Parenting in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The role parents play in a child’s development is critical. They are the people who have the most influence on them, effecting most aspects of even their adult life. When too controlling, the role of a parent can have lasting negative consequences for the child. In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the author shows that loss of an authoritative parent leaves people trying to replace the loss of that control in unhealthy ways that destroy the person. This can be seen in the lives of Ophelia, Hamlet and Laertes, who all loose a controlling father.

In the life of Ophelia, it can be seen that she is very dependant on Polonius. She obeys him, even if she doesn’t want to. When she is told by Polonius, “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. Come your ways.”(1.3.132-135), her immediate response is, “I shall obey, my lord” (1.3.136). Being a woman, Ophelia is not allowed to make many of her own decisions in life, and therefore grows to rely heavily on her father. When her father commands her not to “give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet”, Ophelia complies, even though she believes that he really does love her, because she said earlier, “He hath, my lord, of later made many tenders/ Of his affection for me” (1.3.99-100). She immediately promises to obey, demonstrating her custom to follow his orders, even though it is not what she desires. By saying, “my lord”, she is respectfully acknowledging her father’s request, and submitting herself to his authority. In doing so, she continues in her dependance on him.

However, after Polonius’ death, Ophelia no longer has an immediate figure of authority over her, ...

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... sources of input to help him make his first decisions, like how to handle his father’s revenge, the consequences would have turned out much differently. Laertes destroys himself by trying to take all control.

In conclusion, Shakespeare shows throughout the play Hamlet, that when people try to cope with a lack of control created by the loss of an authoritative parent, they harm, and eventually destroy themselves. Through the lives of character’s Ophelia, Hamlet and Laertes, this truth is revealed, as they respectively lose their mind, damage those around them, and their plans retaliate against themselves because they did not cope in healthy ways. When undergoing times of trial and testing, positive ways to cope involve doing so with close friends, accepting the facts, and moving on with life at a pace that is neither to concentrated in the past, nor the future.