preview

Does Hamlet Love Ophelia Analysis

Decent Essays

In the play Hamlet, we are pushed back and forth and can’t really understand if Hamlet really loves Ophelia. There are many different points in the play that shows he really does love her but there are also points where he says he is not in love with her. Hamlet often acts like he doesn’t love Ophelia when he is around other people, but when he is with her alone he confesses his love to her, which is very confusing for a reader. Hamlet is very aware that Polonius, Ophelia’s father, does not like him. I believe this hinders him from being able to express his love. In Hamlet, I do believe he is in love with Ophelia, however he is so confused with his own life so he doesn’t know how to express his love truly.
Many points in the play it is shown that Hamlet doesn’t really love Ophelia, but he is just using her. Her father and brother believe that to Hamlet, Ophelia is just a sexual object and nothing more. They believe Ophelia is too good of a woman for Hamlet and he will not treat her the way she should be treated. When Ophelia is talking to her father he tells her she is not allowed to be with Hamlet and this drives Hamlet mad. However, when Hamlet sent a letter to Ophelia one of the lines read “But never doubt I love” (Shakespeare 2.2.119). This clearly shows that Hamlet does love Ophelia, but Ophelia is not able to love him. Ophelia gives the letter to her father and he reads it. Polonius already does not like the thought of his daughter being with Hamlet, so after Hamlet

Get Access