Preview

Why Did Ophelia Go Insane?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
576 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Did Ophelia Go Insane?
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most renowned tragedies. It’s a story of mortality, revenge, and most of all, madness. On Hamlet's quest for revenge, there was one death that caused Ophelia to ascend into her own madness. There are only a few signs before hinting towards Ophelia being insane, but he the days following the death she takes the plunge down the rabbit hole. This lead up to when Ophelia finally died and ended her own life.
There are two theories as to why Ophelia went insane. One being being she did truly love Hamlet and not being able to be with him affected her. The second theory was that Hamlet killing her father, Polonius, increase her depression and lead it to kill her.
The theory backed up by the mannequin challenge was the second one. The scene featured in it was the scene was Hamlet was yelling at his mother, then killed polonius
…show more content…
These moments were most prominent when involved with Hamlet. This includes the rejection and following Hamlet’s iconic ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy. She shows signs of dependence, thus why she is so distraught when Hamlet rejects and and when her father is murdered.
Following Polonius's death, there was two scenes where we saw her going down her own rabbit hole. The first scene we saw her was when she danced and singed around the room with Claudius and Gertrude. This caused Claudius to say ‘her father's death has driven her mad.’For the duration of the scene, she begins to undress herself then run out of the room. A guard is told to keep an eye on her.
In the next scene, this is where Laertes, her brother, has come to the castle and he finds out his sister has been driven mad. She walks into the room holding different weeds. She gives them to her brother first and descibes them to him and the meaning behind them. After moving onto Gertrude and Claudius, she seemed to become more outraged, then proceeded to leave the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ophelia was another character in the story that lost her mind because of her father’s death. She was mad acting like foolish and this madness has caused her several psychological damages. Ophelia much like Hamlet has experienced the exact same thing when her father has murdered. The dilemma drove her into madness because she had no control over her emotional pain. She might become depressed because of the conflict between her father and Hamlet. She could not handle traumatic experience when she lost her father; she became insane to ultimately drown herself in the river.…

    • 95 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    I was shocked by the madness of Ophelia, and the manner in which Gertrude approaches the situation, both were unexpected. Earlier in the novel, the relationship of Ophelia and her father is revealed, and it pears to be a very weak relationship, based on the oppression of her under her father’s rule. From this relationship that the two share I would never assume that Ophelia would be driven mad by the death of her father. I sympathize with Ophelia since she has endured so many pains, first discovering Hamlet’s madness, then discovering the death of her father. She is entirely alone in her sorrow, and the King and Queen do nothing buy agitate her and pick at her wounds. Also in this scene Gertrude refuses to see Ophelia, and only agrees when…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    4.) During act III, scene IV, line 30, Hamlet, in order to see Gertrude’s reaction, indirectly accuses her of being a part of Claudius’ atrocity by saying that what he has done (killed Polonius) is as bad as killing a king and marrying his brother. Once Gertrude hears this, confused, she repeats “as kill a king?” and asks him what she has done to cause him to be so rude to her, assuring that, like his father’s ghost had said, she was only weak and she had nothing to do with his assassination.…

    • 93 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin, Ophelia, the beautiful damsel in distress, became a minute distraction before Claudius’ big plans. Hamlet's mad love for Ophelia created a different love story, one resembling the tragic ending of Romeo and Juliet. Constantly taking orders from her father and brother Ophelia was never in control, and in turn was losing control of her mind. Claudius knew how to use Ophelia and then dispose of her once her deed was completed. Throughout the play, Ophelia stayed close to Hamlet, becoming a mere distraction to Hamlet while Claudius planned his death. Ophelia started observing Hamlet's behavior change for the worse and shouted, ‘Heavenly powers, restore him!” (3.1.151). Ophelia completed her task by grabbing Hamlet’s attention and was…

    • 198 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ophelia Foreshadowing

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages

    My impression of Queen Gertrude is that she is easily manipulated. Just after king Hamlet was murdered by king Claudius she easily fell for Claudius. Gertrude is a person that only thinks about her self and only thinks what she wants. She marries Claudius because she has to or eles she wouldn’t have the power of being called a queen of Denmark. She remarried so quickly one because she is easily manipulated so Claudius took her in because she would be moaning over king Hamlet. She also remarried so quickly because she wants power and she would have to marry Claudius to get it. Her role women portrayed was that women didn’t have power during the time and women didn’t have as much rights as men had. She lies to herself and people around her to keep herself safe. In the bedroom scene is finds out that Claudius killed King Hamlet but she doesn’t do anything about it. Her loyalties lie on herself because she only wants to protect herself and has to lie to do that.…

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are a variety of factors that can contribute to one’s demise. In the context of the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare many possibilities can be identified that pertain to Ophelia’s sudden death. Ophelia’s death was triggered by her mental breakdown due to the loss of her father. In the midst of her inner turmoil, her depression worsens as she learns that Hamlet, the man she loves departs to England. When she dies, Gertrude reports her death to Claudius and Laertes. Gertrude, The Queen of Denmark, is responsible for Ophelia’s death. By looking at Gertrude’s over protective relationship with Hamlet, her lack of initiative on the situations around her in a time of tragedy, as well as her vivid account of Ophelia’s death, evidence that she is responsible for Ophelia’s death will be presented.…

