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
Hamlet’s love for Ophelia is only hinted at until a Polonius steals Hamlet’s letter from Ophelia and reads it to the King and Queen. Included in that letter is a poem. Hamlet explains that he did not
In another scene, Polonius orders Ophelia to return the gifts that Hamlet gave her, and to make her rejection of him unmistakable and absolute. Polonius believes that if she is the cause of Hamlet’s madness, this would be the proof. “That Hamlet loses his mental stability is arguable from his behavior toward Ophelia…” (Foster, par.16) In Branagh’s version, we see how terribly this tears Ophelia’s heart. When Hamlet sees her, he walks up to her, telling her how much he loves her. After Hamlet kisses her, she returns the love letters that he wrote back to him. She sees how crushed he is, which makes her feel even worse; but she also believes she has to do this because her father ordered her to. Hamlet tells her “Get thee to a nunnery” (William
There is a lot of questioning whether Hamlet is in love with Ophelia or if he was just using her. One of the first events that I noticed during the play that showed Hamlet’s love for Ophelia
“The observed and I, of ladies most deject and wretched, that sucked the honey of his music vows, now see that noble and most sovereign reason, like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh; that unmatched form and feature of blown youth blasted with ecstasy; o woe is me, to have seen what I have seen, see what I see!” (2671-2672). The general love and relationship that was administered between Prince Hamlet and Ophelia were not only complicated but problematic. Throughout the play, the reader gains a deeper insight into their overall involvement and what lead to the total turmoil of their love. Arguably, it might be perceived by the reader if Prince Hamlet even loved Ophelia or if she was only a part of his mind games. Furthermore, the heightened debate of their relationship can be strengthened either way by numerous opinions, but I believe far in Prince Hamlet’s twisted mind he cherished and loved Ophelia.
“I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/ could not with all their quantity of love/ make up my sum” (5.1.285-286). Hamlet tells Ophelia that he never did love her, but in all honesty he does still love her. Hamlet is truly insane. When he is talking with Ophelia he is truly mean to her and treats
Throughout the entire play, Hamlet’s love for Ophelia is questioned. What Hamlet is really doing is trying to throw off the other characters and make it seem like he does not love Ophelia, even though he really does. Hamlet did not want Ophelia to become involved in case Claudius decided to get revenge on Hamlet. Hamlet shows his love for Ophelia when he confesses to her that he loves her, when he tells her to go to a nunnery to protect her, when he sends her the letter, and when he finds out that she has died. Although many could argue that Hamlet never loved Ophelia, he was just trying to throw everyone else off. There is a great deal of evidence proving that his love was
As the story grows deeper, Hamlet shows us that he really did love Ophelia when Hamlet tells Ophelia that “I did love you once” (3.1.131). Hamlet only confesses that he did indeed loved Ophelia, but only when it goes on to says that Hamlet never loved her (Habib, 23). On the
She says she loves Prince Hamlet yet she tells Polonius everything that goes on between them. Polonius forbids Ophelia to leave the castle, making Prince Hamlet write his love for her through a letter, in which Ophelia gives to Polonius to read, “Doubt thou the stars are fire,/ Doubt that the sun doth move,/ Doubt truth to be a liar,/ But never doubt I love.” (2.2.124-127). Ophelia feels the love but decides not to tell her father in fear of getting disowned and losing his love for her. The fear of losing her father's love makes Ophelia lie saying “No, my good lord, but as you did command/ I did repel his letters and denied/ His access to me” (2.2.120-122). Ophelia keeps to herself her wish to desperately be with Prince Hamlet from Polonius. When he finds out that Ophelia has been telling Polonius everything about their “relationship” and that she messed around with him just to get information, he gets very infuriated and “loses” the love he had for Ophelia. “I loved you not” (3.1.129).His feelings have changed to hate and regret, Prince Hamlet’s love for Ophelia seemed to be strong but in a flash it’s gone. When Ophelia tries to apologize to Prince Hamlet his feelings stay neutral and he can never love Ophelia again. Ophelia knows that what she did can’t be forgiven, after what Prince Hamlet told
He therefore had to act mad even when talking to her because he realized his every move was being watched. This is evident when he told her he is not in love with her and that he never loved her. These statements by Hamlet caused him to inadvertently hurt Ophelia to such a great extent that she committed suicide. As a result, Hamlet was forced to permanently sacrifice his true love out of concern for his own safety and his goal.
Throughout the play, Hamlet and Ophelia have a very strong love connection. They loved each other and wanted to eventually get married. Hamlet and Ophelia hit some bumps in the road in their relationship but they always secretly wanted to be together. In Act 1, Scene 3, It was hard for Ophelia to comprehend when Polonius told her that he thought Hamlet's love for her wasn’t real, but she didn’t know what to believe. When Hamlet could no longer see Ophelia he began to get mad a frustrated, to add on also that he was going crazy over his own father's death.
This shows how complicated Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship is because Hamlet loved this girl just a couple of acts ago and now he is telling her that she needs to become a nun and he is asking her why she would want to have kids why she would want to bring more sinners into this world. Did Hamlet love Ophelia? Yes he really loved Ophelia, He shows that throughout the story. Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship was back and forth, it’s a love hate relationship, one minute they are all each other can talk about and then the next minute all they want to do is kill themselves. Their relationship is crazy.
Ophelia is in love with Hamlet. She shares herself with him and is beginning a relationship, she wants to be with hamlet and believes he loves her "My lord, he hath importuned me with his love in honorable fashion"(pg 17 line 110). Polonius instructs Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet. Polonius states that Hamlet doesn’t really love her and is only with her for one thing, and as soon as he gets enough he will want no more.
Hamlet confirmed that he did love Ophelia when he told her to go to a nunnery. Although it is a harsh statement, he tried to throw everyone else off so he had to make it seem like he never loved her. Throughout his letter he mentioned that everything else around her may not be true but his love is real. Hamlet explained that Ophelia was too naive and if Polonius read the letters, he had to act mad to protect her. Near the end of the session, Hamlet described the scene in the graveyard and how he still proved his love for Ophelia. His behaviour changed from extremely upset to more relaxed and reasoned.
Hamlet is smart, and he knows that people may be watching him and plotting on him, so he makes it seem like he never loved Ophelia but in reality he does, and privately tries to convince her of his love and profess his heart to her. Ophelia begins to actually believe that he does love her as he claims when they are not around others, she then tells her father that she fears Hamlet has "mad" love for her. She tells her father how Hamlet came into her room and basically stared her down and then exiting without having anything but creepy looks to give. Hamlet’s true love is shown in the letters he sends her. In one piece Hamlet wrote her it says “never doubt I love” (Act 2, Scene 2 page 127).
In the play Hamlet, love plays a big role in the story line because it is almost like the main couple have been portrayed star-crossed lovers. The main character Hamlet has his eyes set on the Fair Ophelia since the day he first saw her and she feels the same that he does. But due to unfortunate events (which include Old Hamlet being murdered, Hamlet’s mother marrying Hamlet’s uncle and etc.) neither Hamlet nor Ophelia profess their love to one another. The reason Hamlet never comes clean to Ophelia about his love is because of his tragic flaw.