Poisoned Love: Essay 2. Life, Love, Death, Revenge, Grief,

First they think that Hamlet is lovesick over Polonius' daughter, Ophelia, but after the king spies on Hamlet and Ophelia in conversation, he comes to the conclusion that Hamlet is mad, a threat to his rule, and must be sent to England to be executed.  This is a sign of the king's uneasiness over the mettle of Hamlet's anger which is directed towards him.  The last thing that Claudius wants is for Hamlet to be unhappy with him, in fear that Hamlet will overthrow him, discover the murder, or possibly kill him.  The king becomes increasingly nervous as time passes, making him a bit paranoid over Hamlet.

Polonius’ image and plans take precedence over his daughter’s physical and mental wellbeing. This leaves her vulnerable and in danger in regards to Hamlet. When Ophelia describes Hamlet accosting her, Polonius’ reacts by saying:

His motivation for this response is that he knows the King and Polonius are eavesdropping on his conversation. Attempting and succeeding in embarrassing her, he questions Ophelia's virginity. Later while attending a play with other royalty, Hamlet again questions Ophelia's chastity in another attempt to humiliate her. This time his assault on her character is in front of a much larger audience. In both of these instances, Ophelia tries to dismiss Hamlet's insinuations. These two instances also serve to show Hamlet's irrational behavior, further justifying Polonius' belief that Hamlet's madness is connected to sex.

Ophelia tries to obscure the truth because she is afraid of disobeying her father. It is obvious that Hamlet is already well aware that Polonius is watching after he states “Let the doors be shut upon him, the he may play the fool nowhere but in’s own house.”(3.1.132-133) Ophelia could have easily told Hamlet the truth, but due to her undying love for her father chooses to deceive Hamlet. Ophelia’s deceit leads Hamlet to start questioning her honest nature. Hamlet begins tearing apart by Ophelia because he is so irritated with her for being insincere to him. He states to Ophelia that “you should not have believed me: for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not.” (3.1.117-119) Hamlet states that he does not love Ophelia because he believes that through this scheme, Ophelia will reveal the truth that Polonius is in fact behind their “unplanned” meeting. Ophelia had betrayed Hamlet by lying to him, thus Hamlet felt the need to betray her. If Ophelia had just been honest with Hamlet he would have not become so discourteous towards her, but she was not which resulted in him denying his love for her. Just as Hamlet was deceived, Ophelia was also because it was her lies that led to the ending of their love. Ophelia’s dishonesty resulted in her becoming a mockery of Hamlets antic disposition. Hamlet uses Ophelia to uncover

Hamlet's surrounding are increasingly affected by his flaw. Hamlet begins to forget all important obligations in his life and neglects his responsibilities, causing other problems. One very important commitment Hamlet has which he lets go is his relationship with Ophelia. Ophelia becomes very confused and hurt. Hamlet hurts her in a couple of ways. First, he neglects her, and second, he insults her. "Ha, ha! Are you honest??Are you fair??That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty. ?I loved you not? Get thee to a nunnery." Then Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia's father, which in turn makes her go mad and in her madness she commits suicide. Hamlet loses objectivity. He does not respect the King nor his mother's feelings. Hamlet meets with his mother and insults her. He calls her a whore and a sinner for marrying a murderer. Since he knows that the King is a murderer, he attempts

    Ophelia's downfall continues throughout the play, and her final plunge into the waters of madness and suicide culminate around her father's death. Hamlet, while talking threateningly to his mother, accidentally slays Polonius who was hiding behind the curtain in his mother's room. Hamlet thought it was Claudius he heard coming to his mother's aid when she cried for help and lunged at the curtain with his sword, killing Polonius. "O, I am slain!" were his final words. After Ophelia learns of her father's death at the hands of her estranged lover, she goes

Then, in Act III, Scene I, Claudius and Polonius listen in on the conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia for the purpose of establishing whether or not Hamlet’s madness originates from his obsession over Ophelia. However, before we, the audience, witness this encounter, we already think we know more than Claudius does since we know, by Hamlet’s own word, that he is only acting crazy, and that he is doing it to disguise the fact that he is actively studying and plotting against his murderous uncle. In light of this, we the audience believe that Hamlet’s love for Ophelia cannot be the source of his madness. Yet, Hamlet’s vindictive attitude toward her throws everything we think we know into question. Does Hamlet mean what he says to Ophelia? To be sure, it is another question for a later date.

In the film, the morning after Hamlet sees his father’s ghost, there is a silent scene between Ophelia and Hamlet. He appears to Ophelia, disheveled and obviously emotionally distressed. He seems to try to say

In the first scene of Act II, Polonius and Ophelia discuss the meaning of Hamlet's odd behavior. Though the two characters agree his actions arise out of the torment of spurned love,

Ophelia, ever since her introduction, has been introduced to be a sweet and sympathetic person, providing the play with emotional moments, but her death was used as a bait and switch by Shakespeare towards audience members who had expected her to change the play’s somber mood to more hopeful one, which in turn makes the play even more tragic. After she had been visited by an apparently crazed Hamlet, she tells Polonius about the visit, prompting him to believe that the young prince is crazy in love, and goes out to tell the king. After it was explained to Claudius, and Hamlet’s former friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern failed to find the underlying cause of his madness, Polonius makes Ophelia approach Hamlet while he and the king hide and monitor his behavior.

           Ophelia allowed herself to become a sort of marionette in Polonius' schemes toward understanding the seemingly mad prince. While her relationship with Hamlet was on the line, she allowed Polonius to commandeer the strings that determined her actions. Polonius was determined that Hamlet's supposed madness stemmed from lovesickness for Ophelia. He convinced Ophelia that her betrayal of Hamlet was a necessary evil and she began to relay all of Hamlet's messages and attempts at communication to him. He told the king and queen:

Hamlet first seeks Ophelia’s love. Then he pretends to have “gone crazy,” or so everyone thinks he has but he really is putting on a show after planning his revenge. He wants to use Ophelia to his advantage to make himself look crazy because everything she sees and hears from Hamlet will be told to her father, like she is told to do. So, Hamlet shows himself to her in a very sad and depressed state (Maki). She begins to tell her father, “And with a look so piteous in purport/ as if he had been loosed out of hell / to speak of horrors” (II.i. 82-84).

When Polonius tells Ophelia to repel Hamlet's advances, she promises to obey. And it is only after their fathers are killed that Hamlet and Ophelia begin to act mad.

At this point in the story Hamlet knows it was Polonius that took away Ophelia from him and it was Polonius that used Ophelia to entrap Hamlet. Hamlet, as we are shown, is deeply in loved

This light-hearted scene, depicting a rather normal family, is placed directly before Hamlet's confrontation with his father's ghost, which is highly dramatic and very intense.  By preceding this confrontation with a scene as light and fluffy as the one between Ophelia and her father, Shakespeare heightens the intensity of Hamlet's later scene. One is struck immediately by the contrast between the two fathers, as well as the two relationships. Ophelia loves her father dearly, apparently oblivious to the fact that he is a total fool; he gives her advice which unknowingly will lead to her death. Hamlet also loves his father with all his being; his father is not a fool, but the knowledge he imparts to Hamlet begins a long chain of events that will result in Hamlet's death as well. In this case the silly scene with Polonius, in addition to giving audience a well-deserved spell of