Ophelia was born in a time where women were viewed as personal property to men. They grew up being taught to knit and to make quilts, to serve their man, but never to read, or write. But with Ophelia not having a mother to teach and to guide her on what to do and how to handle the men of her time; Her judgement was a little off when it comes to knowing if someone was being authentic. So the question is, did Hamlet actually really love her? With his actions and words, was Ophelia simply living off hope or was what he said true? The argument can be debated that he doesn’t, but his actions when they are alone says otherwise. Reading Hamlet it is believed that he does not love Ophelia due to his actions throughout the play, but then he …show more content…
But this in a way shows he is trying to protect her if it is true that she is pregnant or at least wanting a child by him. This was his way of looking out for her, even though it came off differently. So if one was listening they would think otherwise. In the love letter he wrote to her, Hamlet said “Never doubt I love,” (Act II, scene ii,127) in one of the lines of the letter he sent her. In the letter he expresses himself that he does indeed love her, that even though it may come off as if he doesn’t the love he has for is real when everything around her is fake. This is the one time before she dies that he admits his true feelings to her. It is believed that he did this because after Ophelia received the letter she showed her dad Polonius, and Hamlet did not trust this man. He knew he was up to no good and was planning something. So from then on he knew he had to his best in hiding his love for her. This just shows that Hamlet is a good guy, his goal is just to protect himself and Ophelia. The last evidence that showed that he loved Ophelia
In medieval times, the word of the man of the house, in this case being Polonius was to be obeyed by the women of the residence. Also the word of the husband is held to a similar standard. Therefore, Ophelia would have felt an obligation to obey both Hamlet and her father. This however, creates controversy within Ophelia herself due to her commitment to both her father and her unnecessary commitment to Hamlet. Her passion for Hamlet seems to be diffused by her greater sense of commitment to her father. Ophelia is not entirely true to Hamlet in that she lies to Hamlet and tells him that her father is at home when he is actually behind a curtain listening in on the conversation. This is evidence that Ophelia is not able to operate and maintain sanity under the pressure from both sources. In her choice of obedience to her father, she in a sense has chosen the course of her fate (which is inevitable doom). But does Ophelia fulfill the requirements of her day as a woman? One way of looking at the issue is the question that was Ophelia driven insane by her desire and love for Hamlet, or was she merely a casualty of a culture that creates unfeasible demands from women? Due to her incapability to create her own decisions, she is vulnerable to the influence of her father and brother and
Hamlet was deeply in love with the recently departed fair Ophelia, daughter of Polonious, who also sadly is not with us. He loved her much more than he expressed, and it is unfortunate that his inability to express his love for her could have been part of her downfall. Although he treated her scornfully and rudely I know that he loved her more than anyone could imagine. Hamlet, I remember, at the dear Ophelia’s funeral, you told the whole world of your love. “I loved Ophelia. 40 thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love make up my sum,” you said. I cannot help but think that if you had expressed your love for the fair maiden, both her and quite possibly you would still be with us today. He loved his mother, Queen Gertrude. Although he held her in disdain for her hasty marriage to Claudius, who he despised, he still loved her with all his heart
“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
His inconsistent treating of Ophelia eventually drives her to insanity. The actual recognition of his love for Ophelia can only come when Hamlet realizes that she is dead, and free from her tainted womanly trappings “I lov’d Ophelia”. This is without doubt one of the most villainous qualities of Hamlet.
In Act III scene i, Polonius and the King hide behind Ophelia's curtains and eavesdrop on the conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet goes on to scold Ophelia and accuse her of not being chaste "Ha, ha! Are you honest?" ... "Are you fair?" ... "Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be / a breeder of sinners?" Hamlet goes on to say "...This was sometime a paradox, but now / the time gives it proof. I did love you once." Ophelia replies with "Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so." Her heart must have torn in two when Hamlet came back with "You should not have believed me, for virtue / cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish / of it. I loved you not." Hamlet admits that he was deceiving her the whole time. This was likely a major factor in Ophelia's descent into madness and eventually, death. Again, Ophelia is the victim.
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.
For the myth which has been built round Hamlet is never more perverse than when it pretends that Ophelia went mad for love and killed herself. No line in the play suggests that she felt either passion or affection for Hamlet. She never mentions him in the mad scene, and Horatio says of
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.
When Hamlet reads the letter from Ophelia, he is hurt terribly by her words. The next time she sees Hamlet; she is caught off guard and a bit frightened by his behavior. He was not acting like he usually did, and he acted very bizarre towards her. He held her by the wrists and stared into her eyes, long and hard, then leaves, leaving her intensely unsettled and saddened. After this, she tells her father and he believes that Ophelia’s love may have caused this and that Hamlet was actually in love with her.
Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship seems to be in trouble as soon as the audience meets Ophelia. Her father and brother tell her to stay away from Hamlet in that he is not favorable for her. However, from the way that Laertes and Polonius describe the relationship Hamlet has been a gentleman to this point and plans on making her his wife. By the end of the act however it seems that as far as her father and brother are concerned the relationship will proceed no farther. Even though Ophelia promises to not let Hamlet fool her and to stay away the audience can tell that Hamlet is in love from the in-depth description Laertes gives about Hamlet: “Perhaps he loves you now, And Now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch The virtue of his will; but you must fear, His greatness weighed, his will is not his own, For he himself is subject to his birth”(Shakespeare, 1.3 14-18).
In William Shakespeare's play “Hamlet”, throughout the whole play Hamlet’s love for ophelia is completely confusing and is very much questioned. Even though there is evidence in the text that Hamlet did not ever love Ophelia and that he's just manipulating her, there is also more evidence that he does. By the way Hamlet acts around Ophelia when they are alone, it is evident that he loves her and he shows his true feelings. In the play, he does many things to would make the reader think that he really does Ophelia like writing a letter and professes his love for her at her grave sight when she about to be buried but her also does things that make us wonder if he is also being fake and the love he has for her is false.
When reading Shakespeare’s work, it is always important to remember the time that it is written and the time that the play takes place. The morals and ways of thinking were very much different in these times than they are now. Using the setting of Hamlet, we can see how Hamlet did not actually love Ophelia. Without looking into it with this new way of thinking it can be hard to miss Hamlet's true feelings. Hamlet confessed that at one point he did love Ophelia then right after admits that he infact, did not love her. People believe that the reason Hamlet is switching his answers like this is because he