The Power Of Ophelia In Shakespeare's Hamlet By William Shakespeare

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

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

“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

Denmark is in a state of chaos shown by the opening death of the true

One piece of evidence showing that Hamlet really did love Ophelia is when he tells her, “I did love you” (Act 3 scene 1 line 126). Hamlet confesses that he truly loved her, but then goes back on his word and says he never loved. I think this could be the fact that Hamlet knows people are

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

  In Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, the audience finds a docile, manipulated, scolded, victimized young lady named Ophelia. Ophelia is a foil to Hamlet. Plays have foils to help the audience better understand the more important characters in the play.  The character of Ophelia is necessary so that the audience will give Hamlet a chance to get over his madness and follow his heart.

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.

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.

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 seems to be at his best when he is cruel which could reveal a deeper method for self-medication in which he hurts those he loves most - especially his mother & Ophelia.  However, while we can clearly discern his reasons for rejecting his mother, we are left with a sort of bitterness when it comes to Ophelia.  Why does he treat her so cruelly?       Through the very text in which he scolds her, we can uncover some answers that reveal

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.

Hamlet is without any reservations, one of Shakespeare's most mystifying plays. Although the play has a concise story, it is filled with many uncertainties relating to different issues behind the plot. The reader is left with many uncertainties about the true feelings of prince Hamlet. One question in particular is, did Hamlet really love Ophelia? This dispute can be reinforced either way, however I believe Hamlet was truly in love with Ophelia. Support for my decision comes from Hamlet's treatment towards Ophelia is shown throughout the play, but especially in Act 3, Scene 2, and at Ophelia's grave in Scene 1 of Act 5.

     Ophelia describes Hamlet as 'the courtier's soldier, scholar's eye, tongue and sword, Th'expectancy and rose of fair state, the glass of fashion and the mould of form, Th'observed of all observers (Act 3 Scene 1) He is the ideal man. But, after his madness and the death of her father she sees him as 'a noble mind o'er thrown!' (Act 3 Scene 1). Ophelia suffers from Hamlet's disillusionment; his attitude to her in Act 3 Scene 1 is hard to explain.  His faith in women was shattered by his mother's marriage and it is also possible that Hamlet knows that Ophelia has been ordered to seek him out- yet how strong could their love have been as there is little excuse for the