Compare And Contrast Ophelia And Hamlet

The noble and innocent youth Ophelia tries her hardest to obey/impress her elders. Prince Hamlet and Ophelia have a complicated relationship in which they have on and off’s. At the beginning Ophelia’s love for Prince Hamlet is strong but she has to keep her innocence/ obedience

   Poor Ophelia, she lost her lover, her father, her mind, and, posthumously, her brother. Ophelia is the only truly innocent victim in Hamlet. This essay will examine Ophelia's downward spiral from a chaste maiden to nervous wreck.

In his soliloquy, the audience learns about how unhappy Hamlet really is. He discusses his thoughts about suicide, “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, / Or that the Everlasting had not fixed / His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God!” (1.2. 129-132). This passage introduces some of the themes of the play, which is the mystery of death and

We learn from Gertrude’s farewell that she thinks that Ophelia is still a virgin. Rather than being surprised, Polonius would be happy if

Ophelia, who is Hamlet’s lover, is told by her father to not trust Hamlet’s love. She quickly agreed to stop seeing Hamlet, even though she loved him. In this time, they agreed to everything said to them, because without a man, women seemed useless. They did not have their own minds, they are behind the men. Ophelia sings, “ Young men will do’t, if they come to ‘t; By Cock, they are to blame. Quoth she “ Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed.” (4.5.65-69). Her singing this song reflects a mistake, people think she’s just going crazy. With her father dead, and her virginity lost, she really doesn’t have anything to live for. Ophelia says, “ O heat, dry up my brains! Tears seven times salt, Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye! By heaven, thy madness shall be paid with weight, Till our scale turn the beam! O rose of may, ….” (4.5.178-190). Here ophelia is explaining how her dad’s death has affected her in numerous

The helplessness forced upon her by the patriarchy eventually drives her to suicide, as she is left powerless and without options by Hamlet, and society as a whole. Furthermore, the phrase “incapable of her own distress” communicates the idea that Ophelia was unable to continue living with the pain misogyny caused her, pointing again to the possibility that she comitted suicide. This idea is elaborated upon through the similie of “like a mermaid,” which, when Shakespeare penned Hamlet, had the connotation of a woman who lured men to their downfalls. This view of female sexuality presents it as something evil, contributing to the double standard apparent in Ophelia’s world, as well as our own. The patriarchy’s view of female sexuality’s detrimental effects

Ophelia love is not genuine, and therefore treats her with disgust. He assaults Ophelia with words,

Ophelia’s revenge after finding out that Hamlet no longer wants to be with her is used by Shakespeare to demonstrate that when someone learns the truth about what ended her romantic relationship, she will seek revenge on her ex-lover, regardless of the circumstances that instigated the breakup. After Ophelia goes mad from discovering that her father was killed, she visits Gertrude and Claudius and begins to sing to them. Eventually, she addresses her relationship with Hamlet and says, “Quoth she, ‘Before you tumbled me,/You promised me to wed’/He answers:/‘So would I ha’ done, by yonder sun,/An thou hadst not come to my bed’” (IV.v.62-66). In Ophelia’s song she is saying that before a couple had sex, the man told the woman that they would get married if she had sex with him, but then, after having sex, the man says that he won’t marry her because she is no longer a virgin.

As the great American journalist Norman Cousins once said, “The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.” Throughout William Shakespeare's Hamlet, it is a commonly held belief that the play is a legendary tragedy because most of the characters fall to their deaths. Indeed, when Hamlet is analysed, many characters throughout the play meet their own demise which helps advance this theme. However, when a closer look is taken, it becomes apparent that the tragedy of Hamlet truly lies in how the characters live their lives.

Mary Sparks Mrs. Joyner Honors English 4 December 16, 2015 Love thee or love thee not? In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, many may question Hamlet’s love for Ophelia.

The word “pitied” suggests that Ophelia is deeply affected after the death of Polonius and also alludes to her loneliness. This internal conflict is more important than Ophelia’s outward conflict as Ophelia commits suicide as a result of it.

To begin, it is presented that Ophelia has to be monitored over her virginity by her brother, Laertes. Laertes says, “Fear it, Ophelia; fear it, my dear sister, / And keep you in the rear of your affection, / Out of the shot and danger of desire.” (Act 1, Scene 3, lines 37-39).

Ophelia: O good heavens why is my life spinning out of control like this? I only mean to please and do right by the men I stand under. Hamlet what happened to you? Why have you gone mad? You say you love me and give me these gifts to prove it. You push it even more by charming me with your flirting tone. You came to my room with your shirt unbuttoned and I let you lay me down in bed, only to be called a whore for trying to make you happy. You said such heart piercing words to me in the lobby, telling me I will only give birth to sinners and wise man know far too well I’+ll cheat on them, you said you were going to marry me! I was fooled by your charm and lust. Perhaps I am the reason for your insanity.

The ideas and attitudes towards women have changed very much during the recent times, in fact it is a very modern idea that a woman is free from the control of the men around her; that she is able to make her own decision about where to work, where to live, whom to marry or even to not marry at all. It is only recent that a woman is considered an equal to the males in the community, that women are strong enough to handle the stresses that a man has to go through. The construction of the character Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet reveals that she is nothing like the modern woman, instead her character construction communicates

“And this is the nature of birth and death” (Strain). This Quote suggests that death is just apart of life and that it happens to everyone and I highly agree with that. Death is a huge factor in life, In the play, Hamlet, By Shakespeare there is a huge theme of death throughout the play. Often many people think that is all the play is about due to all the deaths in the play. At the end of the end everyone happens to die. In the famous play, Hamlet, by Shakespeare there are three main themes that I have consumed.