Hamlet’s love for Ophelia

812 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Psychological aspect of hamlet

Many people have read Hamlet, and may or may not have been confused about two specific character’s affection for one another. Many questions are asked as to whether or not Hamlet truly loves Ophelia. Not only do people wonder if he ever loved her, but they wonder what has caused Hamlet’s actions towards her. Another question that was raised was whether or not Hamlet was responsible for Ophelia’s suicide. William Shakespeare does a great job at hiding Hamlet’s love for Ophelia, but there is evidence that shows how he truly does love her.
Within the first act of the play, Ophelia and her father, Polonius, talk about Hamlet and Ophelia’s alone time together. Ophelia tells Polonius how Hamlet has been a gentleman. Polonius goes on to say how passion will drive boys to tell girls anything to have sex with them. After, Polonius tells Ophelia she may no longer see Hamlet, and Ophelia agrees to obey her father. In the second act of the play, Ophelia comes to her father frightened because of Hamlet’s actions towards her. Ophelia says
“My lord, as I was sewing in my closet,
Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced,
No hat upon his head, his stockings fouled,
Ungartered, and down-gyved to his ankle;
Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other,
And with a look so piteous in purport
As if he had been loosed out of hell
To speak of horrors, he comes before me” (2.1.87-94).
In modern day English, this means that Hamlet came into Ophelia’s bedroom with his clothes messed up, no hat on, his socks were hanging low, and his knees were knocking. Ophelia also said, Lord Hamlet had a look on his face as if he was let out of hell. Hamlet’s actions leave Ophelia wondering what caused him to act this way. Once Polonius heard of Lord Hamlet...

... middle of paper ...

...that Hamlet has put her under so much stress, she didn’t mind dying. All in all, Hamlet is responsible for Ophelia’s death because he was the one who killed her father and put her through so much stress.
Many questions were asked towards the affection between Hamlet and Ophelia. Questions like, did Hamlet really love Ophelia, what caused Hamlet to act in such a way, and was Hamlet responsible for Ophelia’s death. After reading the play, one will come to conclusion that Hamlet did love Ophelia dearly and only acted in such a way because of his plan for revenge. Hamlet was also responsible for Ophelia’s death because of her father’s death and the way he acted towards her.

Works Cited

“Hamlet.” SparkNotes. SparkNotes LLC, 2013. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Paul Moliken. Clayton: Pretwick House Literary Touchstone
Classics, 2005. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Parallels Between Hamlet and Disney Movies

    1675 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...sulted her when he knew that her father and his uncle were watching and taking notes. In addition, I do not understand why Hamlet waited until now to reveal his true feelings about Ophelia. Her death was probably what caused him to realize that he was unable to save her by telling her to leave the castle, instead he unhinged her sanity.

    Read More

  • Tough Love in Mel Gibson's Hamlet and Branagh's Hamlet

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    Living in an environment of deception and hostility, the reader can easily identify with Hamlet's anger. Most all compassionate audiences will be sympathetic to his plight. However, the origins of Hamlet's vehement actions toward his once beloved Ophelia can be debated from several different points of view. Whatever his reasoning may be, it is probably correct to assume that he regrets deeply every harsh world spoken toward Ophelia. He only realizes again what a beautiful and kind person she was- after her death.

    Read More

  • How Does Hamlet Love Ophelia

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Love of Ophelia It is never easy to see into a person’s heart and find their true emotions, especially when their feelings are intentionally masked to give off a different impression. Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, attempts to mask specific emotions throughout the play. He tries to give off the impression that he is insane when he is near his murderous uncle and other characters because he doesn’t want them to suspect his plan of revenge. However, he silently expresses his love towards the sweet Ophelia, his girlfriend.