    • 1982 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ophelias Madness

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the story “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare the character of Ophelia is quite a challenge to understand. Ophelia is Hamlets love interest, whom many thought was mad or psychologically disturbed from the beginning of the story. That may have been true, but it was not necessarily the whole truth. Ophelia could have been mad or just been madly in love. She also could have been putting on a cloak of madness to hide the fact that she was in on Hamlets plan to expose the King for killing his father. Ophelia was not as crazy or weak as others perceived her; she was actually quite clever and in on the whole plan with Hamlet and didn’t really go crazy until after he got banished.…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tragic Flaws In Hamlet

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gertrude is oblivious to many facts and ideas that are presented to her whether it is her avoidance of the truth behind her new marriage or the reality of Hamlet’s madness. In multiple instances, there are facts that practically fall into the Queen’s lap that would lead her to understand but she refuses to accept their existence. In one specific moment of this tragedy,…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet is the cause of Ophelia’s tragic downfall. She enters the play vibrant and in love; Ophelia bound herself to Hamlet, he came to her in his weakest moment after meeting the ghost, and then lets her sink to her death. By leading her on, then rejecting her, he sets Ophelia up for a brutal heartbreak as she falls desperately in love with him, only to be pushed away. Her instability, as a product of this, comes to a head when Hamlet kills her father, mentally crippling her. The loss of the two most important men in Ophelia’s life proves too much for her, so when the river swallows her whole, Ophelia accepts her death with open arms. Ophelia’s character plays an important role in modern literature, many authors are able to take inspiration…

    • 149 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Madness played a major role in the book Hamlet. Madness didn’t just take place with one character ,but two. Ophelia and Hamlet were both of the characters that seem to have let anger and depression get the best of them. In these scenes we get to know both of the characters very well, and exactly what caused them to flip their script.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ophelia's Death-Suicide?

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hamlet is considered to be one of the greatest plays of all time, written by William Shakespeare. One of the subplots of the play is Hamlet’s love for Ophelia, the daughter of one of the King’s top advisors. Their relationship is a little rocky as the play progresses. Hamlet is actually away from Denmark when Ophelia dies. Ophelia’s father had recently been killed by Hamlet in a terrible accident, and she has now gone mad, singing nonsense songs and giving people flowers that she has picked from the garden. The cause of Ophelia’s death has been debated over the years. Did she commit suicide because she was mad, or was her death an accident? Although Ophelia was not entirely sane, details of how she drowned show that her death was an accident.…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It was the night of the big play and everyone in town was excited to finally see the premiere. Claudius had just bought me a new necklace and dress, which I could not wait to show off to all the people less fortunate than myself. As Claudius and I arrived at the theater we were escorted into the best seats in the house. I sat down I could tell that all the other women were jealous of me and would do anything to be in my position. Before the play began my foolish son made a great scene in front of everyone. Hamlet began to rant about who knows what, better yet who cares. All I know is that he was making a fool out of himself along with Claudius and I.…

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ophelias Madness

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages

    We see that Hamlet treatment of Ophelia because of this may be thestraw-that-breaks-the-camel 's-back with respect to the pressure he puts onOphelia. Ophelia will become increasingly despondent and mad in thewake of Hamlet 's rejection of her. In this sense,Ophelia is treated like an object by her family who strives to keep the manshe loves and that loves her away from her. Used bythe King, her father and brother, and abandoned by Hamlet; these externalpressures combine to cause Ophelia 's bizarre madness and, ultimately, hersuicide. However, to win favorwith Claudius he uses her to spy on Hamlet so she can report his every wordor deed to him. Hefeigns madness and acts extremely cold and harsh with Ophelia. "Reading Ophelia 's Madness." In Patrick Cheney, ed. The death of her father atthe hands of the man she loves, complete rejection by the man she loves andthe pressures on her conspire to cause Ophelia to ultimately take her life. Adding to Ophelia 's pressures with respect to patriarchal controland domination is the plot of King Claudius and Polonius. He further berates her andtells her she should to a nunnery and refuse to bear children. Though Ophelia may betray Hamlet unwittingly and he may unwittinglyadd to the intense pressures on her in his anger at others, her madness isapparent as she sings nonsensical songs, "They bore him barefaced on thebier / Hey non nony, nony, hey nony / And in his grave rained many a tear -/ Fare you well my dove" (Shakespeare IV.v.164-167). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. This strain is increased tenfold when Hamlet begins to treat herpoorly, because he knows he is being set up by Polonius and the King. Body Despite knowing Hamlet is in love with her, Ophelia is subjected toenormous pressure from her father and brother to be wary of men. This creates a great strain on Ophelia for she lovesHamlet. Not only 'occasions ' are informing against Hamlet;Claudius and Polonius are conspiring against him too, and Ophelia,wittingly or not, is…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gertrude is first seen in Act 1 Scene 2 as she tries to comfort Hamlet about the death of his father, begging him to stay at home rather than going back to Wittenberg. Her worries on him continues into the second act, as she sides with King Claudius in sending Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to raise the spirits of her son. Also, rather than ascribing Hamlet's madness to Ophelia's rejection, she believes the cause is his father, King Hamlet's death and her quick remarriage to Claudius: "I doubt it is no other but the main; His father's death and our o'erhasty marriage." In the next act, Gertrude tells Claudius about Polonius' murder. She tries to convince him that Hamlet is truly mad; she also shows true compassion and affection when she watches Ophelia sings and acts in absolute madness. At Ophelia's burial, she expresses her former hope that the young woman might have married her son: "I hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife."…

    • 1776 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays