hamlet's relationship with ophelia essay

Hamlet And Ophelia Relationship Essay

Characters in Hamlet are often seen as archetypes of different aspects of love. Hamlet and Ophelia are no exception. Their relationship is one that is filled with both love and tragedy.

Hamlet is a young man who is grieving the death of his father. He is also struggling to come to terms with the fact that his mother has married his uncle. These events have made him withdrawn and cynical. In spite of this, he is still able to experience love. His feeling for Ophelia are genuine, but they are also complicated by his other emotions.

Ophelia is a young woman who is caught between the two men in her life – her father and Hamlet. She loves them both, but she is ultimately loyal to her father. This causes her to make some choices that lead to tragedy.

The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is one of the most tragic in all of literature. It is a story of love, betrayal, and ultimately, death.

The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is crucial to the entire Hamlet concept. Their past connection has been full of sexual encounters, but once the play begins, their bond begins to shatter, affecting many characters later on. The connection indirectly motivates paranoia, death, madness, and a thirst for vengeance throughout the play.

Characters in the play often use Ophelia and her relationship with Hamlet as a way to further their own agendas, which only causes more pain for everyone involved. In the end, both Hamlet and Ophelia are driven insane by the events that transpired because of their relationship.

Ophelia’s love for Hamlet is mentioned early on in the play, when she is with her brother Laertes and father Polonius. Laertes warns Ophelia to be careful, because Hamlet’s motives for being with her are not out of love. He says that their relationship is “a violet in the youth of primy nature, forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,” meaning it is just a stage of youthful lust and won’t last forever (1.2 8-10).

However, despite the warning from her brother and father, Ophelia still falls in love with Hamlet. Polonius arranges a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia in order to spy on Hamlet and see if he is truly mad or just pretending. During their meeting, Hamlet tells Ophelia to “Get thee to a nunnery” (3.1 121). This could be interpreted in two ways: either Hamlet is telling her to go become a nun since she is not pure anymore or he is telling her that all women are prostitutes and she might as well become one. Either way, it is clear that Hamlet is no longer interested in Ophelia.

However, later on in the play, after Hamlet has killed Polonius, he seems to have a change of heart. When he is talking to Horatio about the death of Polonius, he says “I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers / Could not with all their quantity of love / Make up my sum” (5.2 232-234). This shows that Hamlet did truly love Ophelia and is now regretting his treatment of her.

After Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia goes insane and eventually drowns herself. Before she dies, she hands out flowers and says strange things that no one can understand. Many believe that she is saying goodbye to Hamlet through these actions and words.

The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is a complicated one. It starts out with Hamlet not being interested in her and ends with him realizing that he loved her all along. Unfortunately, it is too late by the time he realizes this and Ophelia has already died.

Unlike Laertes, Polonius immediately demands that Ophelia break off her relationship with Hamlet. He is more concerned with his own reputation than his daughter’s emotions, and he wants to maintain as much power over her as possible. If she were to marry Hamlet, he would lose some of that control – something which is unacceptable in his eyes. After Ophelia obeys her father’s wishes, Hamlet appears at her room in a state of complete disarray.

He has unkempt hair, is wearing dirty clothes, and his overall appearance is quite wild. This disturbs Ophelia, who had never seen Hamlet like this before. He starts to speak to her in an odd manner, and she becomes frightened. Hamlet then proceeds to grab her by the wrist and tell her that she should “Get thee to a nunnery.” He is clearly upset with her, and he doesn’t want anything to do with her anymore.

This scene between Hamlet and Ophelia is significant because it shows the deterioration of their relationship. Up until this point, there had been hints of trouble brewing beneath the surface, but this is the first time that it comes out into the open. From this point onward, things only get worse between the two of them. Hamlet becomes more erratic and unpredictable, and Ophelia is caught in the middle of it all.

There are a number of possible explanations for the deterioration of Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship. One possibility is that Hamlet is simply using her as a way to get revenge on her father. Polonius is one of the people who Hamlet believes is responsible for his father’s death, and so he may be taking out his frustration on Ophelia.

Another possibility is that Hamlet is truly in love with Ophelia, but he is afraid to show it. He may feel that he is not good enough for her, or that she deserves better than him. Whatever the reason, it is clear that the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is not as strong as it once was.

Polonius is concerned that Hamlet may be in a deadly scenario and that his father will suffer the same fate. Polonius thinks Ophelia’s rejection drove Hamlet insane. This is when Polonius’ quest for the source of Hamlet’s madness begins. Polonius’ desire to discover the origin of Hamlet’s insanity leads him to his death, which compels Ophelia to go deeper into her own despair.

“Neither a borrower nor a lender be; / For loan oft loses both itself and friend, / And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. / This above all: to thine own self be true, / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man.” – Polonius (Hamlet, I.iii.78-84)

Polonius’ advice to his son Laertes can also be seen as advice to Ophelia regarding her relationship with Hamlet. He is warning her that if she gives into Hamlet’s advances, she will lose him as both a friend and a potential husband. Ironically, Polonius’ own meddling in the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia leads to his death, thus sealiing Ophelia’s fate.

“To thine own self be true.” This simple statement is at the heart of Polonius’ advice to Laertes and, by extension, to Ophelia. It is a reminder that we must always be honest with ourselves first and foremost. And if we can do that, then we will not be able to lie to or betray others. In other words, being true to oneself is the best way to ensure that one does not end up hurting others.

More Essays

• Ophelia Character Analysis
• Is Hamlet A Tragic Hero
• Hamlet Analysis Essay
• Did Hamlet Love Ophelia Essay
• How Is Laertes A Foil To Hamlet
• Similarities Between Lady Macbeth And Ophelia Research Paper
• Ophelia Character Analysis Essay
• Comic Relief In Hamlet
• Revenge vs Justice Hamlet
• Essay on The Role Of Fathers In Hamlet By William Shakespeare

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Ophelia from Shakespeare’s ”Hamlet” Essay

In Hamlet, Shakespeare introduces a concept of women more in keeping with the traditional view than what he usually portrayed. The play opens upon Hamlet’s return home following the death of his father. He finds his mother married to his uncle and the ghost of his father appears to inform Hamlet that he had not died accidentally, but rather was killed by the ambitious Claudius and, perhaps, the willing acceptance of Queen Gertrude. As the action unfolds, Shakespeare tells of how Hamlet seeks a way to both prove what the ghost has said and bring about the revenge that is demanded if the ghost is correct. Hamlet feigns insanity to discover the truth, effectively confusing those around him as was his intention. Because he is acting outside of his normal character, he has no problem using others as they might be used against him, introducing the theme of individual manipulation. Forced to work alone, his hesitation to act proves almost fatal to his vengeance and most certainly fatal to himself, but not before those he loves are also destroyed. While the concept of manipulation is evident in Hamlet’s actions as well as the actions of several other characters throughout the play, it is perhaps brought into the clearest focus as it applies to the women of the play, particularly Ophelia. Shakespeare employs the traditional view of the woman as a means of illustrating its more dangerous elements through his portrayal of Ophelia in her innocence, the ease with which others use her, and the suspicion that falls on her as a result of the actions of others.

According to the traditional and more popular view of the female sex, women were considered necessary but nearly mindless household accessories rather than actual people. Most of Shakespeare’s women, though, broke this mold in some way, such as the defiance of Desdemona when facing her father or the self-determination shown by Juliet. However, Ophelia floats through the Denmark castle providing little to no valuable service and seemingly without volition or true activity of her own. Not only conforming to the traditional concept of a submissive, malleable female with little to no educated thoughts of her own, Ophelia also conforms to the traditional concept of a hero’s love interest. She is presented as a demure, chaste young girl, obedient to her father and her brother, mild-mannered and sweet. Her humble question “Not more but so?” (I, iii, 11) following Laertes’ warnings about Hamlet’s interest indicates her traditionally proper complete acceptance of a man’s opinion and directive. Her response to Laertes warning him against debauchery while at school reinforces her role as the guardian of the family soul just as her acquiescence to Laertes, as the male, reinforces that he is the guardian of the family chastity. She is a faithful servant to the queen and is always engaged in properly frivolous activities – the sewing of decorative things and the knowledge of flowers and songs. She seems to be innocent of the plotting of those around her and proves to be incapable of comprehending the various dynamics of the events unfolding. Shakespeare seems to suggest through this portrayal that an uneducated woman is fated to be the tool of others while an educated woman may have helped avert the tragedy.

Ophelia’s role is to be used completely as a tool or ‘puppet figure’ by the more important protagonists. Seizing upon any tool they can lay their hands on, the King and Polonius readily employ Ophelia as a weapon for their own purposes. At the beginning of the play, she is told by her father in no uncertain terms, to go against her heart and spurn all communication with Hamlet: “I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth, / Have you so slander any moment leisure / As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. / Look to’t, I charge you” (I, iii, 132-135). While this directive can be seen as the natural reaction of a father is working to guard the chastity of his daughter, it can also be seen as a wily political move of an ambitious parent attempting to both protect the assets of the family as well as present alluring bait to the ultimate prize. This interpretation is supported in the almost over-humble way in which he approaches the King and Queen with his theory regarding the cause of Hamlet’s madness, reciting the degeneration of the prince since Ophelia had stopped receiving his messages: “And he, repelled, a short tale to make, / Fell into a sadness, then into a fast, / Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, / Thence to a lightness, and, by this declension, / Into the madness wherein now he raves” (II, ii, 146-150). This understanding of Hamlet’s condition (II, ii), provides Polonius with the tool he’s been seeking in the form of his daughter for greater court security as well as providing the King with a tool, again Ophelia, to use against Hamlet himself.

Precisely because of her perfection in her role as the quintessential princely favorite and potential tool, Hamlet is suspicious of her. Not only is Hamlet aware that his already expressed feelings for Ophelia may be used by his enemies against him, he is suspicious of Ophelia’s possible complicity with these enemies, indicating he is aware of a latent intelligence. While this was displayed through her quick wit in turning Laertes’ instructions around, her silence elsewhere makes this easy to forget. Although she is very obviously in love with Hamlet, presenting Hamlet’s pursuit of her in the most honorable and noble terms possible, she is also very obviously torn between her maidenly duty to obey her male elders and the feelings of her heart. This confusion, as well as the conflicting instructions of her elders, further supports Hamlet’s suspicion that Ophelia may be acting in conscious concert with his uncle. Because he does have feelings for her, he tries to protect her in case she is innocent by hinting at his continued attraction for her as in the play scene – “Lady shall I lie in your lap?” (III, ii, 127) – yet he also rails against her as a means of expressing his thoughts to the other woman he feels has so wronged both him and his father. His mother’s recent treachery has opened his eyes to the devious nature of women and he continues to question whether Ophelia’s innocent-seeming confusion is instead a skillful manipulation of inborn feminine evil.

Without even realizing it, Ophelia thus becomes the pawn of the play. She is unaware of Claudius’ complicity in the death of Hamlet’s father as both Hamlet and the King, of course, are. She innocently believes what her elders have told her, as she has been taught to believe since her earliest childhood and has already proven to have learned well. Because she truly loves Hamlet, Polonius and the King believe she will successfully subdue Hamlet. For Polonius, either his daughter provides Hamlet with a sudden cure and his family becomes firmly attached to the crown or Hamlet is truly crazy and Polonius will continue in his current function. The risk is small while the rewards are great. For the King, he will gain a clearer understanding of Hamlet’s current behavior, of which he has already become suspicious. However, Hamlet’s recent revelation regarding his mother, coupled with Ophelia’s sudden changes of heart as a result of differing directives, hardens him to also use Ophelia as a puppet. By portraying the women of Hamlet in ways that are more in keeping with the traditional values of continental Europe, Shakespeare seems to be making an argument in favor of providing women with education and autonomy. Had Ophelia not been brought up to be meek and mild, consistently and completely following the directives of her elders, she perhaps would not have aroused suspicion in Hamlet and instead provided him with an additional individual to confide in. At the same time, she could have avoided her own personal tragedy by avoiding the maddening conflict of emotions that was created when her elders bade her go against the dictates of her heart. While making women little more than puppets may seem like a good idea to men, Shakespeare demonstrates through Ophelia that the practice, in reality, is a tremendous deficit to the welfare of the woman, the household, and the country overall. In Hamlet, Shakespeare’s style differed from many of his other works by portraying women more realistically to the era, bringing about tragedy, the death of a kingdom, and an unforgettable warning regarding the proper treatment of women in society is to remain healthy.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet.’ The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Alfred Harbage (Ed.). London: Penguin Books, 1969, pp. 930-976.

• Summary & Analysis
• Genre & Literary Analysis
• Important Quotes
• Essay Topics
• Essay Samples
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, September 1). Ophelia from Shakespeare's ”Hamlet”. https://ivypanda.com/essays/english-literature-ophelia-from-shakespeares-hamlet/

"Ophelia from Shakespeare's ”Hamlet”." IvyPanda , 1 Sept. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/english-literature-ophelia-from-shakespeares-hamlet/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Ophelia from Shakespeare's ”Hamlet”'. 1 September.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Ophelia from Shakespeare's ”Hamlet”." September 1, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/english-literature-ophelia-from-shakespeares-hamlet/.

1. IvyPanda . "Ophelia from Shakespeare's ”Hamlet”." September 1, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/english-literature-ophelia-from-shakespeares-hamlet/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Ophelia from Shakespeare's ”Hamlet”." September 1, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/english-literature-ophelia-from-shakespeares-hamlet/.

• Hamlet And Laertes: A Comparison
• Does Shakespearean Hamlet Love Ophelia?
• Hamlet, Ophelia and Insanity in Shakespear's "Hamlet"
• Act II of Hamlet by William Shakespeare
• The Character of Gertrude in ‘Hamlet’
• Recurring Theme of Revenge in Hamlet
• A Play "Hamlet" by William Shakespear
• The Value of Source Study of Hamlet by Shakespeare
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare: A Filmic Event
• Hamlet's Attitude Toward Women in Shakespear's "Hamlet"
• “Under Milk Wood” Play by Dylan Thomas
• “The Cripple of Inishmaan” Comedy by M. McDonagh
• Zeus the Terrible in Aeschylus’ “Prometheus Bound”
• Blanche DuBois in Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire"
• William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” Drama Play

• Shakespeare Learning Zone Home
• As You Like It
• The Comedy of Errors
• Julius Caesar
• Measure for Measure
• The Merchant of Venice
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Much Ado about Nothing
• Romeo and Juliet
• The Taming of The Shrew
• The Tempest
• Twelfth Night
• Your Feedback
• Education Home
• What’s on at the RSC

Main Navigation

Investigate character relationships.

See how their relationship changes during the play by moving the bar to the marked points.

The relationship between these characters remains the same throughout the play.

Hamlet in the 2018 touring production of Hamlet.

Hamlet in the graveyard.

Ian Bannen as Hamlet, sitting in a wooden chest.

Michael Redgrave as Hamlet, holding a sword.

Robert Helpmann as Hamlet, surrounded by candles.

Donald Wolfit as Hamlet, holding a skull.

Hamlet sits cross-legged, reading a book.

Alan Badel as Hamlet, looking at a skull.

Hamlet is the son of Old Hamlet , who has recently died and he has come back to Denmark to mourn his father’s death. His uncle Claudius has married his mother, Gertrude , and is now king. Hamlet’s father appears to him as a ghost and urges him to avenge his death.

Facts we learn about Hamlet at the start of the play:

• He is a young Danish prince.
• His father has died suddenly.
• His mother married his uncle very quickly after his father’s death.
• He has a girlfriend called Ophelia.

Things they say:

'I have that within me which passes show/ these but the trappings and the suits of woe' (Hamlet, 1:2)

Hamlet believes he is the only one really upset by his Father’s death.

'Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me!/ You would play upon me! You would seem to know my stops…/ Do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?' (Hamlet, 3:2)

Hamlet realises he is being manipulated and lied to and sees through others’ schemes.

Things others say about them:

'He knew me not at first; he said I was a fishmonger. He is far gone, far gone' (Polonius, 2:2)

Hamlet speaks strangely and confuses people, making them think he is mad.

'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet/ To give these mourning duties to your Father/ …But to persever in obstinate condolement is a course of impious stubborness, ‘tis unmanly grief' (Claudius, 1:2)

Hamlet is really upset about his Father’s death and Claudius tells him it is ‘unmanly’.

'Oh, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!/ The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s, eye, tongue, sword/ Th’expectancy and rose of the fair state,/ The glass of fashion and the mould of form/ Th’observed of all observers, quite, quite down!' (Ophelia, 3:1)

Hamlet used to have the grace of a gentleman, the wit of a scholar and a soldier’s strength.

Ophelia dressed as a bride with flowers.

Ophelia with a basket of flowers.

Dorothy Tutin as Ophelia with flowers in her hair.

Ophelia and Hamlet.

Janet Suzman as Ophelia.

Ophelia is Polonius’ daughter and Laertes’ sister. Hamlet has been in love with her for a while before the play starts and has given her several gifts during their courtship until her father warns her away from him and tells her not to see him anymore. During the play, he treats her very badly. When she loses her father, her mental health suffers and she tragically drowns herself.

Facts we learn about Ophelia at the start of the play:

• She is Polonius’ daughter.
• Laertes is her brother.
• Hamlet has sent her gifts and visited her and there is a history between them.

'And I, of ladies most deject and wretched / That sucked the honey of his music vows /…O, woe is me / T’have seen what I have seen, see what I see!' (Ophelia, 3:1)

Ophelia believed the sweet promises Hamlet made to her and is devastated to see him change during the play.

'I must tell you / You do not understand yourself so clearly / As it behoves my daughter and your honour' (Polonius, 1:3)

Ophelia has spent a lot of time with Hamlet but her Father thinks she should behave with more honour.

'I have heard of your paintings too, well enough / God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another / You jig and amble, and you lisp…and make your Wantoness your ignorance' (Hamlet, 3:1)

Hamlet is deliberately cruel to Ophelia when he accuses her of wearing too much make up and enticing men.

'Fear it, Ophelia, fear it my dear sister, / And keep you in the rear of your affection' (Laertes, 1:3)

Ophelia trusts Hamlet.

Gertrude and Claudius.

Claudius is the brother of Old Hamlet and Hamlet's uncle. After his brother’s death, he married Gertrude and became the King of Denmark and criticises Hamlet for being too upset over the death of his father. Claudius confesses that he murdered his own brother in order to get the crown and marry his wife. He plots to have Hamlet killed and then poisons Gertrude accidentally. He is murdered by Hamlet before he dies.

Facts we learn about Claudius at the start of the play:

• He has been newly crowned as King of Denmark.
• He married his brother’s wife only months after Old Hamlet died.
• He thinks Hamlet should be less upset about his father’s death and wants Hamlet to see him as family.

‘I am still possessed / Of those affects for which I did the murder, / My crown, mine own ambition and my Queen.’ (Claudius, 3:3)

Claudius is ambitious.

‘think of us / As of a father’ (Claudius, 1:2)

Claudius wants Hamlet to see him as a father.

‘Try what repentance can – what can it not? – yet what it can, when one cannot repent?’ (Claudius, 3:1)

Claudius does not feel guilty enough for murdering his brother to repent.

'young Fortinbras, / Holding a weak supposal of our worth / Or thinking by our late dear brother’s death / Our state to be disjoint and out of frame –’ (Claudius, 1:2)

Claudius wants to prove himself as king, trying to deal with Fortinbras and prove the state is not weak.

‘Thus was I sleeping by a brother’s hand / Of life, of crown, of queen at one dispatched.’ (Old Hamlet, 1:5)

Claudius murdered his brother, something he later admits to himself when talking to God.

Elizabeth Sellars as Gertrude.

Gertrude in her chamber wearing a dressing gown.

Gertrude with roses at Ophelia's grave.

Gertrude is the Queen of Denmark and is the mother of Hamlet . Within two months of her husband dying she married Claudius . Hamlet does not like this new marriage and criticises her choice to remarry. She worries for him when he starts to behave strangely after Old Hamlet's death. She dies when she drinks poison meant for her son.

Facts we learn about Gertrude at the start of the play:

• She is Queen of Denmark and Hamlet’s mother.
• She used to be married to Old Hamlet.
• Less than a month after her husband’s death, she married his brother, Claudius.

'My most seeming-virtuous queen / O Hamlet, what a falling off was there / From me, whose love was of that dignity / That it went hand in hand even with the vow / I made to her in marriage; and to decline / Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor to those of mine!' (Old Hamlet, 1:5)

Gertrude was a virtuous and good queen but the ghost of her dead husband criticises her choice to remarry Claudius.

‘Frailty, thy name is Woman’ (Hamlet, 1:2)

Gertrude is seen as fickle by her son, who thinks she is weak.

'Beauteous majesty of Denmark' (Ophelia, 4:5)

Gertrude is a beautiful Queen, according to Ophelia.

The Ghost of Old Hamlet.

The Ghost of Old Hamlet with Hamlet.

Hamlet is shocked at the sight of his father's ghost.

The Ghost of Old Hamlet stands behind his son.

Hamlet encounters his father's ghost on the battlements.

Old Hamlet is dead before the play begins and appears as a ghost in the play. He was the King of Denmark and Gertrude’s husband. They had a son together called Hamlet . Old Hamlet appears to his son as a ghost and informs him that he’s been murdered by his brother, Claudius . He asks Hamlet to avenge his murder.

Facts we learn about Old Hamlet at the start of the play:

• He was the King of Denmark and has recently died.
• He was married to Gertrude.
• As a ghost, he tells Hamlet he was murdered by his brother Claudius, who has since become king.

'I am thy Father’s Spirit / Doomed for a certain term to walk the night / And for the day confined to fast in fires / Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature / Are burnt and purged away' (Old Hamlet, 1:5)

Old Hamlet is in limbo until his murder is avenged, walking during the night and burning in fires during the day.

'So excellent a King, that was to this / Hyperion to a Satyr ; so loving to my Mother' (Hamlet, 1:2)

Old Hamlet was a good king and loved Gertrude. Hamlet compares him to Claudius saying he was a far superior king.

'I saw him once. He was a goodly King' (Horatio, 1:2)

Old Hamlet was a respected monarch.

'Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned…thou comest in such a questionable shape that I will speak to thee' (Hamlet, 1:4)

Old Hamlet appears as a ghost and Hamlet is not sure whether to trust him at first.

Ophelia and Polonius.

Polonius advises his son Laertes.

Hamlet holds a sword to Polonius' throat.

Polonius is the Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’ court. He is also the father of Ophelia and Laertes . He spies on both his children and Hamlet . Polonius also misjudges many situations throughout the play and is eventually killed by Hamlet while hiding behind an arras, or screen.

Facts we learn about Polonius at the start of the play:

• He is the Lord Chamberlain with an official place in the court.
• He does not like Ophelia seeing Hamlet and has told her not to see him.
• He gives his consent for his son to study in Paris.

'I hold my duty as I hold my soul / Both to my God and to my gracious King' (Polonius, 2:2)

Polonius believes his main duties are to serve God and King Claudius.

'These tedious old fools' (Hamlet, 2:2)

Polonius is of the older generation and is seen as boring by Hamlet.

'They say an old man is twice a child' (Rosencrantz, 2:2)

Polonius behaves like an old man and it makes him more silly than a child.

'I loved your Father' (Claudius, 4:7)

Polonius was a close ally and friend of Claudius.

Laertes with Ophelia.

Laertes with Ophelia behind him.

Laertes. 

Laertes is Polonius’ son and Ophelia’s brother. Laertes acts as a caring and concerned brother when he warns Ophelia to be careful with Hamlet . He leaves Denmark to study in Paris and only comes back when his father is killed. Laertes is devastated when his sister also then kills herself and challenges Hamlet to a duel to get revenge. He dies while fighting Hamlet.

Facts we learn about Laertes at the start of the play:

• He is Polonius’ son and Ophelia’s brother.
• He is leaving to study in Paris but his father doesn’t trust him.
• He thinks his sister should be careful of Hamlet.

‘Perhaps he loves you now, / And now no soil or cautel doth besmirch / The virtue of his will; but you must fear, / His greatness weighed. His will is not his own.’ (Laertes, 1:3)

Laertes does not trust Hamlet and cares about Ophelia being hurt.

‘...willingly I came to Denmark / To show my duty in your coronation’ (Laertes, 1:2)

Laertes is dutiful and came back to Denmark for Claudius’ coronation.

‘They cry ‘Choose we: Laertes shall be king!’ - / Caps, hands and tongue, applaud it to the clouds’ (Messenger, 4:5)

Laertes is loved by the people and is a rival for the crown.

‘What is the cause, Laertes, / That thou rebellion looks so giant-like?’ (Claudius, 4:5)

Laertes is a potential threat to Claudius and can have a quick temper.

Peter de Jersey as Horatio.

Hamlet and Horatio.

Horatio and Hamlet.

Horatio holds on to Hamlet.

Horatio is Hamlet's closest friend and studied with him at university in Wittenberg. Horatio remains loyal to Hamlet throughout the play and is trusted by Hamlet until the end. He is one of the only characters who survive in the play and he tells Hamlet’s story to Prince Fortinbras in the final scene.

Facts we learn about Horatio at the start of the play:

• He is Hamlet’s closest friend.
• He studied with Hamlet at the University of Wittenberg.
• He is one of the first characters to witness the ghost of Old Hamlet and does not believe it is real at first.

'I am more an antique Roman than a Dane' (Horatio, 5:2)

Horatio is fiercely loyal to Hamlet and tries to take poison himself when Hamlet is dying, preferring to die by his side like a loyal Roman than a Dane like Claudius or Gertrude.

'Sir, my good friend' (Hamlet, 1:2)

Horatio is Hamlet’s closest friend.

'You are friends, scholars, soldiers' (Hamlet, 1:5)

Horatio is an intellectual with an education and experience as a soldier in Denmark.

'He that thou knowest thine' (Hamlet, 4:6)

Horatio knows Hamlet better than anyone else in the play and is trusted by him.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Guildenstern.

Guildenstern and Rosencrantz.

Rosencrantz in a shirt and tie.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two old friends of Hamlet's . They are invited by Claudius and Gertrude to find out what is wrong with Hamlet and what is causing his ‘madness’. Hamlet realises their intentions and eventually confronts them, before arranging their deaths.

Facts we learn about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at the start of the play:

• They are old friends of Hamlet.
• They are courtiers and want to help Claudius and Gertrude.
• They are summoned by Claudius to investigate why Hamlet is behaving so strangely.

When Hamlet first sees them, Hamlet asks how they are. Guildenstern replies, 'Happy in that we are not over-happy/ On fortune’s cap we are not the very button' (Guildenstern, 2:2)

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern claim to be content, rather than having extreme emotions like Hamlet.

'My excellent good friends' (Hamlet, 2:2)

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been good friends with Hamlet since childhood.

Hamlet describes them as 'Sponges' that 'soaks up the King’s countenance , his rewards, his authorities' (Hamlet, 4:2)

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern will do whatever Claudius and Gertrude ask in order to try and get favour.

Fortinbras.

Fortinbras is the young Prince of Norway. His father was killed by Old Hamlet when he was King of Denmark. He wishes to avenge his father’s death by conquering Denmark and winning back Norway’s lands.

Facts we learn about Fortinbras at the start of the play:

• He is a young prince.
• His father was killed by Hamlet’s father, Old Hamlet.
• He has an army at his disposal.
• He wishes to attack Denmark to avenge his father’s death.

'For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune/I have some rights of memory in this Kingdom/ Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me' (Fortinbras, 5:2)

Fortinbras is opportunistic, realising that all the possible heirs to the throne are gone and he is free to seize Denmark.

'Young Fortinbras/ Holding a weak supposal of our worth/ or thinking by our late dear brother’s death/ Our state to be disjoint and out of frame' (Claudius, 1:2)

Fortinbras believes the State of Denmark is vulnerable because it has just lost its King.

'Witness this army of such mass and charge / Led by a delicate and tender Prince / Whose spirit, with divine ambition puffed / Makes mouths at the invisible event / Exposing what is mortal and unsure / To all that fortune, death, and danger dare / Even for an eggshell' (Hamlet, 4:4)

Fortinbras is ambitious and leads a huge army.

Explore their relationships

Hamlet - claudius.

Claudius tries to comfort Hamlet over the death of his father by saying he doesn't just see him as a family relation but like a son. Hamlet admits that Claudius is now more than a family relation but he does not like him or his actions.

‘A little more than Kin and less than kind!’ (Hamlet, 1:2)

Hamlet doesn’t like the fact that Claudius has married his mother only weeks after his father died. Claudius also tells Hamlet not to grieve for his father so much.

‘To persever/ In obstinate condolement is a course/ Of impious stubbornness. 'Tis unmanly grief’ (Claudius, 1:2)

Towards the end of Act 1, the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears to him and tells him that Claudius murdered him. Hamlet is shocked and angry. His disgust towards his uncle remains constant throughout the play and drives him to seek revenge by killing him in the final scene.

‘O my prophetic soul!/ My uncle?’ (Hamlet, 1:5)

When Hamlet meets the ghost of his father, the ghost declares that Claudius murdered him. It could be argued that Hamlet may be suspicious of believing a ghost but his desire for this to be true seems apparent when he says

‘O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!” (Hamlet, 1:5)

The wheels are set in motion for Hamlet to avenge his Father’s murder.

Having observed an actor deliver a monologue with true emotion, Hamlet berates himself for not being able to express his hurt and desire for revenge. He’s merely thought about revenge but not acted upon it. He steels himself and arranges for the players to perform a play about murder that shall provoke a reaction from the king and so prove that the ghost of his father was telling the truth.

‘The Play’s the thing/ Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King’ (Hamlet, 2:2)

When Claudius storms out of the performance of 'The Death of Gonzago', Hamlet is finally convinced that the ghost was correct. Claudius murdered his father. When the prince goes to find Claudius, he observes him praying and Hamlet refuses to murder him while he’s praying.

‘O, my offence is rank. It smells to heaven/ It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t/ A brother’s murder’ (Claudius, 3.3)

At the end of his fight with Laertes, Laertes tells Hamlet that Claudius had set up the duel so that the young prince would be murdered. Hamlet’s thirst for revenge is total and he stabs Claudius and forces him to drink poison.

‘Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane. Drink off this potion’ (Hamlet, 5.2)

Hamlet - Gertrude

At the beginning of the play, Hamlet is angry at his mother for marrying his uncle and for doing so too quickly after his father’s death. She doesn’t seem to understand why he is so upset.

‘She married. O, most wicked speed, to post/ With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!’ (Hamlet, 1:2)

Before the players begin their performance in Act 3, Hamlet observes how happy Gertrude has been since his father died. At this point he has seen the ghost and believes his father was murdered.

‘Look how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died within’s two hours’ (Hamlet, 3.2)

Later in Act 3, Hamlet and Gertrude exchange heated words as Hamlet is now certain that Claudius murdered his father. In the chaos of the argument, Hamlet kills Polonius. Gertrude is greatly distressed by Hamlet’s treatment of her and scared when she sees him talk to a ghost she claims she can’t see.

‘What have I done that thou darest wag thy tongue/ In noise so rude against me?’ (Gertrude, 3:4)

By the end of Scene 4 in Act 3, Gertrude shows some remorse. Hamlet believes he’s trying to help Gertrude and says he needed to deliver some home truths to her on behalf of God as well as himself, but he seems to still care for his mother.

‘I’ll blessing beg of you. For this same Lord/ I do repent. But heaven hath pleased it so/ To punish me with this, and this with me…/ I must be cruel only to be kind’ (Hamlet, 3:4)

Before Hamlet dies in the final scene, Gertrude tries to mop Hamlet’s brow as she can see he is suffering in the duel with Laertes. She wants to see her son succeed but is poisoned, which angers Hamlet even further.

‘He’s fat and scant of breath / Here, Hamlet, take my napkin. Rub thy brows / The Queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet’ (Gertrude, 5:2)

Hamlet - Old Hamlet

It’s hard to know the strength of Hamlet’s relationship with his father before he died. However, at the beginning of the play, his grief appears total. This would indicate that he loved Old Hamlet dearly.

When the ghost of Old Hamlet appears to Hamlet, he asks his son to exact revenge on Claudius for murdering him. This conversation acts as a catalyst for the rest of the play’s action. If Hamlet’s relationship with his father wasn't so strong, he may not have followed his father’s instructions.

‘I am thy father’s spirit’ (Old Hamlet, 1:5)

Hamlet - Laertes

Laertes is troubled that Hamlet has been trying to seduce his sister. He says that men like Hamlet don’t take love seriously and move from one victim to the next because they have power.

‘For Hamlet, and the trifling of his Favour/ Hold it a fashion And a toy in blood/…Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting/ The perfume and suppliants of a minute/ no more' (Laertes, 1:3)

Laertes returns from Paris looking for revenge for the death of his father. When he gets back he also sees Ophelia, who has gone mad. He finds out that Hamlet is responsible for both these things and wants to kill Hamlet.

‘And so have I a noble father lost / a sister driven into desperate terms…But my revenge will come’ (Laertes, 4:7)

Laertes and Hamlet face each other for the first time when Hamlet interrupts Laertes at his sister Ophelia’s grave. The two men fight until they are separated after arguing about who loves Ophelia more.

‘I print he take thy fingers from my throat/ For, though I am not splenetic and rash/ Yet have I in me something dangerous/ Which let thy wisdom fear. Hold off thy hand’ (Hamlet, 5:1)

When both men are poisoned during a duel, Laertes confesses that Claudius was the one who set everything up and both of them seek forgiveness from each other as they die.

‘Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet/ Mine and my Father’s death come not upon thee/ Nor thine on me!' (Laertes, 5:2)

Hamlet - Ophelia

Hamlet - horatio, hamlet - rosencrantz and guildenstern, ophelia - laertes.

In Act 1 Scene 3, Laertes advises his sister not to be seduced by Hamlet. He doesn’t want her to get hurt and warns her not to fall for Hamlet.

‘Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister’ (Laertes, 1:3)

When Ophelia loses her mind in Act 4 after her father’s death and her mistreatment at the hands of Hamlet, Laertes is heartbroken and his love for her is really clear.

‘O rose of May / Dear maid, kind Sister, Sweet Ophelia!’ (Laertes, 4:5)

When Ophelia tragically dies, Laertes jumps on his sister’s coffin and begs mourners to stop throwing soil into the grave until he’s held her one more time.

‘Hold off the earth awhile/ Till I have caught her once more in mine arms’ (Laertes, 5:1)

Ophelia - Polonius

Ophelia - hamlet, claudius - hamlet, claudius - old hamlet.

From the moment Old Hamlet appears as a ghost to Hamlet, his desire to avenge his brother for his murder is strong. He describes Claudius as a 'beast'.

‘That incestuous, that adulterated beast/ With witchcraft of his wit' (Old Hamlet, 1:5)

When Hamlet is arguing with his mother, the ghost of Old Hamlet appears again to remind him not to get distracted, that he must kill Claudius.

‘Do not forget. This visitation / Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose' (Old Hamlet, 3:4)

Claudius - Gertrude

Claudius - polonius, gertrude - hamlet, gertrude - claudius, old hamlet - hamlet, old hamlet - claudius, polonius - ophelia, polonius - laertes, polonius - claudius, laertes - ophelia, laertes - hamlet, horatio - hamlet, rosencrantz and guildenstern - hamlet, teacher notes.

On this page students can arrange the characters on the screen, showing the connections between the characters and their relationships. They can then print this using the button on the page and label them with their own quotes.

The following activities are also great ways of exploring specific relationships in the classroom.

Making Polonius’ family relevant (2008)

This activity can be found on pages 9-11 and takes approximately 30 minutes. Please note the videos referred to in this exercise are no longer available.

Hamlet and Horatio (2010)

This activity can be found on pages 8-10 and takes approximately 40 minutes.

We need your help

We’d love to know what you think about the Shakespeare Learning Zone. Help us by taking a short survey – it will only take a few minutes and will help us make the Shakespeare Learning Zone even better for everyone.

William Shakespeare

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions, ophelia quotes in hamlet.

Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me…

Ophelia in “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare

Without any substantial maternal guidance, Ophelia is a lost soul in William Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet.” Right from the beginning, it is clear that Ophelia is subordinate to the men she interacts with. On the other hand, the men she interacts with are aware of this fact as exemplified by how her brother and her father address her with veiled contempt. It can be argued that Ophelia’s character represents the subordination and ill-treatment of women during that time and era.

The situation of Ophelia in the story is that of a young girl who, from an early age, is brought from a life of privacy into the circle of a court.” (Vanderlyn 92). One of the most striking aspects of Ophelia’s character is her cluelessness and her ability to maintain her femininity. Lack of maternal guidance, possession of a naïve spirit, and lack of exposure are the main reasons for Ophelia’s unhealthy love to Hamlet and her subsequent tragedy.

Ophelia is most likely an orphan as no mention of her mother is made during the entire play. Moreover, Ophelia lacks a substitute mother figure in her life. Ophelia depends on her father Polonius and her brother Laertes for nurture and guidance. Ophelia does not have any nostalgic feelings towards her mother, a sign that her mother “might have died when she was an infant” (Brown 1). Ophelia’s father acts as her primary guardian and counselor. She lacks the privilege of receiving advice from her kind.

For example, her father and her brother are the ones who stress to her the need for maintaining her chastity. Receiving advice of this type from a male figure is “not only inappropriate, but it is also moot as her seducers are men themselves” (Floyd-Wilson 397). Everything Ophelia knows about men, she has learned from her father and her brother. For instance, their interferences in her relationship with Hamlet are based on their male perspective. Ophelia’s lack of maternal influence reduces her to a lone ranger.

In a patriarchal world where women are treated as objects and are almost overrun by men, Ophelia would have benefited from having a maternal confidant. Possibly, the confidant would have offered advice that would have helped her maneuvers in the patriarchal society. Her relationship with Hamlet is contrary to the wishes of her father.

Given that her father is the only influential parent in her life, the decision to go against his wishes weighs heavily on her conscious. It is possible that this decision contributed to her insanity and subsequent suicide. Any maternal influence would have helped dilute the tension that surrounded Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship.

Ophelia’s exists in a society that is dominated by men. This limits her choices in life, and her whole existence is reduced to loyalty and obedience to the men in her life. Ophelia’s life did not have many freedoms. However, her submissiveness is not personal, but it applies to all the women of her time. For instance, Hamlet’s relationship with his mother reveals that “submissiveness is something that was expected from all women” (Floyd-Wilson 397).

Ophelia’s tragic love for Hamlet is directly related to her submissiveness towards her father and at times, her brother. Throughout her youth, Ophelia obeys her father without questioning his authority. Ophelia obeys her father’s orders without questioning them as witnessed when her father warns her against a relationship with Hamlet to which she replies, “I shall obey, my lord” (Shakespeare 11).

Nevertheless, Ophelia’s submissive nature is not reflective of her innermost feelings. For example, she respectfully criticizes her brother for applying double standards when it comes to chastity. This scene reveals that Ophelia’s submission does not mean that she lacks an opinion of her own. This submission is what keeps Ophelia from questioning the dynamics of her relationship with Hamlet. It is correct to argue that Ophelia’s tragic insanity could be related to her submissiveness because she lacked a healthy outlet for her feelings.

Ophelia’s naivety makes her easy to manipulate. Hamlet constantly manipulates Ophelia to do whatever he wants. At first, Hamlet tries to convince her to be his lover and then uses her to perpetuate his fake madness. He performs several ‘crazy’ antics in front of her hoping that she will “speak of the horrors” she saw (Shakespeare 23).

Also, Hamlet uses Ophelia as the tool of her revenge against his mother, Gertrude. Instead of being honest with Ophelia, Hamlet uses her to perpetuate his negative stereotypes about women. “Hamlet’s cold-heartedness proves to be too much a burden for Ophelia” who loves Hamlet with all her heart (Bierman 1).

Ophelia spends all her days being shielded in Lord Chamberlain’s household. Both her father and her brother are very protective of the young Ophelia. Other than Hamlet who is very suspicious towards Ophelia, everybody else is aware of her good nature. Her good nature is also apparent to the audience. On the other hand, Ophelia has “gone through life oblivious to the harsh realities of life” (Brown 1).

This naivety is fostered by the fact that her father and her brother love her very much, and they are willing to do anything to guarantee her happiness. Ophelia is not involved in any political matters at the King’s court (Barnet, Burto and Cain 112). She spends her days gathering flowers and practicing needlework. She is also very appreciative of the love her brother and her father show to her. Being sheltered proves to be disadvantageous to Ophelia. For instance, Ophelia lacks the real-world experience that she can use when defending herself.

Even though her love for Hamlet is quite strong, she is not able to defend it. Her naïve nature leaves her at the “mercy of her father, who makes all decisions for her” (Dane 1). When Polonius dies, she is unable to cope, and she eventually loses her mind. Lack of exposure proves to be one of the factors that contribute to her tragedy.

Her entire life is engineered by forces that are out of her control. When the time comes for her to manage her affairs, Ophelia finds that she “does not have the necessary expertise” (Taylor 6). It would be prudent to assume that exposure to the real world would have been beneficial to Ophelia’s plight.

Ophelia’s tragic fate seems to be sealed right from the beginning. While all the men in the play spend their time calculating their next moves, Ophelia sits at the court waiting for the men to make decisions for her. When the men are gone, her lack of experience in real-world issues proves to be tragic.

Shakespeare uses Ophelia’s character as the epitome of tragedy in “Hamlet.” Her lack of maternal guidance and her frail nature are her main weaknesses when traumatic events bombard her. When she realizes how powerless she is, her actions spell out the greatest tragedy in her life.

Works Cited

Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William Cain. Literature for Composition . New York, NY: Pearson Publishing, 2007. Print.

Bierman, Elsinore. Frailty, thy name is woman: Portraits of Ophelia . Web.

Brown, Heather. Gender and Identity in Hamlet: A Modern Interpretation of Ophelia . Web.

Dane, Gabrielle. Reading Ophelia’s Madness . Web.

Floyd-Wilson, Mary. “Ophelia and Femininity in the Eighteenth Century: Dangerous Conjectures in Ill-Breeding Minds’.” Women’s Studies 21.4 (2002): 397. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet . New York, NY: WW Norton, 2011. Print

Taylor, Mark. “Shakespeare’s Hamlet.” Explicator 65.1 (2006): 4-7. Print.

Vanderlyn, Bertha. “ Shakespeare’s Gentle Heroine. ” Fine Arts Journal 14.3 (1903): 91- 94. Web.

Cite this paper

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2020, May 23). Ophelia in “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare. https://studycorgi.com/ophelia-in-hamlet-by-william-shakespeare/

"Ophelia in “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare." StudyCorgi , 23 May 2020, studycorgi.com/ophelia-in-hamlet-by-william-shakespeare/.

StudyCorgi . (2020) 'Ophelia in “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare'. 23 May.

1. StudyCorgi . "Ophelia in “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare." May 23, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/ophelia-in-hamlet-by-william-shakespeare/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "Ophelia in “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare." May 23, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/ophelia-in-hamlet-by-william-shakespeare/.

StudyCorgi . 2020. "Ophelia in “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare." May 23, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/ophelia-in-hamlet-by-william-shakespeare/.

This paper, “Ophelia in “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: January 25, 2024 .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay.

• Brooks, Jean R. “ Hamlet and Ophelia as Lovers: Some Interpretations on Page and Stage .” Aligorh Critical Miscellany 4.1 (1991): 1-25.
• Dane, Gabrielle. “ Reading Ophelia’s Madness. ” Exemplaria 10 (1998): 405-23.
• DiMatteo, Anthony. “ Hamlet as Fable: Reconstructing a Lost Code of Meaning. ” Connotations 6.2 (1996/1997): 158-79.
• Dunn, Leslie C. “ Ophelia’s Song’s in Hamlet : Music, Madness, and the Feminine. ” Embodied Voices: Representing Female Vocality in Western Culture . Ed. Leslie C. Dunn and Nancy A. Jones. New Perspectives in Music History and Criticism. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994. 50-64.
• Fienberg, Nona. " Jephthah's Daughter: The Parts Ophelia Plays. " Old Testament Women in Western Literature . Ed. Raymond-Jean Frontain and Jan Wojcit. Conway: UCA, 1991. 128-43.
• Fike, Matthew A. “ Gertrude’s Mermaid Allusion .” On Page and Stage: Shakespeare in Polish and World Culture . Ed. Krystyna Kujawinska Courtney. Kraków: Towarzystwo Autorów, 2000. 259-75. [Originally printed in the-hard-to-find B. A. S.: British and American Studies 2 (1999): 15-25.]
• Findlay, Alison. " Hamlet : A Document in Madness. " New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. Hamlet Collection 1. New York: AMS, 1994. 189-205.
• Finkelstein, Richard. “ Differentiating Hamlet : Ophelia and the Problems of Subjectivity .” Renaissance and Reformation 21.2 (Spring 1997): 5-22.
• Floyd-Wilson, Mary. “ Ophelia and Femininity in the Eighteenth Century: 'Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds.' ” Women’s Studies 21 (1992): 397-409.
• Fox-Good, Jacquelyn A. “ Ophelia’s Mad Songs: Music, Gender, Power .” Subjects on the World’s Stage: Essays on British Literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance . Ed. David C. Allen and Robert A. White. Newark: U of Delaware P, 1995. 217-38.
• Hamana, Emi. “ Whose Body Is It, Anyway?—A re-Reading of Ophelia. ” Hamlet and Japan . Ed. Yoshiko Uéno. Hamlet Collection 2. New York: AMS, 1995. 143-54.
• Harris, Arthur John. “ Ophelia’s ‘Nothing’: ‘It is the false steward that stole his master’s daughter.’" Hamlet Studies 19.1-2 (Summer-Winter 1997): 20-46.
• Hassel, R. Chris, Jr. “ Painted Women: Annunciation Motifs in Hamlet .” Comparative Drama 32 (1998): 47-84.
• Jenkins, Ronald Bradford. “ The Case Against the King: The Family of Ophelia vs. His Majesty King Claudius of Denmark. ” Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 17.3-4 (Aug. 1996): 206-18.
• Lamb, Susan. � Applauding Shakespeare�s Ophelia in the Eighteenth Century: Sexual Desire, Politics, and the Good Woman .� Women as Sites of Culture: Women�s Roles in Cultural Formation From the Renaissance to the Twentieth Century . Ed. Susan Shifrin. Aldershot, Eng.: Ashgate, 2002. 105-23.
• Oshio, Toshiko. “ Ophelia: Experience into Song .” Hamlet and Japan . Ed. Yoshiko Uéno. Hamlet Collection 2. New York: AMS, 1995. 131-42.
• Pennington, Michael. Hamlet: A User’s Guide . New York: Limelight Editions, 1996.
• Peterson, Kaara. “ Framing Ophelia: Representation and the Pictorial Tradition. ” Mosaic 31.3 (1998): 1-24.
• Philip, Ranjini. “ The Shattered Glass: The Story of (O)phelia. ” Hamlet Studies 13 (1991): 73-84.
• Roberts, Katherine. “ The Wandering Womb: Classical Medical Theory and the Formation of Female Characters in Hamlet . ” Classical and Modern Literature: A Quarterly 15 (1995): 223-32.
• Ronk, Martha C. “ Representations of Ophelia . ” Criticism 36 (1994): 21-43.
• Rosenberg, Marvin. The Masks of Hamlet . Newark: U of Delaware P, 1992.
• Simon, Bennett. “ Hamlet and the Trauma Doctors: An Essay at Interpretation .” American Imago 58.3 (Fall 2001): 707-22.
• Stanton, Kay. " Hamlet's Whores. " New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. Hamlet Collection 1. New York: AMS, 1994. 167-88.

Brooks, Jean R. “Hamlet and Ophelia as Lovers: Some Interpretations on Page and Stage.” Aligorh Critical Miscellany 4.1 (1991): 1-25. AUDIENCE RESPONSE / HAMLET / OPHELIA / PERFORMANCE This essay asserts that “Getting Ophelia right involves, by implication, Hamlet’s love relationship with her, and a re-examination of the question, in what sense they can be considered as ‘lovers’” (1). While literary scholars frequently get Ophelia wrong, actors and directors (e.g., Olivier, Jacobi) also make mistakes, such as altering the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy and negating textual evidence of Ophelia’s chastity. Actors also tend to stereotype Ophelia, whether as the “unchaste young woman” (e.g., West) (8) or as “more child than woman” (e.g., Mirren, McEwan, Tutin) (10). In actuality, the text purports “a well-disciplined Renaissance woman,” “a young woman, not a child, with her ‘chaste treasure unopen’d’ but at the peak of sexual attractiveness, because the key to the nunnery and play scenes lies in the difference between what the audience sees on stage and what Hamlet sees in his mind’s eye” (12-13). He projects “on to the innocent and—as the audience can see—unpainted Ophelia the disgust he feels at his mother’s sexual sins” (13) and the self-disgust he feels for inheriting “original sin” from his parents (14). But his ordering of her to a nunnery “suggests a kind of love that makes Hamlet wish to preserve Ophelia’s goodness untouched” (15). Ultimately, “it is Hamlet who rejects Ophelia, not Ophelia who rejects Hamlet” (15-16). But her “constant love gives positive counterweight, for the audience, to Hamlet’s too extreme obsession with the processes of corruption” (17). The “good that Ophelia’s constant love does for her lover, from beyond the grave, is to affirm his commitment to the human condition he had wished to deny” (21). Beside her grave, Hamlet belatedly testifies to his love for Ophelia, acknowledging “the good in human nature that Ophelia had lived for, and that Hamlet finally dies to affirm. Given the tragic unfulfilment of the human condition, could lovers do more for each other?” (23). [ top ] Dane, Gabrielle. “Reading Ophelia’s Madness.” Exemplaria 10 (1998): 405-23. FEMINISM / NEW HISTORICISM / OPHELIA Admittedly negotiating the simultaneous rationalization and preservation of insantiy, this article attempts to answer the important question of how to read Ophelia’s madness. Ophelia initially appears “shaped to conform to external demands, to reflect others desires” (406): she is Laertes’ “angel,” Polonius’ “commodity” (407), and Hamlet’s “spectre of his psychic fears” (410). While the conflicting messages from these male/masculine sources damage Ophelia’s psychological identity, their sudden absence provokes her mental destruction. Optimistically, Ophelia’s madness offers the capability of speech, the opportunity to discover individual identity, and the power to verbally undermine authority. A thorough analysis of Ophelia’s mad ramblings (and their mutual levels of meaning) provides “a singular exposé of society, of the turbulent reality beneath its surface veneer of calm” (418); but her words still suggest a fragmented self and provide others the opportunity to manipulate meanings that best suit them. Ophelia’s death is also open to interpretation. While the Queen describes “the accidental drowning of an unconsciously precocious child” (422), this article suggests that “Ophelia’s choice might be seen as the only courageous—indeed rational—death in Shakespeare’s bloody drama” (423). [ top ] DiMatteo, Anthony. “ Hamlet as Fable: Reconstructing a Lost Code of Meaning.” Connotations 6.2 (1996/1997): 158-79. HAMLET / HISTORY OF IDEAS / MYTHIC CRITICISM / OPHELIA This article explores how the “nexus” of Hamlet and mythic heroes “links with another analogy between fable and history that involves an unsettling convergence of spirits” (159), how Shakespeare’s audience perceived “the myths’ cognitive potential . . . to have great speculative power” (159-60), as well as how myths are “enlisted but also deeply called into question by Hamlet ” (160). A comparison of terminology, imagery, and plot between mythology and the play identifies parallels between Hamlet / Adonis / Orpheus / Vulcan / Aeneas / Hercules and Ophelia / Venus / Dido. While “classical points of contact” suggest a “symbolic coding and an implied range of meanings,” they also locate Hamlet “in a relationship to a specific audience or readership trained in academic recital and exegesis of Ovid and Virgil” (164). Due to the “hermeneutical traditions as they had come to evolve in the late Renaissance,” one must “read myth allusions in Hamlet not archetypically but stenographically” (165). For example, the “acquired double potential of myth allowing it to serve simultaneously as examples of human virtue and vice complexly connects in the play with Hamlet’s anxiety not only about his father’s apparition but also his own thoughts” (165). Is the Ghost a reliable source or “Vulcan (a daimon) forging his son (or a soul) into an agent of evil” (167)? Are Hamlet’s “imaginings” merely “misconceptions” or “the results of a moral contamination” (166)? The analogies between Hamlet’s experience and that of his mythic predecessors “indicate how Hamlet in plot, terms and phrases lingers over a whole range of ancient concerns through which late Renaissance culture both couched and covered over its own ambition and fears” (167-68). “Arguably,” Hamlet “stages the death not only of Hamlet but of the typically Renaissance belief in eloquence as some ultimate civilizing or enlightening process” (172). “The implied cleft between the miraculous possibilities posited in fable and the brute mortality of historical events in Denmark can also be sensed in the play if we consider the contrary influences of Ovid and Virgil upon the myths that the play takes up” (173): Hamlet seems “caught between the Virgilian sublime and Ovidian mutability” (173-74), and “Virgil’s permanent order and Ovid’s flux seem to vie for influence over the play” (174). “By bringing these parallelisms with figures from epic and fable to bear upon the history of Hamlet, the play acts out the tragic pathos that results when history and myth are implicitly revealed to be irreconcilable” (175). “The conflict of myth and history and of art and life is densely articulated through symbolic shorthand in Hamlet” (175). [ top ] Dunn, Leslie C. “Ophelia’s Song’s in Hamlet : Music, Madness, and the Feminine.” Embodied Voices: Representing Female Vocality in Western Culture . Ed. Leslie C. Dunn and Nancy A. Jones. New Perspectives in Music History and Criticism. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994. 50-64. FEMINISM / HISTORY OF IDEAS / MUSIC / OPHELIA This essay argues “that the representation of Ophelia’s madness involves a mapping of her sexual and psychological difference onto the discursive ‘difference’ of music” and that “this dramatic use of music reflects the broader discourse of music in early modern English culture, with its persistent associations between music, excess and the feminine” (52). Early modern British writers contend with “the conflicting ideologies of music inherited from Platonic and Christian thought”: music represents “the earthly embodiment of divine order,” but it also introduces “sensuous immediacy” and “semantic indeterminacy” (56). While Pythagorean harmony “is music in its positive or ‘masculine’ aspect,” music also possesses the capability of “cultural dissonance” in its “negative or ‘feminine’ aspect” (58). In Hamlet , singing allows Ophelia to become “both the literal and the figurative ‘dissonance’ that ‘expresses marginalities’” (59). Her representation “draws on gender stereotypes of the Elizabethan and Jacobean stage” and simultaneously dislocates them (60): “If Ophelia’s singing lets ‘the woman’ out, then, it does so in such a way as to problematize cultural constructions of women’s song, even while containing her within their re-presentation”; but her “disruptive feminine energy must be reabsorbed into both the social and the discursive orders of the play” (62). Gertrude’s description of Ophelia’s drowning “re-appropriates Ophelia’s music” and “aestheticizes her madness, makes it ‘pretty’” (63). Rather than dismiss Ophelia’s singing “as a conventional sign of madness,” critics should “acknowledge its significance” by “making her singing our subject” (64). [ top ] Fienberg, Nona. "Jephthah's Daughter: The Parts Ophelia Plays." Old Testament Women in Western Literature . Ed. Raymond-Jean Frontain and Jan Wojcit. Conway: UCA, 1991. 128-43. FEMINISM / GERTRUDE / NEW HISTORICISM / OPHELIA / THEOLOGICAL This essay explores "cultural resonances between the politically unstable time of Judges in Israel's history, the political confusion in Hamlet's Denmark, and the anxiety over succession in late-Elizabethan England" (133). While Jephthah's daughter and Ophelia share similarities, they also differ in an important way: the unnamed daughter is an obedient sacrifice, and Ophelia "develops from her status as a victim" to "an author of a potentially different story, a woman's story" (133-34). Ophelia comes to realize her subversive potential and, in a commanding oration about the weakening of Hamlet's "noble mind," laments the lose of her own political ambitions (135). But her madness empowers her with liberties, such as demanding a meeting with Gertrude. Once granted entrance, "she, like a wandering player, comes to hold a mirror up to the court" (136). Gone is her submissive voice, replaced by "a range of voices" (137). Ophelia now "commands attention" (137). Interestingly, her invasion of the court parallels Laertes' rebellious entrance: they have "competing political claims, his assertive and explicit, hers subversive and encoded in mad woman's language" (137). Because her songs "introduce the protesting voice of oppressed women in society" through the veils of a ballad culture, Ophelia is not understood by her male audience; but her "rebellion against the double standard and its oppression of women arouses fear in Gertrude, who understands" (138). When the Queen reports Ophelia's drowning, she insists "on her time and the attention of the plotting men" (138). Her description portrays "a woman who draws her understanding of her world from women's culture" (139). The Queen, "perhaps like Jephthah's daughter's maiden friends, returned from temporary exile to interpret the meaning of the sacrificed daughter's life" (140). [ top ] Fike, Matthew A. “Gertrude’s Mermaid Allusion.” On Page and Stage: Shakespeare in Polish and World Culture . Ed. Krystyna Kujawinska Courtney. Kraków: Towarzystwo Autorów, 2000. 259-75. [Originally printed in the-hard-to-find B. A. S.: British and American Studies 2 (1999): 15-25.] HAMLET / MYTHIC CRITICISM / NEW HISTORICISM / OPHELIA This essay proposes that “the mermaid allusion—a powerful nexus of mythological and folk material—enables a new perspective on Gertrude’s speech and the play” (259). Gertrude’s description of Ophelia as “mermaidlike” (4.7.176) in the drowning report “evokes a whole tradition from Homer’s sirens to mermaid references in Shakespeare’s own time” because sirens and mermaids were conflated (and “interchangeable”) by the Elizabethan period (260-61). While the Christian Church linked “both images to the temptations of the flesh” (261), natural histories, literary works, travel literature, popular ballads, and reports of “actual mermaid sightings” all contributed to Elizabethan’s perception of a mermaid (262): “eternally youthful,” “beautiful,” embodying “the mystery of the ocean,” and possessing an “alluring” song (263). Although “the first lines of Gertrude’s speech do have unmistakable resonances with mermaid lore” (265) and “mermaid lore supports the possibility that being spurned by Hamlet may be a cause of both madness and suicide" (266), “it is her [Ophelia’s] divergence from the myth that is significant” (264). For example, legend held that a mortal male could trick a mermaid into marriage by stealing her cap; but, in Hamlet , the pattern “is reversed”: Hamlet gives Ophelia “tokens of their betrothal” which she returns to him in the nunnery scene (264). The implication is that Ophelia “is not a mermaid shackled to a mortal husband because of a trick, but instead a young woman who knows her own mind and frankly brings the symbolism of her relationship into harmony with the loss of emotional warmth” (364). Rather than a derogatory description of a chaste Ophelia, the mermaid allusion “echoes a native folk tradition of misogynistic insecurity” (267) and “participates in Hamlet ’s larger image pattern of prostitution and sexuality” (268). In addition, the mermaid’s human/beast duality “suggests not only the danger of feminine seductiveness (Ophelia, Gertrude) but also the rational call (Horatio) to epic duty (the ghost)”—symbolically merging the two extremes that Hamlet struggles with in the play (270). [ top ] Findlay, Alison. " Hamlet : A Document in Madness." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. Hamlet Collection 1. New York: AMS, 1994. 