The Traditional Relationship Between Ophelia And Polonius

In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare, the author, creates female characters that occupy very different roles than in his other plays. In this play, Hamlet plays opposite two women who are used by the men around them in order to further their own interests. One woman is named Ophelia. In many of Shakespeare’s other plays, he creates women that are very strong and play a very real role in the life of the protagonist. In Hamlet, however, Ophelia occupies a very different role-she exemplifies a pawn of the men around her. She is used not only by her father and his associate the King, but also by her supposed lover, Hamlet. This is a very different role for a woman in a Shakespearian play. Also, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude,

In today’s world, women of all ages are given equal rights and freedom. In Shakespeare’s time, woman’s obligations were to follow the rules of the men and obey the men in their lives’. “Frailty, thy name is woman;” Hamlet implies the powerlessness of the two women characters in the play. In Hamlet, the roles of Gertrude and Ophelia are very important in that they are the only two female characters in the play. Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark and mother of Hamlet, and Ophelia, the lover of Hamlet, are characterized as controlled and lost in their lives because they are being used by the men throughout the play. Fundamentally, Shakespeare illustrates the nature of Gertrude and Ophelia as powerless victims by the women being subjects of men,

Polonius is one of the most corrupt characters of the play. However, we can see that his corruption is in his nature and not caused only by the murder of King Hamlet. In his speech to his son, Leartes (I.iii), he opposes the virtue of being close-mouthed and discrete. Polonius later instructs his servant Renyaldo to spy on Laetes in Paris. This is very hypocritical of him as he is doing exactly what he condemned earlier. He also meddles into the relationship of Ophelia and Hamlet, without taking into account their feelings, and is only willing to satisfy his own goals. He does not want to offend the king or make it seem like he is pushing his daughter to marry Hamlet. Hamlet views Ophelia as someone pure, cares deeply about her and does not take into consideration their difference in stature. Unfortunately, Polonius manages to corrupt their innocent relationship. After Polonius spies on Hamlet, to prove his insanity to the king, Hamlet suspects Ophelia of being involved in the spying and plotting that has been occurring. He tells her that “God has given [her] one face, and [she] make [herself] another”(III.i.144-145). He tells her that she is an inconsistent and fickle

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:

Polonius teams up with King Claudius and once again places demands on Ophelia which require her to disregard her own self to fulfill their wishes of deceiving Hamlet into revealing the cause of his erratic behavior. And once again, it is Ophelia’s duty to her father and this time to the king to be obedient. Disobedience to the king and his advisor are not an option. Polonius wants the king to look on him in good favor and he is willing to step on his daughter to get this admiration. He neglects Ophelia’s feelings by not even thinking of how his requests will affect her. He feels at liberty to request whatever he would like. He is purely worried about himself. Polonius holds a position of unquestioning authority over his daughter. He treats her as though she is not intelligent enough to make her own decisions and he knows that she will inherently obey him. To him her feelings are irrelevant and immature which he states when saying “Affection, puh, you speak like a green girl.”(1.3.101) Following her fathers instructions, she loses her lover and a piece of her happiness.

In Hamlet, the female characters can be seen as being subservient to men. This goes on to show how Shakespeare, goes against the feminist theory by not creating equality between all the characters. One of the main character’s Ophelia can be seen as being weak and undermined in the play. She spends most of her time following the actions of her father, Polonius and boyfriend, Hamlet, with little to no say in her own opinion on topics. Polonius displays his dominance over Ophelia when he expresses his opinion on her relationship with Hamlet. He informs Ophelia on exactly what her next actions need to be when dealing with Hamlet. He even goes as far as warning her to not go against his wishes because it will “ tender [him] a fool”, showing his superiority over Ophelia’s actions (I . iii. 109). The inequality can also be shown when comparing Laertes’s life with Ophelia's. Laertes is left alone to travel France, while Ophelia is stuck to follow her father's orders. Hamlet also tries to show his

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.

 In similar fashion does Ophelia manifest great familial affection, agreeing to comply with the advice of her brother Laertes: “I shall the effect of this good lesson keep / As watchman to my heart.”  When her father, Polonius, makes inquiry regarding the “private time” which Hamlet has been giving to Ophelia, she replies unreservedly, “He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders / Of his affection to me,” and elaborates mightily on the subject. Polonius insists that she “from this time forth” not “give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet,” and Ophelia dutifully complies with his wishes: “I shall obey, my lord.” She later even gives him her love-letters from Hamlet. When she acts as a decoy so that Polonius and Claudius can observe the prince, resulting in Ophelia’s chastisement by the protagonist, she nevertheless keeps him as the main focus in her life: “O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!” Her love for brother, father, boyfriend, and others generally, override her love of self. Her respect for the opinions of immediate family is greater than her respect for her own opinions even in the matter of her courtship.

