In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, societal structure is thrown into turmoil in Hamlet when the old king dies, and his brother takes the crown and the queen to be his own. Normally, the crown would go to the king’s grown son, Hamlet, yet this title has been usurped by his uncle. Hamlet, plotting to expose his uncle, begins to fake madness, which shocks the castle. The many characters in the play are taken along for the ride as Hamlet whips up a tempest of chaos in Elsinore. One of the characters dragged into the disarray is Ophelia, the daughter of the King’s advisor and Hamlet’s love interest. Ophelia is pulled in many different directions, and is used at the whims of the men in her life. She suffers greatly throughout the tragedy by none of her own faults. She is dragged into this conflict, yet she stays. Ophelia is a dutiful daughter, representing the "fairer sex" perfectly. She is obedient, loyal, and subservient in every way. She is also intelligent and witty, a quality often forgotten by those around her, conscious of the power dynamics around her. Yet it is her submissiveness, her willingness to please everyone, that ultimately seals her fate. She becomes the pawn of her father and the king and doesn 't have the ability to fight back, allowing herself to be taken advantage of. Her subservientness takes over her intelligence. Ophelia is the "perfect" daughter, and will do all that the powerful men in her life tell her to do. She isn’t given the ability to have options
We see Ophelia torn between her desire to be near Hamlet or pleasing her father and her brother. This clearly represents a massive internal conflict to Ophelia. Especially when she has been ordered by her father to stay away from Hamlet. Then, He ordered again to be the bait for Cladius who 's want to snoop on her conversation with Hamlet. Hence, Ophelia placed for the second time in a difficult choice, She must choose between her loyalty to her father or her loyalty to her lover
Ophelia’s madness is caused by the actions of others in the story. “Madness becomes Ophelia’s last resort, her unconscious revolt. Indeed what else is left for her to do? Offering her an escape, madness provides her with the ability to finally speak her anger and desire” (Dane,412).Her father tells her to stay away from Hamlet, who she has fallen in love with. Hamlet has warned her earlier that whatever he tells her in the future will not be true but, when he tells her he does not intent to be with her it starts the beginning of her madness.
Ophelia was the daughter of polonius, the love interest of hamlet who was brutally torn up mentally throughout the novel. At the beginning of the novel all was well for her as well, her boyfriend was off at college and she was perfectly fine at home with her father. It was until her father took away a note from hamlet to her that things started going downhill. She was a weak person not like hamlet who when faced with injustice takes thing into his own hands to seek justice or revenge. She was a quite simple girl who had a gentler soul.
Ophelia: An object of Male Patriarchy “Ophelia is the object upon which the three male overlords in her life – Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes – exert their domination and control to further their own personal and political agendas”. (Tynelle, 18). My reading of Ophelia had been shaped by Tynelle Ann Olivas’s Thesis on “Who is Ophelia? An examination of the Objectification and Subjectivity of Shakespeare 's Ophelia”.
This provokes him to say that god gives women one face, but they use make up to paint on another one. This quote suggest that Hamlet sees woman as naive and gullible creatures, as he sees Ophelia as nothing but an object that is owned by her father, as she is helping him with all of his dirty work. Hamlet believes that woman cannot be trusted as they have are deceiving. He also sees Ophelia as a grown women who is unable to make her own decisions. Hamlet is utterly disgusted by how feeble Ophelia is as she was following her father's scheme.
In the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. These significant events can be awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a dutiful
Ophelia goes mad throughout the story. She is overwhelmed by the loss of her father and the rejection of Hamlet. Her character is seen spiraling down a dark path that also ends in death. Ophelia is depicted as not having control over her actions; speaking and acting erratically. While Hamlet is speaking erratically and behaving oddly, he still maintains control over his actions and movement throughout the story.
Ophelia is grieving the loss of her father after Hamlet kills him. Ophelia doesn't know that Hamlet killed her father. But Ophelia has gone mad from learning about her father's death. Also, after Hamlet telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery, Ophelia is a little bit discouraged. She is discouraged because Hamlet had told her before that if Ophelia would sleep with him that they would get married.
In the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. Moreover, these significant events are categorized as new awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax which associate with their external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes, who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a
Her madness later takes the ultimate toll on her, as her drowning in the river is presumed a suicide. This madness, and Ophelia's death, are certainly the result of Hamlet killing her father. But they can be traced back beyond her love for her father, all the way to Hamlet's relationship with his uncle/new stepfather. Hamlet's relationship with Claudius is already poor when the play begins because he's upset about Claudius taking his father's place so soon.
Ophelia believes that she is not Hamlet’s or any man’s equal. Ophelia has never been treated as an independent individual. She is always following someone’s orders. Ophelia’s subservient nature causes her to suppress her feelings which eventually leads to her mental breakdown and death in Act IV. In Act IV, Ophelia “passively” commits suicide which emphasizes her submissive nature.
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. In the end her battle to please the men in her life, along with the constant betrayals and deaths, led to her own madness and death. Ophelia had become a fallen angel trying to please herself and those around her. Natalie Merchant portrayed this very well in her song lyrics entitled, Ophelia.
Saying this, Hamlet’s behavior towards Ophelia is crude, rough, and full of anger. Despite Hamlet’s harsh treatment towards Ophelia, he really did love her, but because she was not his main focus, the
As a young woman of the 1600’s Ophelia is most likely unaware of the patriarchy that shadows above her. “I do not know my lord, what should I think?”. Ophelia is so unsure about her affair with Hamlet that she
Ophelia is Prince Hamlet’s love interest in the play. Her father, Polonius, and her brother, Laertes,