189-205. FEMINISM / HAMLET / OPHELIA / RHETORICAL By focusing on Hamlet and Ophelia, this essay examines "how gender dictates access to a language with which to cope with mental breakdown" and considers "how madness produces and is produced by a fragmentation of discourse" (189). The death of Old Hamlet marks the unraveling of language's "network of close knit meanings and signs" in Denmark (191). In this atmosphere, Hamlet and Ophelia "are threatened with mental breakdowns, rendering their need to define their experiences and re-define themselves particularly acute" (192). Hamlet attempts a "self-cure" to deal with his mental instability (192): he "uses his control over the written word to empower himself in emotionally disturbing situations"; examples include Hamlet's letters to Ophelia, Horatio, and Claudius, his forged orders to England, and his rewriting of The Murder of Gonzago (193). Hamlet discovers "a verbal and theatrical metalanguage with which to construct and contain the experience of insanity" (196), but Ophelia "does not have the same means for elaborating a delirium as a man" (197). She possesses "very limited access to any verbal communication with which to unpack her heart" before her father's death (199). After his passing, Ophelia is confronted "with an unprecedented access to language which is both liberating and frightening" (200). Her songs "are in the same mode as Hamlet's adaptation, The Mousetrap , and his use of ballad (III.ii.265-78); but, unlike Hamlet, she will not act as a chorus" (201). Also, she "cannot analyze her trauma" the way that he does (200). In the context of other Renaissance women dealing with insanity (e.g., Dionys Fitzherbert, Margaret Muschamp, Mary, Moore), Ophelia's experience of "trying to find a voice in the play" seems "a model for the difficulties facing Renaissance women writers" (202). [ top ] Finkelstein, Richard. “Differentiating Hamlet : Ophelia and the Problems of Subjectivity.” Renaissance and Reformation 21.2 (Spring 1997): 5-22. FEMINISM / HAMLET / OPHELIA / PSYCHOANALYTIC This essay explores how “Shakespeare uses Ophelia to expose an interplay between culture, epistemology, and psychology which constructs Hamlet’s heroic subjectivity, itself understood through his logic, development, and actions informed by agency” (6). Hamlet and Ophelia are similar in various ways, including their “fashioning a sense of interiority” (6). But they also differ. For example, Hamlet “goes out of its way to disassociate her [Ophelia’s] epistemological habits from the empirical exactitude Hamlet seeks” (11). Ophelia “signifies knowledge which cannot be known with certainty” (10). According to “contemporary French feminism, the opposition of Claudius, Horatio, Fortinbras, and Hamlet (prior to his fifth act embrace of providence) to Ophelia’s manner of signifying cannot be separated from challenges female bodies pose to gendered concepts of fixed subjectivity” (13). Yet Ophelia’s “disjointed speeches do not define a feminine language so much as they interrogate the related economies of object relations and a readiness to act which mark Hamlet’s ‘developed’ subjectivity in the play” (14). The uncertainties of Ophelia’s death “also raise questions about whether agency itself can define subjectivity” (15). While agency and intention “do not function efficiently for either Hamlet or Ophelia,” the play allows “more than one means of defining subjectivity” (17). Through Ophelia, “the play interrogates its own longings, and its participation in defining subjectivity” (18). [ top ] Floyd-Wilson, Mary. “Ophelia and Femininity in the Eighteenth Century: 'Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds.'” Women’s Studies 21 (1992): 397-409. FEMINISM / NEW HISTORICISM / OPHELIA / RECEPTION THEORY This article contends that “by the late eighteenth century, the era’s evolving notions of gender and the paradoxical effects of censorship actually infused representations of Ophelia with ‘erotic and discordant elements’” (397). Performance reviews and the script from William Davenant’s revival of Hamlet present the Prince as the ideal and honorable hero, Ophelia as the ideal woman, and their relationship as (the ideal) romance. Such changes from the original source are made possible through the deletion of dialogue: Laertes’ cautioning of Ophelia about Hamlet’s intentions, Polonius’ directing of Ophelia to withdraw from Hamlet’s suit, Ophelia’s replies to Hamlet’s sexual innuendoes, and Ophelia’s most bawdy lines in the mad scene. The final product is a sexually unaware and innocent Ophelia, but this shadow of Shakespeare’s character “combines the residual (though censored) sexual awareness of the Renaissance with an emerging ideal of the inherently pure and moral female” (402). Almost a century later, David Garrick introduced large production changes, including modifications to endow Ophelia with the “natural” feminine qualities valued in his own period: “passivity and emotionalism” (403). His Ophelia actor, Susannah Cibber, initiated the “femininity”’ in Ophelia. The contrasts between the two productions of Hamlet and the social periods suggest that the eighteenth century’s censorship “helped turn sex into a secret—synonymous with truth—resulting in the modern desire to release it from its ‘repressive’ constraints” (407). [ top ] Fox-Good, Jacquelyn A. “Ophelia’s Mad Songs: Music, Gender, Power.” Subjects on the World’s Stage: Essays on British Literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance . Ed. David C. Allen and Robert A. White. Newark: U of Delaware P, 1995. 217-38. FEMINISM / MUSIC / NEW HISTORICISM / OPHELIA After discussing the study of Shakespearean music, this essay approaches the words and music of Ophelia’s mad songs as “constituting her own story, using her own voice for her own grief, and for rage and protest” (222). In the historical context of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, music is associated with madness, a “female malady” to borrow Showalter’s phrase (231-32). Aside from the subversive power of music, this medium’s identification with the female/effeminate creates “fear, which led many writers of the period to issue strong warnings against the dangers of music and music education” (232). Ophelia’s songs end her dutiful silence and “constitute her character” (233). “Specifically, in their melodies, harmonies, tempos, and generally in the bodily power of their music, her songs are expressions of loss and emptiness but also of a specifically female power” (233). Ophelia’s assertion of “her power in music makes music a kind of secret code, a deceptively ‘pretty’ language”; music “is nothing (nothing but all things); it is noting; it is to be noted, and reckoned with” (234). [ top ] Hamana, Emi. “Whose Body Is It, Anyway?—A re-Reading of Ophelia.” Hamlet and Japan . Ed. Yoshiko Uéno. Hamlet Collection 2. New York: AMS, 1995. 143-54. FEMINISM / HISTORY OF IDEAS / OPHELIA According to this article, although Hamlet “treats the question of the female body through masculine ideologies and fantasies,” the text is “not a closed, monolithic structure,” as is demonstrated by the contradictions discussed in this essay (143). A brief examination of Christian tradition and Cartesian dualism explains the Elizabethan tendencies towards misogyny and somatophobia (143). In Hamlet , Gertrude’s sinful lust is punished by the objectification and de-sexualization of the body, but the innocent and puppet-like Ophelia also “suffers a series of patriarchal oppressions” (145). While the mad scene follows the “Renaissance theatrical convention” and “the masculine assumption” of “mad women as erotomaniacs,” it also “has a subversive dimension”: “It invites us to rethink the conceptualization and representation of the female body” with contradictions that “question patriarchal ideology” (146). Ophelia’s madness disrupts the play’s dynamics (146), and “grants her autonomy as a subject” (147); most importantly, it shows “the dualism of mind and body,” not as binary opposites but as “inseparably related” (147-148). This “embodying of the mind” (149) contrasts sharply with Hamlet’s aspirations of “separating the masculine mind (reason) from the feminine body” (148). In the drowning report, the similar merger of “mind/body and subject/object” “represents a different kind of female body: not a fixed entity but a mutable structure” (151). Ophelia “revolts against those forces that shape her textual boundary,” “destabilizes patriarchal control, and resists masculine fantasy of order and universalization” (152). [ top ] Harris, Arthur John. “Ophelia’s ‘Nothing’: ‘It is the false steward that stole his master’s daughter.’” Hamlet Studies 19.1-2 (Summer-Winter 1997): 20-46. AUDIENCE RESPONSE / OPHELIA / OPHELIA'S MURDER(ER) While exploring what J. Max Patrick calls “the ‘erotic estimate’ of Ophelia,” this essay argues that audiences “are to suspect Claudius himself as the principle cause of Ophelia’s madness and death; specifically, that at some point shortly before her madness there has been a liaison between the two, that she has been sexually abused, and that he has been not only the sexual predator but also the one who ‘dispatched’ (1.5.75) Ophelia to her grave” (21). In Hamlet , Shakespeare creates “a world that one senses is somehow thoroughly contaminated” and a pervasive “sense of uncertainty, suspicion, and doubt” (22). The ambiguity surrounding Ophelia contributes to this aesthetic project. For example, the “sexually suggestive language” of her mad songs (e.g., tricks , hems , beats , spurns ) encourages audiences to “suspect misfortune” (24). In addition, her statement, “It is the false steward that stole his master’s daughter” (4.5.171-72), strongly implicates the King as the thief. Upon hearing these words, Laertes suspects “This nothing’s more than matter” (4.5.173). But the King, Ophelia’s frequent interrupter, attributes Ophelia’s behavior to excessive grief. In actuality, the mad scene presents evidence that Ophelia has been sexually abused by the King (31). Further proof appears in “the curious (and obvious) stress upon sexual imagery” in Gertrude’s report of Ophelia’s drowning (35), the gravedigger’s exposition on the uncertainty of the death and cryptic ballad (which seems intentionally altered from the original to raise suspicions), and the priest’s oddly timed stress on Ophelia’s chastity. Perhaps “the formation of suspicions—without sufficient evidence as proof—is exactly what Shakespeare intends to elicit” (24). But, while Horatio is responsible for telling Hamlet’s story, audiences are responsible for “‘hearing’ Ophelia’s story” (42). [ top ] Hassel, R. Chris, Jr. “Painted Women: Annunciation Motifs in Hamlet .” Comparative Drama 32 (1998): 47-84. ART / HAMLET / NEW HISTORICISM / OPHELIA / THEOLOGICAL After exploring the representations of Annunciation in art and religion, this essay argues “that Hamlet’s parodies and distortions of a rich array of traditional Annunciation motifs are set ironically but not didactically against his tendency to trust his own reason and to assert his own will against the inscrutable will of God” (58). The nunnery scene, with Ophelia manipulated into the posturing of a pseudo Mary, merits intense focus. For example, the curtains that Claudius and Polonius hide behind are, by the late sixteenth century, “quite commonly a part of Annunciation iconography” (63). Such “distorted and parodied Annunciation motifs inform the impossible miracles that Hamlet demands of Ophelia and Gertrude, his maid and his mother,” as only Mary can fulfill both roles chastely (67). While evidence in the text suggests Ophelia’s virginity, the maid is “only a poor imitation of the thing itself,” of Mary (73): she is “a victim rather than a hero,” “used, manipulated, betrayed” (72). Hamlet too is unlike Mary due to “his distrust of God’s Providence” (73) and his rejection of “the traditional Christian scheme of fall and redemption” (74). Although Hamlet “is never painted simply in Mary’s image” (76), he “is moving at the end of the play, inexorably if also inconsistently, towards letting be, ‘rest’ in a ‘silence,’ a wisdom, of Marian humility” (77). [ top ] Jenkins, Ronald Bradford. “The Case Against the King: The Family of Ophelia vs. His Majesty King Claudius of Denmark.” Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 17.3-4 (Aug. 1996): 206-18. CLAUDIUS / LAW / OPHELIA / OPHELIA'S MURDER(ER) Narrated by the attorney representing Ophelia’s family, this essay presents the jurors (a.k.a. readers) with evidence that King Claudius seduced, impregnated, and murdered Ophelia. First, the prosecution establishes the King’s character for the court: Claudius is capable of murdering his brother, of plotting to kill his nephew/son-in-law, and of seducing his sister-in-law/wife. Although Ophelia is praised by several respected “character witnesses” (e.g., Campbell, Vischer, Coleridge, Johnson, Hazlitt, Jameson) (208), evidence emerges that Ophelia was not a chaste virgin. For example, Polonius and Laertes feel the need to warn Ophelia about protecting her chastity, and, in response to their cautions, “Her lack of indignation is puzzling” (209). According to the prosecution, Ophelia’s lack of chastity leads to her impregnation by Claudius. Hamlet and Gertrude learn about the scandalous pregnancy, and both shun the young girl. But Ophelia and her unborn child pose threats to the throne. Adopting the disguise of madness (like Hamlet), Ophelia uses sing-song ramblings and symbolic flowers to accuse her seducer. Claudius responds by ordering two men to follow her, and then she suddenly drowns, “accidentally.” Aside from the Queen’s enthusiasm to report the death of her rival, the description of events reveals that Ophelia’s garland was another attempt to accuse Claudius with symbolic flowers; also, the cumbersome clothes that drown Ophelia seem out of place for the warm season but appropriate for the concealment of her pregnancy. Aware of the unborn child, the church grudgingly provides a grave-side service for the unwed mother. In closing arguments, the attorney articulates Claudius’ motives for murdering Ophelia and “begs simply that justice be done” (218). [ top ] Lamb, Susan. �Applauding Shakespeare�s Ophelia in the Eighteenth Century: Sexual Desire, Politics, and the Good Woman.� Women as Sites of Culture: Women�s Roles in Cultural Formation From the Renaissance to the Twentieth Century . Ed. Susan Shifrin. Aldershot, Eng.: Ashgate, 2002. 105-23. FEMINISM / OPHELIA / RECEPTION THEORY Focusing upon Restoration and eighteenth-century treatments of Ophelia�s sexual nature, this study proposes that early Ophelias �reveal the dark side of the assumption that open expressions of sexual desire and freedom from oppression are one and the same thing�; they also �demonstrate the way in which an exclusive focus on women�s sexuality can in fact erase or obscure the place and influence of women in the public sphere� (106). According to the �surprisingly generous� �records concerning Ophelia in the long eighteenth century,� Ophelia �repeatedly appear[ed] on stage in the century�s most popular Shakespeare play,� and �she and characters based on her had a consistent place in the period�s critical commentary, poetry, novels, illustrations and paintings. Until the end of the eighteenth century, critics and adaptors alike considered her crucial to Hamlet and the most prominent actresses of the age [. . .] played the part (107). Although some critics argue that the deletion of Ophelia�s �bawdy lines� in stage performances reflects �a campaign to de-sexualize Ophelia because she is female,� �adaptors cut sexually explicit language in general, not just in the mouths of women,� and the �common practice in the eighteenth century [was] to gentrify Shakespeare�s more socially-elevated characters� (110). In addition, various unabridged �scholarly editions of Shakespeare�s works appeared in the eighteenth century and were eagerly consumed by the public,� allowing theatergoers to imagine lines missing during Hamlet performances (112). As for Ophelia�s sexuality, eighteenth-century medical and social attitudes held that �a love-mad woman�s sexual desire was not what was considered sick about her�; the �lack of gratification rather than the desire itself caused the insanity�; a �madwoman,� such as Ophelia, �loved according to the strictest rules of propriety and virtue� (108). �Ophelia and Ophelia figures� actually liberated �writers, painters and actresses� from strict social �paradigms,� enabling �what the period thought to be natural, virtuous, and virginal desire in a woman to be visible to spectators� (117). But in focusing on her sexuality, the period�s �readers, writers, performers, painters, audiences and critics [. . .] suppressed the political, familial, and social ramifications of the original character�s madness� (117). �It is not woman�s sexual desire but the place of women in the social and political web that is problematic. Ophelia�s position as the daughter of a powerful courtier, the lover of the Prince who kills her father, the sister of a man with considerable political power, and as a woman whose speech in madness has political implications for her hearers is lost in what has become a long-term focus on her sexuality� (117). [ top ] Oshio, Toshiko. “Ophelia: Experience into Song.” Hamlet and Japan . Ed. Yoshiko Uéno. Hamlet Collection 2. New York: AMS, 1995. 