Ophelia was a modern day good girl gone bad. She obeyed her father, Polonius, and brother, Laertes’ wishes to stay away from Prince Hamlet while trying to fight for her love for Hamlet and being herself. Throughout the entire play Ophelia is used as pawn in a game of revenge between Hamlet, Polonius, and King Claudius. Polonius and Laertes forbid Ophelia from seeing Hamlet because they believe that he is only using her for sex, yet Polonius uses her to seek information from Hamlet as though she were his personal spy. Although Hamlet loves Ophelia and genuinely cares for her, he sees the danger he and the royal court pose on her. Hamlet wants to get her away from the corruption while putting on an act for King Claudius to prove that he is really mad, and in that attempt, acts as though Ophelia means nothing to him. He treats her in the same manner he treats his mother and all women for that matter. Hamlet sees all women as ignorant and deceitful. Despite Ophelia’s ability to see through Hamlet’s charade, there is still a sense of pain in the words he speaks to her. “Get thee to a nunnery, go. Farewell...To a nunnery, go, and quickly too. Farewell.” (Act 3.1) This had to have been the largest insult to Ophelia ever spoken, but was not meant in that…
Ophelia, a fictional character in Hamlet, is the daughter of Polonius and young lover to the main character. Her father, the right hand of the king, originally requests she keep her distance from Hamlet. Quite soon, the company of Hamlet believes he has gone mad. Polonius, of course, asks his obedient daughter to spy on her lover. Mary Salter stated, “She certainly has a great deal of respect for her father and unquestioningly obeys his instructions…” Ophelia and Hamlet spend an extravagant amount of time together. In the time of Shakespeare, this was nearly unacceptable. One could understandably be under the impression they…
Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet was one that was very hard to understand. She was in love with him and that complicated things. The character of Ophelia was the daughter of the King’s Advisor. She was not royalty or even remotely from a royal lineage. Hamlet, on the other hand, was a prince. He was the prince in line for the throne. Ophelia was in love with Hamlet and the only chance she had was to conspire with him and earn his trust. Hamlet discovered that his father had been murdered by his uncle. His uncle, Claudius, then became the king. Hamlet pretended to be crazy in order to expose his uncle. Ophelia found out that this was what was happening and went along with it in order to convince her father, Polonius, that Claudius had murdered the king. Polonius was, after all, the king’s advisor. Speaking of Hamlet, she says in Act 2 Scene 1, “He took me by the wrist, and held me hard” (1546). She knew, by telling her father that Hamlet had gone crazy and grabbed her, that he would relay it to the queen and her new king.…
You don't have to be a feminist to know that Ophelia is little more than a plaything and a tool of the men around her. Hamlet may well have loved her and treated her well once, but by the time he has the burden of revenge on him, he treats her rather badly. Now, of course, he does so because he knows that she's followed her father's orders and has rejected his love. Further, Hamlet knows that Ophelia is being used by her father and the King to spy on him.…
William Shakespeare’s production, Hamlet, is based off of tragedy and revenge. Prince Hamlet learns that the mournful death of his father is indeed a purposely carried out plan devised by no other than his uncle Claudius. Claudius murders the king for selfish intentions of taking over the throne along with King Hamlet’s wife, Gertrude. He is successful in following out his disposition. Hamlet devotes his soul and mind to efforts of seeking out revenge on Claudius. In the meantime, his love for Ophelia is put on the backburner, which consequently leads to her insanity. Hamlet decides to hold a play in the castle, where the actors put on a show for the new king. Claudius is appalled at the nature of this play when he realizes that the plot reveals the truth of King Hamlet’s murder. Claudius fears that Hamlet has gone mad and in his defense orders that Hamlet be sent to England. Hamlet is outraged and confronts his mother about her devious actions. He stabs Polonius who is eavesdropping behind the curtain because he thinks it is Claudius. After Polonius’s death, Ophelia truly hit a breaking point; she is seen as being grief-stricken on the verge of going insane. She drowns not long after her father’s death. Her brother, Laertes, returns and hears that Hamlet is the cause of all this death; he plans to get revenge on Hamlet. Claudius uses Laertes to kill Hamlet in a fencing battle; he poisons the sword that will strike Hamlet and the glass of wine that was given to him. Gertrude dies from the wine; Laertes is poisoned with his own sword as well as Hamlet. However, Hamlet stabs Claudius with the fatal sword and forces his to drink the remaining wine. In the end they all face death.…
Due to Ophelia’s fickle behavior regarding Hamlet, he is unsure of her affection and does not deem her trustworthy. Ophelia is not yet a married woman, meaning she is not admitted to disobey her father, and not able to control her own choices. When her father demands “I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth have you so sander and moment leisure as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet.” (I, III, 136-140) Ophelia must heed her father’s commands. When Ophelia is requested to converse with Hamlet by Polonius and Claudius, she must endure. She attempts to return letters that Hamlet wrote for her, this seeming to have a powerful effect on him. Although he has suspicions that their conversation is being eavesdropped on, Hamlet does not restrain himself with his reaction towards Ophelia. Hamlet seems to contradict himself when proclaiming her “Get thee to a nunnery, go.” (III, I, 138). Nunnery, also meaning brothel, shows Hamlet’s indecisive feelings for Ophelia, by using a word that paints her as holy and sinful. As he continues to insult Ophelia, it becomes clear that Hamlet presumes all women to be deceitful, describing that “God has given you one face and you make yourselves another.” (III, I, 145). Although it is not certain whether or not Hamlet truly loves Ophelia, it can be deducted that due to his mother’s actions he cannot be definite in his…
