The Death Of Ophelia And Hamlet 's Relationship With The Young Woman

Ophelia’s role in Hamlet is a very tragic one, because in all honesty, she was one of the most innocent characters of them all. She loved her father dearly, but he was taken away from her by complete accident. As Ophelia’s story progressed, her composure slowly started slipping away from her when she sang to Gertrude and Claudius about her father’s death and starts taking off her clothes (Act 4, scene v). When

After Hamlet killed Polonius, Ophelia lost her father. Ophelia’s love for Hamlet was also turned to naught (Gates). She lost those she loved when she most needed them. She spent her time thinking about Hamlet and at times ignoring Polonius’s commands. In the end, she lost Polonius and the love for Hamlet. Once she lost Polonius, her madness was driving her to suicide. Eventually, she began to sing songs in order to comfort herself. The hymens enabled her to mourn her father’s death (Carroll). She relied on her songs because she had no one else. Ophelia’s speech became representative of her mental health. Her hymens gave an insight to how she was truly feeling.

It could be perceived that since she is singing about her father in her current mental state it could point to the root of her madness being her father’s death. The rest we hear from Ophelia in the play is her singing about her dead father and how she hopes that is soul is at rest and talking to her brother about how their father is dead.

When people get an idea in their heads that their leaders are corrupt it can lead to governments being overthrown. These songs, and the idea that they put into the heads of the people, are enough to give the Queen a motive to get rid of Ophelia, and her rambling on about the death of her father and the return of her brother only add to the fire (4.5 29-33, 71). What may keep her from killing Ophelia at this point is the knowledge that the King has sent Hamlet to England, where she believes he is safe. The Queen knows Laertes is on his way home and if Hamlet were to return now, there would be trouble.

When someone who acts normally suddenly goes mad, there must be a reason for it. After reading the tragedy of Hamlet by Shakespeare, reasons are left to wonder who and what caused Ophelia’s madness. Is it Hamlet or her father, Polonius, that causes Ophelia’s madness? Many might argue that her madness arises as a result of Hamlet being sent away to England, but after thorough research, it is also made clear that Ophelia's madness is linked to the actions that Hamlet took. Ophelia’s madness cannot be pinned to one point in the play, factors play a role in why Ophelia lost her sense.

The story of Hamlet is a morbid tale of tragedy, commitment, and manipulation; this is especially evident within the character of Ophelia. Throughout the play, Ophelia is torn between obeying and following the different commitments that she has to men in her life. She is constantly torn between the choice of obeying the decisions and wishes of her family or that of Hamlet. She is a constant subject of manipulation and brain washing from both her father and brother. Ophelia is not only subject to the torture of others using her for their intentions but she is also susceptible to abuse from Hamlet. Both her father and her brother believe that Hamlet is using her to achieve his own personal goals.

Not only is Ophelia's death marked much less significant than the other male deaths noted in the previously mentioned articles, but Ophelia’s death is articulated as a passive accident, one that happened to occur, to no avail. Every other death in the play is met with vigorous analysis and criticism, unphased by the death of Ophelia, inadvertently caused by men. Ophelia is also described as “mermaid-like” adding to the previously set notion that women are sexual objects- even at death. At this point of the play, Hamlet proclaims in a bipolar and seemingly fraudulent manner that he has always loved Ophelia (although he ordered her to “get thee to a nunnery” and was the root of her abrupt madness and suicide), while Laertes threatens that he loved Ophelia more. The attention and passion are still not recognized and respected with Ophelia even after her death but is used as a game between two men to satisfy their guilt and build their ego, competing for the love of Ophelia that was only disrespected when she was

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia is the most static character in the play. Instead of changing through the course of the play, she remains suffering in the misfortunes perpetrated upon her. She falls into insanity and dies a tragic death. Ophelia has issues surviving without a male influence, and her downfall is when all the men in her life abandon her. Hamlet’s Ophelia, is a tragic, insane character that cannot exist on her own.