    Read More

  • Men In Ophelia's Life

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    Leaving her only with the response saying “I shall obey, my lord”(1.3.145 ). Why Ophelia is unable to say more than a few simple words is made clear by societal expectations of the time. During this time daughters were the property of their fathers and were obligated to do their bidding. Campbell says “if she refuses Polonius, she risks social ostracism and grave insult to the man who capriciously controls her future” (58). Ophelia fears the backlash of disobeying her father, believing there is no other choice than doing what he has asked her to do. Even though a woman's virtue is a sacred and a very personal choice, her father leaves Ophelia with one option: to do what he says. “The issue of Ophelia’s chastity concerns Polonius as a parent and a politician—a virginal Ophelia has a better chance of attaining Hamlet’s hand in marriage” (Floyd-Wilson 401). This relationship Ophelia has between her father is very one-sided and unhealthy. It is formal and proper with very few emotions attached to each other. However, because Polonius is the only parental figure Ophelia has and loves him, his death was extremely difficult for her. Her father, hasn’t left her like Laertes and hasn’t rejected her like Hamlet. Making his unexpected death the final straw to her losing her sanity. Without someone to guide her, she is lost. She is unable to blindly follow a man but is to racked with emotion to think clearly.

    Read More

  • Does Hamlet Really Love Ophelia Research Paper

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    First there is the killing of Polonius. When he kills Polonius, the father of his girlfriend, he shows no sign of regret. No guilt. He is so caught up in his own little world of revenge, he doesn't even think of the fact that he just killed an innocent old man and the father of Ophelia. In fact, there is no point in the entire text in which he even mentions Ophelia. This just goes to show that he doesn’t truly care about Ophelia, which as state is the necessary component of love. The second deciding scene is that of Ophelia’s funeral. Hamlet has gone the whole text since the play in act three scene two without a word about Ophelia. Then *bang* Ophelia is dead and he's seeing her funeral. He observes as a distraught Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, throws himself into her grave in grief. Hamlet’s response to this is not a of shared sorrow but of competition. He starts by saying to Laertes “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum” (5.1.284-287). Rather than just grieve for her, he fights with her grieving brother about who loved her more. While this may seem like a loving gesture, there has been no other proof of his love for her throughout the play which make this seem a bit strange. It is as if he wants to have loved her so that he can have emotions that are more important than everyone else’s. Hamlet even accuses Laertes of just trying “to outface” him “with leaping in her grave” (5.1.295). Hamlet would actually be grieve the lose of Ophelia and not fighting over whose emotions matter more if he had truly loved

    Read More

  • Ophelia's Madness

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is impossible to get around Hamlet's murder of Polonius being a trigger for Ophelia's decent into madness. However, upon closer examination it is not this trigger alone that is the cause for her madness and it is surely not only this that leads to her eventual suicide. Ophelia is expected to be a perfect lady, which in part meant following the orders of the men in her life. In addition to that pressure and cruelty is the added cruelty of how often those men change their minds about her and what she should do. Adding to that the repeated abandonment and the murder of her father by her lover, it is no wonder she went into a madness that ended in her death.

    Read More

  • Hamlet Movie Vs Movie Comparison

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Shakespeare 's play it is clear that Ophelia and Hamlet were lovers but it is not entire certainty whether Hamlet loved Ophelia at the present time. His declaration of love in the written play could have been seen as an indication of his madness. In the film version Hamlet is seen hiding in the bushes while Ophelia 's funeral begins and once he discovers it is her he is overcome with grief to the point where Horatio has to hold him back (Hamlet). The pain on Hamlet 's face is apparent as well as his sanity. Another example of their relationship is in act 3 scene 1 after Hamlet finished his soliloquy he says the line “the fair Ophelia” (Shakespeare 4.1.97) while reading the play I assumed he said this line when he addressed her, and that he was pleasant to her until his madness took over and he became rude. In Doran’s adaptation however Hamlet spoke the line “the fair Ophelia” before she even saw him, he was speaking to himself with a tone of love and affection. Additionally, Hamlet remained pleasant to her until he turned and noticed the security camera (Hamlet). It was only then that Hamlet began to act mad and unpleasant towards Ophelia. This version gave a new depth to Hamlet’s madness and strengthens the idea that he was simply

    Read More

  • Essay On The Relationship Between Hamlet And Ophelia

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the beginning of the play, Ophelia herself believes that Hamlet loves her. First of all, Laertes and Polonius had both heard about Hamlet professing his love for Ophelia. Being the typical protective brother and father, they cautioned Ophelia and told her to be very wary of

