The Dynamic Character Of Ophelia In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

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.

Keeping her characterizations true to the spirit of the times in which they happened, she smoothly weaves in her perspectives into the story even as she writes a tantalizing back-story. Her most popular title is the story of Ophelia that portrays a beautiful young woman that is desperately in love with a man unable to reciprocate without attracting undue attention. Even as Hamlet is a household name, the story is anything but the original Hamlet even if it has all the madness, death, and treachery at court of the original

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.

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.

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.

“Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister,...If she unmasks her beauty to the moon.” (Act 1 Scene 3 line 33-37) Laertes is telling Ophelia that she mustn’t trust Hamlet. That she should keep her beauty and affections a secret and all to herself, for the reason that being cautious and modest is better than being revealing and forward. Furthermore, Polonius goes on to say, “Marry, I will teach you. Think yourself a baby... Running it thus-you’ll tender me a fool.” (Act 1 Scene 3 Line 105-109) In this quotation, Polonius is saying that Ophelia is still a child, that she is very naive and doesn’t understand enough about the world or men. He tells Ophelia she should guard her heart more fastidiously, that Hamlet is no good for her and that she has been a naive girl for trusting his affections. Ophelia has become accustomed to having her life ruled and directed by men. Now she finds herself without any of them, Polonius is dead, Laertes is abroad for school, and Hamlet is gone to England. With the dependency she has placed on the men in her life, she finds herself suddenly having lost all of them, this leaves her racked with grief she cannot control, specifically Polonius has left her mad with grief as well as fury. Ophelia has had no choice but live her life according to what men like Laertes and Polonius have told her to do. As a

The character of Ophelia is an excellent element of drama used to develop interpretations of Shakespeare’s text. At the beginning of the play, she is happy and in love with Hamlet, who first notices her beauty and then falls in love with her. The development of Ophelia’s madness and the many factors that contributed to her suicide are significant parts of the plot. “Her madness was attributed to the extremity of her emotions, which in such a frail person led to melancholy and eventual breakdown” (Teker, par. 3). The character of Ophelia in Zieffirelli’s version is the personification of a young innocent girl. “Her innocence is mixed with intelligence, keen perception, and erotic awareness” (Teker, par. 13). This Ophelia is a victim

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)

A topical analysis could imply the flatness of Ophelia, dictated by the actions of men with no strong judgement or will. However, her ambiguity and progression throughout the play offers possibility that she transcends to a character with depth. In Ophelia’s lunacy she hands out flowers to Gerturde, Claudius, and Laertes, all with a subliminal meaning that would be known to the Elizabethan audience. “There’s fennel for you and columbines-There’s rue for you” “There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they all withered away when my father died,”(quote).

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, he has created an adolescent character called Ophelia. The character of Ophelia is minor, yet she plays a significant part in our discovery of Hamlet. Without Hamlet there is no Ophelia. Ophelia is a girl who lets herself be determined by those she trusts dearly. Her naivety allows her to be used by her father Polonius and Hamlet without her even fully knowing. She allows herself to be taken advantage of by these characters because of her loyalty and trust towards them which results in her ludicrous behaviour. Her kind hearted nature has allowed her to fall in love with Hamlet, even though he does not truly feel the same way about her. Having a hard bringing up by her father Polonius, it is evident that Ophelia

George Orwell grew up with Communism growing all around him. He watched the negative effects Communism on the world, and he wanted to do something about it. To show the evils of communism to a world that was embracing it, George Orwell wrote his famous novel, Animal Farm. Because much of the world was converting so quickly to Communism, George Orwell used symbolism to show his thoughts. George Orwell’s Animal Farm uses symbolism to demonstrate communism and this is best shown in three areas.

Overwhelmed by outside forces and her repressed love for Hamlet, Ophelia is truly a sad and remorseful character in this play, an innocent victim with little essence or depth. An evident victimized woman, ruled by her Renaissance sense of romantic love, it can further be argued that Ophelia was extremely ambiguous. She was too incompetent to decide what she really desired in life. Because she falls in love with Hamlet at a very young age she cannot truly comprehend what love is all about, even though there is strong evidence that Ophelia had sexual relations with Hamlet. Hamlet emphasizes the hypocrisy of his words

In the beginning, of the story Hamlet makes Ophelia believe that she is the main reason for his insanity. Instead of Hamlet showing love or an emotional connection towards Ophelia, Hamlet treats Ophelia as a sexual object. We can see this clearly in the text, “ That’s a fair thought to lie between a maiden legs.” (Shakespeare 3.2.3) This shows how Hamlet sees Ophelia as a sexual object. He would rather engage in intimacy with Ophelia instead of getting to know her on a personal level. This also leads to another character in a story who treats Ophelia as an object rather than family.

as these lines relate back to the development of Ophelia’s character, as well as play an important role in the plot of the play, and a major conflict that is portrayed.

One interpretation of Ophelia concerns her being an insignificant, minor role. Jacques Lacan believes that Ophelia is just part of Hamlet’s exterior; she is simply just one of Hamlet’s accessories. She is weak and mad, but interesting in what she tells us about Hamlet. Usually, critics barely even touch on Ophelia’s role. Her character is so insignificant to some that even those who try to advocate for her do so in embarrassment. Although she may be insignificant, this criticism has caused Ophelia to be one of Shakespeare’s most recognized female characters.