This is the woman she might have become – warm, tolerant and imaginative. Instead she becomes jagged, benighted and imaginative. . . .Ophelia is made mad not only by circumstance but by something in herself. A personality forced into such deep hiding that it has seemed almost vacant, has all the time been so painfully open to impressions that they now usurp her reflexes and take possession of her. She has loved, or been prepared to love, the wrong man; her father has brought disaster on himself, and she has no mother: she is terribly lonely. (73-74)

Including these parts into the play, it shows just how affected people can be, and how many really do react to the unpleasant tragedies. Once Ophelia, a smart, young woman found that her father had been slain, she went mad in grief, singing sorrowful tunes and drowning herself in the river, not being able to bear any more of the sadness that she felt. All happening so soon, in this story characters are faced with corruption, but not all know how to bear with it. Ophelia is just one of many that faces this kind of heartbreak, however all people experience it in different ways. The frailty also will lead to anger, and confusion in actions, allowing many, including Laertes and even Hamlet, to pursue rebellious acts without remorse until it has been done. Shakespeare demonstrates that people are not invulnerable, and many of the ominous feelings we face can lead to terrible

In William Shakespeare’s, “Hamlet”, Hamlet’s love interest and Polonius’ daughter, Ophelia, died a passive and sudden death. While hanging wreaths from a willow tree, Ophelia fell from the tree and drowned in a brook. Although her death was claimed to be accidental, it is unknown if she committed suicide because she made no attempt to save herself. Her death represents the life she lived and the relationships she had with other people like her father and Hamlet. Ophelia’s death symbolizes her life with being controlled by her father, her honor and privilege of being buried in sacred ground, and the sudden termination of the relationship she had with Hamlet.

However, Hamlet proceeds to murder and hide the body of Polonius, which leads to Ophelia’s insanity and the scene where everyone dies, as well as the completely senseless murders of minor characters Guildenstern and Rosencrantz. Speaking of Ophelia’s madness, it becomes apparent to the audience that she is well and truly insane, when she enters, singing, “They bore him barefaced on the bier;/Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny;/And in his grave rain'd many a tear:--/Fare you well, my dove!” which, even by the archaic standards of Shakespeare, is complete and utter nonsense. Ophelia, apparently, due to rejection by Hamlet, her boyfriend, and the death of her father, had become hysterical, possibly having PTSD. PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, is a mental disease commonly found among soldiers, but can be caused by the murders of close family members, and does result in delusions. Whatever the case may have been, Ophelia later commits suicide by drowning herself in the river, possibly due to delusions, or out of depression over her father’s death. Whatever the case may be, both Hamlet and Ophelia are prime examples of insanity and madness within Shakespeare’s writings.

Hamlet and Ophelia were two young people in love and were supposedly driven mad by their relationship and passion for one another. When they actually went mad, it was after the death of each of their fathers. When Ophelia entered and was singing and talking to the King and Queen in Act 4, Scene 5, the King

    Ophelia falls to the floor, her screams contrasting eerily with the song pieces she uses as her speech.  In an instant she is writhing and thrusting her pelvis in such a gross sexual manner that it becomes clear that, in his film interpretation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh wants to imply a strong relationship between female insanity and female sexuality.  Such a relationship is exactly what Elaine Showalter discusses in her essay -- "Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism" -- "I will be showing first of all the representational bonds between female insanity and female sexuality" (Showalter 223).

The play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, looks at the issue of madness and how it effects the characters of the play. Madness can be looked at from very different perspectives, such as strong and uncontrollable emotions, a person’s desires, and also a persons mental stability. Throughout the play, the audience is questioning the sanity of the main character, Hamlet, as he goes on his quest for revenge. The people around him also show signs of madness, such as Ophelia and Claudius, but in different forms. Existentialist philosopher Friedrich Nietzche says, “There is always some madness in love. But there is also some reason in madness.” What Nietzche is saying is that when you are in love with someone or something, there is always a little