    Read More

  • Custom Essays: Hamlet as an Accessory to Ophelia's Suicide

    2101 Words  | 5 Pages

    William Shakespeare's character of Ophelia in Hamlet, suffers greatly, from the time she learns of her father Polonius' death, until her own mysterious death.  In Hamlet, Gertrude, Horatio and Claudius refer to her state, and conclude that she is crazy1[1].  Though there is some truth to their claim, Shakespeare created Ophelia as an overly- dramatic character, who is somewhat exaggerating her emotions to give an impression of madness.  Although their impression of Ophelia can be supported, evidence is not shown as much in her words, as it is shown in her actions.  Ophelia's songs seem like riddles and nonsense2[2], yet they are similar to the patterns of speech by Hamlet, revealing truths and true emotions, and at times sarcasm.   However, Ophelia's whimsical, and child-like behavior is quite different than the prim, reserved Ophelia at the beginning of the play.  Still, this behavior is not consistent with the  sad words in her grief-laden songs, nor is it consistent with a woman in grief rather Ophelia's physical behavior is the strongest evidence that Ophelia may exhibit signs of madness.  Hamlet's act to convince his insanity to all that knew him influenced Ophelia to perform following Hamlet's lead with  his feigned madness, eventually leading to the girl's suicide, thus implicating Hamlet in her death.

    Read More

  • The Tragedy of Ophelia in Hamlet

    946 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ophelia trusts the advise given and her obedience is very evident in this matter as she avoids contact with Hamlet until she is told by her father, with the King and Queens approval, to meet up with him by 'accident' in the lobby. Deceit not being in her nature, believing that her father, the king and queen are right and true; that Hamlet is mad; and probably curious to know if Hamlet is "mad in love" with her the young, obedient, powerless Ophelia does her part to search out the truth. But tragically this one forced step outside of her true character begins her downfall. In a precarious predicament, loyalty to her father compelled Ophelia to lie to Hamlet when he asked about her father?s location at that moment saying he was at home instead of behind a tapestry right the...

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Gertrude And Ophelia

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ophelia loves Hamlet; her emotions drive her to perform her actions. Some would say that Ophelia’s emotions could have actually been what ended her young

    Read More

  • Ophelia and Hamlet in The Tragedy of Hamlet

    1557 Words  | 4 Pages

    To capture our sympathy, Ophelia goes through a transformation unlike any other character in Hamlet. She is abandoned by everyone she holds dear; her father Polonius, her brother Laertes, and Hamlet, her lover. And yet Ophelia becomes tangled in a web of madness when her loyalty is torn between Polonius and Hamlet. Most horrible of all is Ophelia's suicide-death. The emotion is evokes, coupled with the above points shows that Shakespeare's intentions was to make Ophelia, a minor character in terms of the number of lines assigned to her, into a memorable character evoking the most sympathy.

    Read More

  • The Analysis of the Character Ophelia on Hamlet

    1284 Words  | 3 Pages

    Two of Ophelia’s difficulties arise from her father and brother. They believe that Hamlet is using her to take her virginity and throw it away because Ophelia will never be his wife. Her heart believes that Hamlet loves her although he promises he never has (“Hamlet” 1). Hamlet: “Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This was sometime a paradox, but not the time gives it proof. I did love you once.” Ophelia: “Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so.” Hamlet: “You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock ...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Hamlet's Relationship With Ophelia

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hamlet is self-absorbed. He cares more about his own problems than those of his people, and this can be seen in his relationship with Ophelia and how oblivious he is to the emotions of other people. This is a less than ideal quality for a leader to have, as it’s important for a king to put the desires of his people above his own. Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia could never work out, as Laertes points out to Ophelia by saying that “[Hamlet’s] will is not his own, / for he himself is subject to his birth” (I.iii.17-8). Hamlet, however, never realizes that their relationship would not be recognized by the Danish people and pursues Ophelia relentlessly, even after she refuses his advances in Act III Scene i. Hamlet acts brashly towards her during ‘The Mouse-trap’

    Read More

  • Hamlet Character Analysis Essay

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ed her horribly and degraded her by saying she was unfit and promiscuous. The confusing relationship she had with Hamlet and death of her father led to Ophelia’s madness and soon after suicide. He was the cause of the murder this is the deterioration of his character and see it when he confesses his love for Ophelia at her funeral that its too late.

    Read More

More about Hamlet’s love for Ophelia

Open Document