Hamlet And Ophelia Character Analysis

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness” (Martin Luther King, Jr Quotes). A person has the choice to stand up for what they believe in or fall behind in the shadows. For many centuries, women have had to lead the fight against patriarchal nations. Women have made tremendous steps towards equality between the sexes by progressively improving their role in society. A dependency on male figures has prohibited this process from developing further and faster. Through excessive dependence on others, individuals tend to lack the ability to be self-motivated leading them to be more vulnerable demonstrated through Ophelia’s dependency on men in Hamlet and Michelle
Both women were born into wealthy families, meaning they did not struggle with poverty or lack of resources. Michelle and Ophelia have the support of their family, but Ophelia depended and relied on this more than Michelle Obama. Another commonality among these women is that they both endured harsh challenges. Michelle has not received the respect from the American people that she deserves due to her race and gender. She says, “We as women, we have to understand that we know more, just even instinctively, than we think we do” (Michelle Obama Quotes). This is the reason she was able to be successful on her own, because she had self respect and fully believed in herself. Ophelia lost her father, her brother, and Hamlet. Because Ophelia was dependent on male figures throughout the play, she did not know how to handle life without them. Michelle knows how to handle difficult situations because she has experience alleviating problems on her own where as Ophelia has never known what it is like to make crucial decisions so she therefore could not overcome her challenges. Other than these minor similarities, these women are as different as yin and
Michelle Obama is a powerful woman that leads impactful movements to better America. She leans on Barack for emotional support and inspiration, however, she has established stability of her own. Contrary to Michelle, Ophelia relies completely on male figures for life direction. This causes her demise in the end, inhibiting her from living a successful life. The American society has introduced the idea of independence on its citizens, but this concept still needs to be improved upon and instilled in all members of the society, including women. Individuals that lack this ability to succeed on their own are more susceptible to vulnerability and will therefore be greatly impacted by small