131-42. MUSIC / OPHELIA / RHETORICAL This essay contrasts Ophelia’s “inability to express herself by means of words” (131) with her expressiveness and impressiveness “in her singing” (132). Ophelia first appears to possess “a degree of wit, not unlike Hamlet’s opening puns” (132) and an “earnest truthfulness” in her exchanges with Laertes and Polonius (133). Her description of Hamlet’s madness to Polonius reveals “dashing eloquence,” attention to detail, and a compulsion to tell all, “even though she may be extremely frightened” (133). As “a mere puppet” in the nunnery scene, Ophelia’s “words do not sound like her own,” and “Hamlet’s vicious attack” leaves her “split in twain or, even three” (134). But her soliloquy at the end of the scene reasserts her straightforwardness, as she disregards the audience behind the arras (135). Unfortunately, Ophelia fails to act, to fully express herself, or “to defend her relation with Hamlet in the first scene”: “By internalizing her grief, she breaks into madness” (135). She now finds release in songs that present “a range of different images, sharply contrasted one to another, from innocent or sacrificial victim to experienced whore” (136). During “these alternate tones of joy and despair Ophelia pours out her inner thoughts and feelings” (139). Fittingly, Ophelia dies singing, expressing herself in a powerful mode. The sheer “profusion of her songs is unrivaled in Shakespeare’s tragedies” and “contrasts keenly with the sparingness of her speech,” suggesting that this “character is represented fully in songs. Shakespeare made her entire being lyrical” (141). [ top ] Pennington, Michael. Hamlet: A User’s Guide . New York: Limelight Editions, 1996. CLAUDIUS / GERTRUDE / GHOST / HAMLET / HORATIO / OPHELIA / PERFORMANCE / POLONIUS Framed by introductory and concluding chapters that narrate personal experience as well as insight, this monograph “is only in the slightest sense a history of productions”—“really imitating a rehearsal” (22). The first chapter focuses on the action by following the script “line by line” in the style of “a naive telling of the story” which can “often provoke a discovery” (22). As in “most productions,” the “script” is an “accumulated version”: a combination of elements “from the Second Quarto and the Folio and any number of later versions, with occasional mischievous forays into the First (‘Bad’) Quarto” (24). Act and scene designations are replaced by days to avoid confusion and “to draw attention to the fact that, while five separate days of action are presented, Shakespeare’s manipulation of ‘double time’ is so skilled that you can believe that several months have passed by between the beginning and the end” (23). The chapter on Hamlet ’s characters comes second because one should not “make assumptions about character until the action proves them” (22). Characters are approached in groups, such as “The Royal Triangle” (Claudius/the Ghost/Gertrude) and “The Commoners” (players/gravediggers/priest). Then attention shifts to Hamlet. After discussing the demands of casting and rehearsing the role of Hamlet, the second chapter describes the excitement of opening night and the energizing relationship an actor shares with the audience. Although challenging, playing the role of Hamlet “will verify you: you will never be quite the same again” (193). [ top ] Peterson, Kaara. “Framing Ophelia: Representation and the Pictorial Tradition.” Mosaic 31.3 (1998): 1-24. ART / FEMINISM / NEW HISTORICISM / OPHELIA This essay strives “to position Ophelia’s dual representational history more precisely within both art-historical and dramatic-critical frameworks” (2). While eighteenth-century Shakespearean painters generally limited Ophelia to the unstressed presence of a group, the mid-nineteenth-century artists increasingly focused on the moments of Ophelia’s drowning. Interestingly, the original source of this scene is presented as a second-hand account of events, reducing Gertrude’s narrative to a “ventriloquized history” (8). Regardless of textual authority, visual artists consistently use standard conventions of Ophelia’s death scene (e.g., dress, flowers, water) from the nineteenth century to the present. According to the work of Elisabeth Bronfen, the merger of the feminine body and death threaten masculinity with “radical instability” (18); hence, visual artists prevent their Ophelias from looking truly dead. Ironically, the image of Ophelia, “a Shakespeare-brand product,” is currently being misapplied to unrelated materials (e.g., souvenirs, CD covers)—creating “an issue precisely of non-referentiality ” (20). After arguing that Ophelia’s literary and visual bodies converge, this article concludes that “Ophelia’s complete story” can only be discerned from the original source, the text (22-23). [ top ] Philip, Ranjini. “The Shattered Glass: The Story of (O)phelia.” Hamlet Studies 13 (1991): 73-84. FEMINISM / OPHELIA This article proposes that Ophelia’s story “anticipates Gilbert and Gubar’s analysis of the way to achieve an integrated self transcending the dichotomy” of good and bad women (73). Ophelia initially appears as a “nothing” and has been critically viewed as a “negative nothing” (74), but she “moves to a greater, though incomplete, reconciliation of self” (75): her madness liberates her voice and sexuality; and, as an assertion of will, her suicide “is an act that confronts disillusionment, madness, and death” (80). Unlike Gertrude (who cannot look at Hamlet’s mirror), Ophelia meets and momentarily merges with her reflection/double in the surface of the water. She metaphorically shatters the glass, as Gilbert and Gubar prescribe. Her resultant death suggests Shakespeare’s understanding of his Elizabethan audience and of its perceptions of the female/feminine. Ophelia’s death leads to the climactic confrontation among the males and allows her to fulfill the role of “mythic heroine” (81). The story of Ophelia then “is one of nobility and heroism, of self-awareness and self-integration” (81). [ top ] Roberts, Katherine. “The Wandering Womb: Classical Medical Theory and the Formation of Female Characters in Hamlet .” Classical and Modern Literature: A Quarterly 15 (1995): 223-32. FEMINISM / GERTRUDE / NEW HISTORICISM / OPHELIA This essay approaches wombsickness (a.k.a. hysteria) as a “condition, described early in patriarchal Western culture, [which] has been a literary motif from classical to modern literature” (223). Evidence spanning from Greek medical theories to the doctrines of sixteenth-century physicians testifies to the belief that the female womb has physiological needs (e.g., sexual intercourse); left unmet, these demands result in hysteria. Simultaneously, stringent social codes of the Renaissance restricted female sexuality. A patriarchal culture defined women—socially and medically—by their relationships to men. Ophelia and Gertrude suffer classic symptoms of wombsickness. As a young girl of marriageable age and emotional instability, Ophelia is a prime candidate for wombsickness. She has been mentally and physically preparing herself for marriage/sex with Hamlet; but in the loss of all male figures to guide and support her, Ophelia becomes “completely vulnerable to her own femaleness” (229). Gertrude also suffers symptoms of hysteria, according to Hamlet’s account of “a woman whose physiology apparently required frequent intercourse” (230). In the absence of her original husband to sate and govern her sexual energies, Gertrude is easily seduced, and her disorderly behavior damages the society. As “her natural guardian,” Hamlet must intervene to “constrain her”—hence the closet scene (231). While Gertrude properly responds to his chastising by transferring her allegiance from Claudius to Hamlet, and in a sense recovering from her wombsickness, it is too late to prevent the destruction of the throne’s inhabitants. This article makes no definitive claims about Shakespeare’s intentions but notes that Renaissance literature “reflects and reinforces” previously developed concepts of women, bringing “those concepts into the twentieth century” (232). [ top ] Ronk, Martha C. “Representations of Ophelia .” Criticism 36 (1994): 21-43. ART / GERTRUDE / NEW HISTORICISM / OPHELIA / PSYCHOANALYTIC Perceiving Ophelia as a mix of emblem and the projection of others, this dense article sets out to discover what Ophelia’s “representation represents” by focusing on the report of her drowning (23). Emblematic and allegorical characteristics of the speech reveal some insight into Ophelia—the means particular to a historical period when “the emblematic was a received mode of perceiving the world” (27). But like emblem books of the period, the combination of the visual and verbal still leaves much unarticulated. Another component in the speech is the speaker, Queen Gertrude, who becomes an appropriate substitute for Ophelia based on their shared gender and roles within the patriarchy. While Gertrude offers a “dispassionate description” of the drowning (29), she also becomes linked to Ophelia’s passive volition. The questioning of Gertrude’s involvement in Ophelia’s death (and Hamlet Sr.’s) provides reiteration of an insistent question within the play: “what it means not to know what is going on” (31). As Gertrude “leisurely relates” Ophelia’s demise, this ekphrastic moment presents a brief “stillness” within the play before the plot rushes to tragic fulfillment (32). The resulting ramifications elicit contemplation from the audience and move Ophelia “out of narrative and into some ‘cosmic order’” (34). As emblem (and myth) Ophelia possesses the capacity to arouse fear, referring to Freud’s “The Uncanny.” Her “ekphrastic presence” implies “the impossibility of more than seeing what the viewer ‘could not have seen’ . . . to an audience intent on viewing what is not there” (38). [ top ] Rosenberg, Marvin. The Masks of Hamlet. Newark: U of Delaware P, 1992. AUDIENCE RESPONSE / CLAUDIUS / GERTRUDE / GHOST / HAMLET / HORATIO / LAERTES / OPHELIA / PERFORMANCE / POLONIUS Combining literary scholarship with interpretive performances, this monograph promises "a way to listen to and grasp the complex tones of Hamlet and the other characters" (x). Chapters follow the chronological order of the play, pausing to "discuss the important characters as they appear" (12). For example, the first chapter explores the opening scene's setting and events, as well as the variations staged in performances; the examination of this scene is briefly suspended for chapters on Horatio and the Ghost but continues in chapter four. This monograph clarifies dilemmas and indicates "the choices that have been made by actors and critics," but its actor-readers must decide for themselves (xi): "I believe this book will demonstrate that each actor-reader of you who engages with Hamlet's polyphony will uniquely experience the tones that fit your own polyphony" (x). [ top ] Simon, Bennett. “ Hamlet and the Trauma Doctors: An Essay at Interpretation.” American Imago 58.3 (Fall 2001): 707-22. AUDIENCE RESPONSE / HAMLET / OPHELIA / PSYCHOANALYTIC After reviewing “several broad trends in the history of interpretation of the play” and locating “within those trends some dominant themes in psychoanalytic interpretation,” this essay offers a “late-twentieth-century psychoanalytic interpretation—both of Hamlet and Hamlet—based on trauma theory” (707). Trauma research provides insights pertinent to Hamlet : trauma victims often experience oscillations between numbness and overwhelming emotions, difficulty distinguishing between reality and fantasy, “a sense of unreality,” a sense that the “self and the world become loathsome,” a thirsting for revenge or scapegoat, and “a profound mistrust of the future” as well as of other people (e.g., family members, friends) (712). But “secrecy associated with a trauma is especially devastating” because secrets “combined with confusion about fact and fantasy often lead to incomplete or fragmented narratives”; “a story that cannot be told directly in narrative discourse finds expression through displacement, symbolization, and action” (713). In Hamlet , the protagonist’s trauma derives from his first encounter with the Ghost, which leaves Hamlet “both certain and uncertain” of his father’s death, his uncle’s responsibility, and his mother’s involvement (714). Following this meeting, Hamlet mutely expresses his story in Ophelia’s closet (717). His madness (perhaps more real than even Hamlet realizes) “is a symptom of the ‘feigning’ and deceit around him,” such as Claudius’ secrecy and Ophelia’s seeming betrayal (715). In comparison, Ophelia experiences various traumas, including “a web of half-truths, paternal attempts to deny her perceptions,” the loss of “male protection” (716), the secrecy surrounding her father’s murder (and her lover’s responsibility), as well as “the impossibility of any kind of open grieving or raging—let alone discussion” (715-16). While her “ feelings are consistently ignored and she is silenced ,” Ophelia’s madness “is focused on her speaking in such a way that she cannot be ignored” (715). In this “aura of a traumatized environment,” the theater audience must “live with a discomforting set of ambiguities” that Horatio’s promised narrative cannot entirely clarify (717). [ top ] Stanton, Kay. "Hamlet's Whores." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. Hamlet Collection 1. New York: AMS, 1994. 167-88. FEMINISM / GERTRUDE / HAMLET / LAERTES / OPHELIA This interpretation explores all the variations of whore-dom in Hamlet . The women are not the only ones prostituted. Like Ophelia, Hamlet is "'whored' by the father": "The older generation incestuously prostitutes the innocence of the younger" (169). Further examples include Polonius prostituting Laertes and Reynaldo with plans of spying and Claudius, the "symbolic father," similarly misusing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (169). But the victims are not entirely innocent either. Hamlet "whores" the theater and its actors--"his great love"--by perverting artistic purpose and integrity (173), and the play-within-the-play "whores him as he has whored it, making him no longer one of the innocent, but one of the 'guilty creatures' at and in the play" (185). Laertes misuses his favorite pastime, fencing, to destroy his perceived enemy (180). The duel, "a gruesome perversion of the sex act" complete with phalluses and pudendum (181), leaves a dying Hamlet to whore Horatio, Fortinbras to whore Hamlet's story, and a new "bawd" to reestablish the patriarchy (182). Because these males insist on a binary opposition between genders, ever fearing womanly characteristics within themselves, they project their "whorishness" onto female targets, covering over masculine violence (178). The closet scene exemplifies this technique: after Hamlet murders Polonius, Gertrude's "supposed sin is made to overshadow his actual sin and somehow to justify it" (179). Only in death does Ophelia escape the whore image, but she becomes the "worshipped Madonna as Hamlet and Laertes can then safely whore their own self-constructed images of pure love for her as rationale for violence against each other" (179). The whoring consumes the play, as Hamlet "'whores' Hamlet the prince to be the organ for its art" (183). [ top ]

The Relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is by all means a troubled young man. He seeks revenge for the murder of his father and has to deal with the incestuous relationship between his mother and uncle. In order to hide his motives, he pretends to be mad. Is it under such circumstances possible for him to return Ophelia’s feelings for him?

And in what way does Hamlet’s struggle with himself affect Ophelia? This paper deals with the relationship between the characters of Hamlet and Ophelia. More specifically, it tries to find an answer to the question whether or not Hamlet loves Ophelia and how this is connected with his actions throughout the play that ultimately lead to her death. 2. Body 2. 1 “I did love you once” – How Hamlet shows affection That Ophelia is in love with Hamlet is rather clear and undoubted throughout the play.

And there are many reasons to believe that Hamlet feels similar about her. In Ophelia’s first dialogue with Polonius, she tells him how Hamlet has made “tenders/ Of his affection” to her. This must have taken place sometime before the play starts, before Hamlet learns of the murder of his father and decides to feign madness and is therefore likely to be a true act of affection. Even stronger and clearer his Hamlet’s declaration of his love for Ophelia in Act 5, Scene 1, at Ophelia’s burial.

He verbally attacks (and physically struggles) with Laertes, actually claiming that he loved Ophelia and that “forty thousand brothers/ Could not with all their quantity of love/ Make up [his] sum. ”This is a true outbreak of passion by the phlegmatic Hamlet, to attack a man he respects (“That is Laertes, a very noble youth. ”) and whose father died at his hands. 2. 2 “I loved you not” – Hamlet’s denial Although he claims to love Ophelia, no one in the play is crueler to her than Hamlet.

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. So, Hamlet hurts Ophelia as much as he confesses his love, how can he do that if he truly loves her?

All those encounters with Ophelia happen under unfortunate conditions. Claudius’s test takes place right after Hamlet delivers his ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy , voicing suicidal thoughts. Additionally, he cannot be honest with Ophelia as he must know of her obedience to her father Polonius and has to maintain his madness-cover. With regard to this, one could argue that Ophelia joining a nunnery would keep her safe and away from the court, as Hamlet does not and cannot know how his plans for revenge will play out.

His hostile attitude towards her can thus be seen as an attempt to alienate her, again, to have her out of the way for his more imminent goal of avenging the murder of his father. 2. 3 “This is I, Hamlet the Dane” – Why Hamlet is responsible for Ophelia’s death If it was Hamlet’s goal to alienate Ophelia in order to keep her safe, he absolutely fails in that respect. She seems to have accepted her father’s theory that the cause for Hamlet’s madness is her, that he is “Mad for [her] love” so that instead of turning away from him, she feels sorry for him. She believes to have lost Hamlet to madness, reversing the effect intended y him. To make things worse, she loses him also physically when he is sent to England as a result of him killing Polonius, her beloved father. Now bereft of two dearly loved persons, her mind cannot cope with the loss and she drifts into madness. 3. Conclusion The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is certainly one of the most tragic aspects of the play and full of bitter irony . Hamlet is disgusted by the impurity and falseness of mankind in general and the gentry he is part of specifically, yet he destroys the life and sanity of the most pure and innocent character in the play.

When he seems to finally have found insight, he speaks his wisdom on life and death over the grave of his love for whose madness and death he is responsible for without being able to acknowledge it. Hamlet loves Ophelia. But in his inner struggle with his melancholy and inability to act, he sees it necessary to sacrifice his love for his revenge with disastrous consequences.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Hamlet — Comparison Between Hamlet And Ophelia

Comparison Between Hamlet and Ophelia

• Categories: Hamlet

About this sample

Words: 494 |

Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 494 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Karlyna PhD

Verified writer

• Expert in: Literature

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3.5 pages / 1683 words

2 pages / 1209 words

5 pages / 2049 words

1.5 pages / 763 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Hamlet

The ultimate stage of revenge is delayed when Hamlet goes into exile following Polonius's murder. During his absence, Hamlet's lover, Ophelia, goes mad and tragically drowns (Shakespeare 17). However, Hamlet eventually returns [...]

In conclusion, Hamlet is a masterpiece of literature and theater, endowed with numerous layers of meaning and exploration. Through our examination of the character of Hamlet, the play's themes and motifs, its symbolism and [...]

William Shakespeare's play Hamlet is a timeless classic that has captured the hearts of audiences around the world for centuries. The play's protagonist, Hamlet, is a complex and multi-dimensional character, whose significance [...]

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor. London: Arden Shakespeare, 2006. Print.Frye, Northrop. "The Mythos of Autumn." Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Laurie Lanzen Harris, vol. 4, Gale, 1986, pp. [...]

"This above all, to thine own self be true" (1.3.88). As Polonius offers this advice to his departing son Laertes, he also states one of the defining principles of the philosophical branch known collectively as existentialism. A [...]

William Shakespeare's Hamlet (1600-01), regarded by many scholars and critics as his finest play, is based on the story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, which first appeared in the Historia Danica, a Latin text by the [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Hamlet and Ophelia Relationship

How it works

Revenge is an emotion that everyone will feel at some point in their life because it is natural. The article Payback Time: Why Revenge Tastes So Sweet, by Benedict Carey, explains why humans feel the need for revenge, and how it brings them happiness and a feeling of completeness. According to Carey in his article, “Using brain-wave technology, Dr. Eddie Harmon-Jones… has found that when people are insulted, they show a burst of activity in the left prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that is also active when people prepare to satisfy hunger and some cravings… The expression itself is all pleasure.

” In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, there are several characters that act based on feelings of revenge and the “hunger” that it can make a man feel. Specifically, Hamlet and Laertes who both became lost in their emotions and made impulsive decisions throughout the play. This may have felt good to them at the moment, but in the long run, it is what destroyed them.

To begin this argument about how the desire for revenge shaped the plot of the play Hamlet the first person to look at is the protagonist himself, Prince Hamlet. After Hamlet has already lost his beloved father and his relationship with his mother, uncle, and just about everyone else in the castle out of disgust he loses the love of his life, Ophelia. After Ophelia refuses to answer Hamlet’s letters and talk to him the Hamlet is clearly upset. Hamlet is tricked into confronting Ophelia and Hamlet says, amongst other things, this, “Get thee to a nunnery, go. Farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go, and quickly too.”(Page. 55) As you can see, Hamlet is very upset and decides to take his revenge on Ophelia for the heartbreak that she has put him through verbally. He attacks her and her ability to be both a wife and a mother because of the “monsters” that Ophelia makes of the men that she is with. Due to the loss of her love life with Hamlet as well as the loss of her father, Polonius, another incident that was sparked by revenge Ophelia will wind up taking her own life in the very end of the play. Clearly, Hamlet due to his emotion acted irrationally and caused the women that he once loved to kill herself. Similar to what Carey said in his article, revenge is a hunger that can never really be fulfilled and will wind up hurting those around you.

Next, after Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, remarries to Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, Hamlet is obviously upset that his mother is willing to betray his father so quickly after his death. Hamlet decides to take his grief for his father and his anger towards the new marriage out on his mother passive aggressively through subtle comments and insults that will ultimately ruin their relationship for almost the entirety of the play. Comments such as when Hamlet asked his mother how she like the play that Hamlet was putting on in the castle, “Madam, how like you this play?” and Gertrude responds, “The lady protests too much, methinks.”, followed by Hamlet insulting his mother, “O, but she’ll keep her word.”(page. 63) As you can see here Hamlet is intentionally insulting his mom about how she did not keep her word when she vowed commitment to Hamlet’s father for the rest of her life. In the end, Hamlet will have nearly ruined his relationship with his mother until her death at the end of the play all out of spite and grief.    

Cite this page

Hamlet And Ophelia Relationship. (2021, Jul 06). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/hamlet-and-ophelia-relationship/

"Hamlet And Ophelia Relationship." PapersOwl.com , 6 Jul 2021, https://papersowl.com/examples/hamlet-and-ophelia-relationship/

PapersOwl.com. (2021). Hamlet And Ophelia Relationship . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/hamlet-and-ophelia-relationship/ [Accessed: 24 Apr. 2024]

"Hamlet And Ophelia Relationship." PapersOwl.com, Jul 06, 2021. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/hamlet-and-ophelia-relationship/

"Hamlet And Ophelia Relationship," PapersOwl.com , 06-Jul-2021. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/hamlet-and-ophelia-relationship/. [Accessed: 24-Apr-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2021). Hamlet And Ophelia Relationship . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/hamlet-and-ophelia-relationship/ [Accessed: 24-Apr-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers