Ophelia's Use Of Symbolism In Hamlet

Mankind has a history of finding a way to speak out against injustice, whether it be newspapers, television, or word of mouth. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet’s father was killed by his uncle, Claudius, and his mother married Claudius soon after his father's burial. This causes Hamlet to be furious and to seek to avenge his father’s death. Shakespeare tries to explain to his readers that they have the power to speak out against their individual situations in their unique ways. Shakespeare uses Hamlet and his love interest, Ophelia, as examples: they speak out against their situations in their own way utilizing symbolism.
Hamlet attempts to communicate his thoughts and feelings in the form of a play. In this play, Hamlet has the play queen reject the play king's attentions and leaves him (stage directions, 160). This symbolizes Hamlet’s feelings of Gertrude’s abandonment of his father, and shows the reader that he holds little respect for her. Next, a mysterious, shadowy figure poisons the play king and attempts to woo the play queen; she resists at first, but soon accepts his advances (stage directions, 160). This reflects
Hamlet utilizes his play and apparent madness to tell his mother and uncle they wouldn’t get away with his father’s murder. Ophelia employs flowers to convey their symbolic, Elizabethan meanings to Gertrude in hopes of telling her that she isn’t a very virtuous person, and that she needs to repent. Hamlet communicates what he feels in the only way his madness can allow, he shows them. In the Elizabethan era, women had little control of their lives, and were expected to behave properly; Ophelia doesn’t let social expectations forbid her from speaking out against apparent injustice, and thus does so in a socially acceptable way. Hamlet and Ophelia covay the message to both men and women: you have a voice, no matter who you