Hamlet and Ophelia loved each other early on in the play, but Ophelia is told by her father to break all contact with him. Hamlet goes to Ophelia on the brink of a breakdown, partly caused by his mother's infidelities. When he turns to his lover for support, his mother's lesson are reinforced and through her actions, Ophelia confirms in Hamlet's mind that women can not be trusted even though Ophelia was only following her father’s orders. Now distrusting Ophelia, they meet again when Prince Hamlet knows Polonius is spying on their conversation. With Ophelia failing to admit her purpose of the conversation, he now calls Ophelia a liar. At that point, he thought all women were adulterous and could not be trusted, like his mother. He then says “Get thee to a nunnery, farewell. 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” (Shakespeare, Act 3.1.124-127). Hamlet is being very cruel, referring to her as a prostitute. But not only is he insulting Ophelia, but women in general because now, all women are the same to…
At the end of the Act 3, Polonius was killed by Hamlet. Ophelia heard the news about her father’s death in the Act 4. After she heard the news, the became insane. She lost her dignity as a noble lady and continued to sing in front of people. The song she sang seemed meaningless to others; however, there was a meaning to those.…
Madness derives from great grief. Gibson and Zefferelli were effective in showing that Hamlet and Ophelia were mad. However, the movie did not show that most of the time in madness they spoke the truth as it did in the book.…
Although Hamlet continued to pursue her as a lover, he eventually discovered that her loyalties did not lie with him, as she became a spy for Claudius and Polonius. It is unclear as to whether or not Hamlet is aware that Ophelia is being used by the men, but he is reassured of her loyalty to them when he asks, “Where’s your father?” and Ophelia replies, “At home, my lord” (3.1, 130-131). Ophelia’s social position as a woman in society is virtually nonexistent as the presences of manipulative men merely use her obedience as a means of improving their social positions, with little regard for hers. In accordance with the time period, Ophelia would have followed codes of conduct “influenced by religious literature, the attitude taken by most writers of deportment manuals reflect the theologians’ traditional dislike and distrust of women” (Kincaid 103). While there is no indication that Ophelia has broken any codes, Hamlet takes out his frustration with his mother on her, and chastises her for shortcomings as a woman when he says, “Let me think on’t. Frailty thy name is woman!” (1.2, 146). Regardless of Ophelia’s proper social behavior, Hamlet reveals that she cannot escape her fate as a woman. Hamlet tells her, “If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery” (3.1, 135-37). Even if Ophelia follows every social norm and remains chaste, she will always be restricted by society because of the men that define…
Ophelia further blames herself as the cause for Hamlet 's madness when he starts to insult her and her father in the beginning of Act III. He repeatedly asks her if she is chaste and comments on her behaviors, the use of makeup, and the apparent seduction by womankind. This is “language that no sensitive girl could endure with equanimity” (Camden 249), and it hurts Ophelia deeply. She begins to wonder if her father and brother were right about Hamlet 's love. She asks herself if she truly loves him, and if he truly loves her, and she cries, “O, woe is me / T ' have seen what I have seen, see what I see”…
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, many arguments have been argued as to whether or not Hamlet is really in love with Ophelia. I believe that there is a lot of evidence arguing that Hamlet never loved Ophelia and that he was just using her. By the way he acts around Ophelia when he is alone with her, he shows that his feelings for her are true. Hamlet shows throughout the play that he is really in love with Ophelia.…
Ophelia, displaying once again her lack of regard for herself and her own feelings, agrees to see if Hamlet is acting crazy because he is in love. Before she knows it, she is placed in a predicament where she has to chose between her loyalty to her father, or her own feelings. She chose to lie to Hamlet rather than reveal her father. This is her fatal flaw. Hamlet, knowing she is lying to him, gets very angry and not only denys his feelings for her, he questions her integrity and refers to her as an impure woman. Hamlet is rude in his own day by asking Ophelia "Lady, shall I lie in your lap?" (Act 3, Scene II, Line 109) Ophelia had…
In William Shakespeare's play "The Tragedy of Hamlet" there are quite a few moments that raise numerous questions as to whether Hamlet truly does love Ophelia or if he is just using her. At the start of the play Hamlet is sending out mixed signals, one second he loves Ophelia but also then making it seem as if he is just using her. However, throughout the play it is proven that Hamlet is indeed truly in love with Ophelia. Hamlet's love for Ophelia is shown in many ways throughout the play such as when they are alone together and also greatly when Ophelia dies.…
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince Hamlet and Ophelia have a very intricate and often confusing relationship with each other. While Hamlet has written Ophelia love letters, claimed that he loves her, and flirts with her, he also insults her, shows no remorse over killing her father, and claims that “I loved you not” (3.1.119). Hamlet’s behavior throughout the play poses question as to whether Hamlet ever loved Ophelia. While Hamlet’s behavior is questionable and his motives are often unclear, I believe that Hamlet did in fact love Ophelia. However, as the play progresses, Hamlet’s feelings for Ophelia become clouded, and his love for her becomes obscured.…