William Shakespeare 's Hamlet - Ophelia

In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the character Ophelia is very controversial due to the fact that Shakespeare places her as the focus inside the minds of all the men in her life such as Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet. Although Ophelia may appear to just be a beautiful, weak girl, she has the ability to gain power and attention over all of the men in her life. Throughout the play, Ophelia does not have much of a voice while also being mistreated and emotionally abused by her boyfriend Hamlet. Although Ophelia does not express her opinions and emotions publicly, she propels the plot along by influencing major events. Ophelia’s weak, indecisive, and obedient personality allows her to progress the plot by Shakespeare making her the focus of the men in

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

People have mostly seen women inferior to men because women have been thought of as simple-minded and could not take care of themselves. Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows how men treated and thought of women during the 1500s. There was an order most did not interfere with; however, some did. In the 1500s, women were supposed to conform to men’s wishes. Throughout the play, Ophelia first obeyed her father and brother’s wishes, ignored the social norms later, and then went mad, which caused her to never gain her own identity.

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

  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.

Shakespeare places many interesting characters in his plays. Claudius, Polonius, Marcellus, and Reynaldo are a few from his play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. However, Ophelia appears to be the most innocent all throughout the play. This character has either indirectly or directly affected the lives of every main characters in the script. Ophelia’s character is portrayed as obedient, maidenly, and a mad young girl.

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the stage was used as a way to break the barriers of gender norms. In his creation of Hamlet, Shakespeare uses the voice of Ophelia as a means to battle the gender norms that had been placed on Elizabethan society. A good women was seen as someone that was quiet and submissive. If a man could not control a woman’s tongue, there would be no chance that the man would be able to control her body. Though Ophelia’s character was more than capable of exhibiting reason, the control that her father, Polonius, held over her let Ophelia to the the madness that would claim her life by the end of the play. On the other side of the gender spectrum, Hamlet, a prince that should be have been more than capable of

   Poor Ophelia, she lost her lover, her father, her mind, and, posthumously, her brother. Ophelia is the only truly innocent victim in Hamlet. This essay will examine Ophelia's downward spiral from a chaste maiden to nervous wreck.

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, there were many important characters just like Hamlet who show up in more than three-fourths of the play; but there are also characters that don’t necessarily show up as much but still have a strong role. One of the characters that didn’t get as much screen time but was still important was Ophelia. Ophelia was a sister, girlfriend, and daughter that so many people loved. Therefore, Despite the lack of presence of Ophelia, she ultimately played a big role in the lives of a lot of the characters.

Manipulative mastermind: two words that describe only the most sinister of people. When picturing a person worthy of this description, you might think of a murderer who avoided any prison time, a sociopath with control over his loved ones, or even a corrupt politician spinning his lies. All of these are possible things that come to mind, but the very last person you would picture is “a mermaid-like (...) creature {who is} native {in nature} (III. vii. 175-178).” But remember do not judge a book by its cover, even the prettiest faces can hide the most sinister of minds. Capable of scheming and twisting the minds of those around them to fit their own picture of how things should happen. You can find this cunning creature in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Never before have I heard of a person capable of controlling their own father, while holding sway over the vast majority of people surrounding them; even managing to manipulate those people after their death. No, this character is not Hamlet, Claudius, or even the dead King Hamlet, it is someone much more discrete in their control over others. Ophelia is the master manipulator. Although, many first dismiss her as a simply, naive noblewoman, she is much more capable than you think, and if the reader looks closely they can find all the ways that she dominated the Norwegian court with a sly mind and innocent front.

Throughout the play that is William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, makes numerous advances on the blissfully graceful Ophelia, the daughter of the Lord Chamberlain in King Claudius’ court, Polonius. However, for as often as Hamlet expresses his truest and deepest desires to be with Ophelia and live life full of wonder and happiness with her, he treats her like muck on the ground, insulting her deeply and occasionally throwing her around physically. In regards to the question as to whether or not Prince Hamlet did truly hold a fluttering fancy for the sweet Ophelia, the most honestly reasonable answer is that no, he in fact did not. This is reflected the best through the scene in which Hamlet told Ophelia that he did once love her,; through the time in which he insults Ophelia directly to her face,; and through Hamlet’s reaction to the affection displayed by her brother, Laertes, at her grave.

In the story “Hamlet” there are many very interesting characters with strange personalities and that act much differently from what the average person would consider normal behavior. Hamlet stands out from other plays of its time due to the very wide variety of personalities it portrays through it's characters and the very modern way of looking at the way different people think and act. Many of the characters in Hamlet act very strange and a bit out of it at times. This has brought a lot of thought and speculation into the fact that these characters may have some sort of mental illness or disorder. One of the character that shows many symptoms of being mentally unstable or having some sort of mental disorder is Ophelia.

   In Hamlet, we are introduced to the complexities of a man who is struggling to murder his uncle while trying to understand his mother's motives. His inner turmoil has left him emotionally unavailable and completely disenchanted with humanity in general.

   Michael Pennington in “Ophelia: Madness Her Only Safe Haven,” elucidates the character of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet:

To begin with, Ophelia is a character from the Shakespeare classic Hamlet. She is perceived as a young woman who is kind hearted and obedient towards the male characters within the story. These characteristics cause her to be seen as the victim of the male characters who revolve around the story of Hamlet.