Male characters often treat female characters as if they are a piece of their property just like Polonius treats Ophelia, which is Hamlet’s love interest in the play. Polonius uses Ophelia to get information out of Hamlet. Ophelia never has a say in the decisions Polonius makes. To spy on Hamlet and to see if Hamlet truly loves Ophelia, Polonius and Claudius devise a plan. Polonius never asks Ophelia or gives her the option if she wants to spy on Hamlet. All Polonius comments to Claudius is “At such time I’ll lose my daughter to him,” which is Polonius saying to Claudius that he will send his daughter to get information out of Hamlet and it shows how Polonius treats Ophelia as his property just to seek information about Hamlet (II.ii.154). Along with Polonius and how Ophelia is treated as his property, Hamlet does not treat Ophelia any better. Hamlet treats Ophelia rudely and “treats her as an object” (Arteaga). Hamlet never can talk to Ophelia with respect or treat her more than an object. Ophelia went to Hamlet to give back the items Hamlet gave to her and as she puts her hands out Hamlet begins to say, “No, not I. I never gave you aught,” which is showing how Hamlet is objectifying Ophelia and

When Polonius and Claudius decide to test Hamlet’s madness through Ophelia, he confesses he once loved her; only to immediately contradict himself claiming her never loved her. Fuelled by his detestation of sinful mankind and his low opinion of women in general as a result of his mother’s incest, he furthermore repeatedly orders Ophelia to “Go [her] ways to a nunnery”. More crudeness on Hamlet’s behalf is shown during the play-in-play, when he tortures Ophelia with a series of rude sexual comments.

“Frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2. 150)! This controversial line, followed by several more from the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, displays a common view towards women that portrays them as being weak and reliant on men. Throughout the play, two women, Ophelia and Gertrude, are shown to be dependent on the men in their lives. They both take on a senselessly obedient state of mind. Even though they share this common characteristic, Ophelia and Gertrude are very different characters. Ophelia is a beautiful, young woman who is the love interest of the protagonist, Hamlet. Ophelia obeys her father, Polonius, without hesitation and has very little experience with making her own decisions. Gertrude was the wife of Old Hamlet, and is now the wife of Claudius, the current king and Old Hamlet’s brother. Gertrude desires affection and status more than she cares about the truth of what happened to her late husband. The men in this play have no sense of how they treat the females. This patriarchal way of life was prominent in the late 16th century and early 17th century which was about the time that Hamlet was written and performed. This relationship between the genders is interconnected within the play and with society during that particular time period. The characters of Ophelia and Gertrude were solid examples of how women were viewed as inferior to men during this time in history.

Hamlet discovers elements of false love in Ophelia as he relates her flaws with Gertrudes'. Ophelia is part of a plan to set up Hamlet which will determine whether he is truly mad in her love or otherwise. Her love is being used to play with Hamlet's emotions. "I will leave him and/ Suddenly contrive the means of meeting between him/ And my daughter" (2.2: 209-211). Polonius decides he will use Ophelia to manipulate Hamlet by getting her to resurface his feelings and repressed love for her. By setting up this meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet, Polonius has objectified her love in effort to anger Hamlet. This act goes to show that Ophelia allows her love to be used as a method to better understand Hamlet's madness. Ophelia clearly chooses to obey her father over her love for Hamlet. After learning that he was subject to Ophelia's false love, Hamlet becomes very rude in attitude towards her as he feels he has been chested. "Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder/ Of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but

Polonius also acquires his daughter to stop courting Hamlet by ordering her to instead of allowing her to decide for herself. He is looking out for his daughter. The King and Queen were very troubled at Hamlet’s superficial insanity. They tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that discovery of what is hypocritical with Hamlet would be “the supply and profit of our hope “(Hamlet 2.2.24). They are noticeably embittered at his behavior, and Polonius knows this, and tries to use his daughter to demonstrate his notion. When Ophelia approached and pronounced to him her get-together with Hamlet in Act I, Polonius instantaneously brought her to the King. Polonius, performing on his duty to “both God and to gracious king” (Hamlet 2.2.45) took Ophelia to Claudius to understand if he could be any assistance in demanding to find out what is iniquitous with Hamlet. He rapidly tells the King that he will “loose my daughter to him“(Hamlet 2.2.161) and fabricates a premeditated plan to do so. This plan, and Polonius’ role of Ophelia, is all to gratify the Royal Court, and has no space in it for Ophelia’s feelings. Polonius treats his daughter practically like one would use a mare, with his loos of her and organizes it so just to try and get on the respectable side of Claudius and Gertrude.

iii. 129-130). He is telling her to spend less time with Hamlet because he feels that his vows of love are not as true as Hamlet makes them seems to be. Just like Laertes, this advice suggests that Polonius does not think highly of Hamlet and also thinks he is childish and doesn 't actually love Ophelia. Their advice sets up their suspicions about Hamlet which leads Polonius to set up situations that will reveal Hamlet’s true feelings and show them he is not in fact mad because of Ophelia. The advice also causes Ophelia to distance herself from Hamlet, which raises some red flags in Hamlet’s mind and causes him to think that her family has something to do with it. Laertes tried to stay out of Ophelia 's love life for the most part, but Polonius had no problem inserting himself into his daughter’s life.

When Polonius finds out that Ophelia has been conducting a romance with Hamlet, he insists that she no longer have contact with the prince: ‘I will teach you. Think yourself a baby.’ (1.3.105) Polonius convinces Ophelia that she has been naïve and stupid to believe Hamlet’s professions of love: ‘Affection? Pooh! You speak like a green girl.’ (1.3. 101) In Polonius’s dialogue, Shakespeare repeatedly employs images of Ophelia as a child to portray how her father psychologically controls her, by making her dependent on his commands, as a young child would: ‘I shall obey, my lord.’ (1.3.136)