and brother, she will always be a pure, wholesome girl, an eternal virgin in a sense, (due to a parents nature to always see their offspring as a child) they want her to ascend into her stereotypical role in life as a vessel of morality whose sole purpose of existence is to be a obedient wife and a committed mother. However, to Hamlet she is simply an object used to satisfy and fulfill his sexual needs. He also seems to hold her at a distant which suggests that he may...
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 ...
As far as we know, up until the recent events, Ophelia has had a comfortable life. Her father counsel to King Claudius has landed the family in a high part of society, shielded from the effects of poverty. She is beautiful, rich, and has the boy, well only for a little while. During the time of the passing of King Hamlet, Polonius has forbidden his daughter Ophelia to see her one and only lover, the man she believed she was going to marry, she sings, “Quoth she, “Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed.” He answers, So would I ha' done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed.”(Shakespeare IV.V) She has given herself completely to Hamlet, but on orders from her father she must sever all ties. This has her grieving, grieving over love lost, true love lost. She is still in love with Hamlet, but must obey her father despite her grief; this is putting a tremendous amount of stress on poor Ophelia. She is torn between family, ...
good-bye in his chambers, Polonius tells his son: Beware Of entrance to a quarrel, but,
In Elizabethan times, Ophelia is restricted as a woman. She is obedient to the commands of the men in her life although she often attempts to do the right thing. Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet all have a grasp on Ophelia and who she is. She does not have the freedom to change her fate as Hamlet does. Shawna Maki states, “Ophelia’s life is determined by the whims of men who control her” (1). Polonius takes advantage of his relationship with Ophelia by using her to achieve a better relationship with Claudius. Polonius and Laertes teach Ophelia how to behave, therefore, abusing their power in allowing Ophelia to become who she wants to be (Brown 2).
To capture our sympathy, Ophelia goes through a transformation unlike any other character in Hamlet. She is abandoned by everyone she holds dear; her father Polonius, her brother Laertes, and Hamlet, her lover. And yet Ophelia becomes tangled in a web of madness when her loyalty is torn between Polonius and Hamlet. Most horrible of all is Ophelia's suicide-death. The emotion is evokes, coupled with the above points shows that Shakespeare's intentions was to make Ophelia, a minor character in terms of the number of lines assigned to her, into a memorable character evoking the most sympathy.
In this essay I will attempt to compare and contrast the relationship of Ophelia and Polonius in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, with the relationship my father and I have. I will analyze the similarities and differences between their relationship and ours to show how even though the play takes place in a much different time period, we still have things in common. First, I will characterize the relationship I have with my father. Next, I plan to define the relationship Ophelia has with her father Polonius in the story of Hamlet. Finally, I will discuss how the two relationships relate to one another.
	Ophelia a young women in Hamlet, she represents how women are treated. Ophelia obeys several different men in the play. One of the men is Hamlet. Ophelia is sixteen much younger than Hamlet, Hamlet is twenty one and in college. The Maturity of each persons mind depends on there age. Ophelia is a woman who has been taught to believe and listen to men such as her father. When she is now faced with wether to believe Hamlet or doubt his love for she once again she disregards her feelings and trusts Hamlet. Hamlet pursued Ophelia, he saw a young women whome he could satisfy him self with. In the play Hamlet does not court ophelia the only place they are together is in Ophelia’s bedroom "He hath, my lord, of late made tenders Of his affection to me"(pg 17 line 99). Hamlet visits her bedroom at night and makes love to her. Ophelia believes this a relationship but is too young to know what a real relationship is. Hamlet writes her letters to make her believe that letters are a representation of Love. Ophelia did not refuse Hamlet everything that Hamlet wanted from Ophelia he got. She stops thinking for herself and allows men to think for her. Ophelia allows Hamlet to "make love to her" because Hamlet wants to. Men in those days had a great deal of power. Women were not thought of being much more than lovers and house keepers, there minds belonged to there men. Ophelia does not know wether the relationship was ever real. Hamlet is another man controlling her to make her believe that he really loved her. like her father, he can control her mind and make her believe what he wants her to.
In Hamlet Ophelia is controlled by her father Polonius who is trying to igain more insight into Hamlet’s behavior. Polonius uses Ophelia as a pawn in his schemes to involving his investigation Hamlet’s craziness. She has no opinions or say in his plans. Polonius uses the advantage of having a daughter to try to investigate Hamlet. He tells Claudius the king about his plan “I have a daughter- have while she is mine-Who in her duty and obedience, mark” (Scene 2 Act 2). Polonius suggests to the king that they should use her to try to learn more about Hamlet’s crazy behavior. Polonius does not consult Ophelia about his plan because he is the head of the family and it is her duty to obey her father. Polonius shows his dominance over her, she cannot argue with him about being involved because she is inferior to him. Polonius asserts himself as a dominant male figure in her life. He controls, and manipulates her for his own personal gain. Polonius formulates Ophelia’s behavior and her opinions through his manipulation and his dominance over her. She becomes a pawn in the king and his schemes and is not able to assert herself as a character with opinions ...
Despite Ophelia’s weak will, the male characters respond dramatically to her actions, proving that women indeed have a large impact in Hamlet. Her obedience is actually her downfall, because it allows the male characters to control and use her in their schemes. 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. One way that her manipulation is key to Hamlet’s plot is when Polonius orders her “in plain terms, from this time forth/ Have you so slander any moment leisure/As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet,” (1.3.131-133). She complies with his wishes, agreeing to return any tokens of Hamlet’s love to him, verify t...
It is evident that Hamlet defines Ophelia by her sexuality. Hamlet does not value her as the woman she is. Instead, Hamlet views her as a mere object. Hamlet makes various sexual innuendos towards Ophelia. For example, this is apparent in 2.3, when Hamlet is speaking to Ophelia. Hamlet says, “It would cost you a groaning to take off mine edge” (3.2.250). Hamlet is making this regard to her in public and Ophelia lets him continue. Ophelia because of her gender continues to let Hamlet exploit and oppress her. Ophelia embodies a mutual assessment of femininity. Author Pragati Das writes, “Ophelia, it would seem, wholly at the mercy of the male figures throughout her life, is certainly a victim character” (Das 38). Ophelia does not have any alternative thoughts; she only responds with a simple sentence, “Still better and worse” (3.2.251). Ophelia is not standing up for herself, instead of she “…expresses acquiescence, uncertainty, and obeisance; she utters half lines” (Fischer 2). The power of Hamlet is manipulating Ophelia and it this shown through from her dull reaction of such crudities. Hamlet sums his vulgar and suggestive speech with, “For, oh, for, oh, the hobby-horse is forgot” (3.2.23–24). After Hamlet’s pressures of sexual suggestions, Ophelia is found to be under the absolute dominance of Hamlet’s demands, and as a result, her sanity diminishes. Ophelia’s song reflects on Hamlet, her father, and life