From the beginning of time till present day, there has been a variety of different plays, which illustrate that one 's actions and sayings can explicit pathos towards humans in one way or another. In William Shakespeare Hamlet, the tragic hero goes through severe pain as he listens to his father and tries to fulfill his task, however, he constantly fails due to his conceiving and excessive thoughts. Moreover, Ophelia goes through severe pain as she listens to both her family and Hamlet, who she loves, which subsequently leads to her tragedy, in result to her unselfish affections towards men. Similarly, the actions and beliefs for both characters result to their deaths, which evokes deep sadness and extreme emotions throughout the play overall. …show more content…
To begin, throughout this play, Hamlet and Ophelia are put in tough situations, where both are instructed to follow their father 's instructions, which leads to their unfortunate death. For instance, when the ghost tells Hamlet to avenge his father 's death, Hamlet is put in a situation where he is manipulated to concede with this evil …show more content…
However, as Hamlet endures a higher amount of grief, he goes through several difficult situations, is more prone to be mislead, and withstands the unsympathetic thoughts about him, he is more successful at eliciting pathos in comparison with Ophelia. To start with, this ghostly figure, which appears as his dead King Hamlet, tricks Hamlet to walk into his death, whereas Ophelia makes Hamlet seem more of an insane individual, than he is. Simultaneously, as Hamlet’s relative and family believe his condition is getting out of hands, they plan several plans to execute him, leaving him with more agony. Consequently, as Hamlet learns about these plans of his family, he is no longer thought to be a generous person, but more of a choleric character. In addition, Hamlet’s family usually associates him with negative thoughts, while Ophelia no longer lives to hear about the awful sayings about her. Despite the situation throughout society, one should never compare herself or himself to another individual, for it will only undermines his or her education, worth, and
There are many topics deeply hidden in the works of William Shakespeare. One of his greatest pieces of works is the story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Not only are the words of Shakespeare meaningful, but there are also many follow up pieces of literature that contain important interpretations of the events in this play. These works about Hamlet are extremely beneficial to the reader. I have found four of these works and will use them as sources throughout this essay. The first source is “The Case of Hamlet’s Conscience,” by Catherine Belsey, and it focuses on the topic of Hamlet’s revenge in the play. The second source is “’Never Doubt I Love’: Misreading Hamlet,” by Imtiaz Habib, and it explains a lot of information about Hamlet’s “love” for Ophelia. The third source is “Shakespeare’s Hamlet, III.i.56—88,” by Horst Breuer, and it talks in depth about the issue of suicide in Hamlet. The fourth and final source is “Shakespeare’s Hamlet 1.2.35-38,” by Kathryn Walls, and it describes the significance of the role the Ghost plays throughout Hamlet. There are many different confusing parts in Hamlet and the best way to fully understand the play is to understand all of these parts. By understanding every miniscule detail in the play, it creates a different outlook on the play for the reader. In this essay, I will explain these confusing topics, as well as explain why the sources are helpful and what insight they can bring. At the end is this essay, the reader will have a complete understanding and appreciation of the play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
In Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, the audience finds a docile, manipulated, scolded, victimized young lady named Ophelia. Ophelia is a foil to Hamlet. Plays have foils to help the audience better understand the more important characters in the play. The character of Ophelia is necessary so that the audience will give Hamlet a chance to get over his madness and follow his heart.
Often overlooked in Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet, Shawna Maki analyzes Ophelia’s restricting role as a woman in a patriarchal society and how it essentially leads to her death being the true tragedy of the play. Maki supports this argument by stating, “Whereas Hamlet has the power and potential to change his fate, Ophelia does not and her death is tragic because the only escape she sees from her oppression is madness and death.”. The comparison between Hamlet and Ophelia is a common parallel because both characters are inevitably labeled as tragic deaths due to the quick deterioration of their state of mind.
The life of Hamlet is without a doubt very interesting, he suffers from unfortunate events in his time that are often major blows to his ego. His father dies while he’s away at college, Hamlet is next in line to be king until his “uncle-father” steals it from him; but it is to be known his “uncle-father” would not have stolen it if his “aunt-mother” hadn’t allowed it. It’s very apparent from the beginning of the play that he is very well obsessed with his mother and her doings. He harasses, humiliates, and abuses her because she has done such an unforgivable act by marrying Claudius. His thoughts and feelings towards his mother are very strong and well known, he even describes the odd pair as “little more than kin and less than kind.” That’s not all with Hamlet; his mother remarrying is just the tip of the iceberg so deeply rooted in the ocean of his emotions. His relationship with Ophelia is twisted, Hamlet goes through episodes of
Throughout most appearances Ophelia has in Hamlet she is met with nothing but request from Hamlet and her father and brother. During the duration of Hamlet, the reader or audience member may feel a sense of woebegone for Ophelia
Poor Ophelia, she lost her lover, her father, her mind, and, posthumously, her brother. Ophelia is the only truly innocent victim in Hamlet. This essay will examine Ophelia's downward spiral from a chaste maiden to nervous wreck.
Ophelia is a beautiful disaster. She is simply two faced, wearing a mask on the outside to elongate her delicateness and niceness, yet on the inside, she has a dark and twisted beauty to her showing that she has everyone fooled and is very much sane. Submissive, naive, and disturbed, seem to represent Ophelia perfectly. She stands in marked contrast to the schemings and manipulations of the Danish court. Polonius, her father, has shielded Ophelia with his love and compassion. She tells her overbearing father, "I shall obey my Lord" (1.4.10) when he tells her she can no longer see Hamlet, her lover. Ophelia has been in love with Hamlet before any of Hamlet's numerous tragedies occur, yet her father comes first. She is obedient to him because she places family above others. Since she is naive and innocent, she is frightened and disillusioned by Hamlet's inexplicable behavior and persuaded by her father's urgency in the need for her to help establish what Hamlet's condition and motives are...
1. Plays have foils to help the audience understand important characters in the play. Foils are minor characters that have similarities and differences with a more important character in the play. Sometimes the minor character is just there for the character to talk to; this is the basis for being a foil. In the play "Hamlet," [Titles] by William Shakespeare, the character Ophelia is a foil to Hamlet.
William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is one of the most influential plays of all time. It has been retold numerous times in multiple genres due its popularity. Set in Denmark, the kingdom mourns the death of King Hamlet. Prince Hamlet returns from school to find his mother, Gertrude, marrying his uncle, Claudius. The ghost of Hamlet’s father reveals that he was murdered by Claudius. Hamlet feels the need to avenge his father’s death. Ophelia overcome with grief at the death of her father, Polonius, kills herself and Gertrude’s death by the poisoned cup of Claudius. Shakespeare uses Gertrude and Ophelia to exemplify the themes of grief, betrayal, and compassion.
to predict how they will treat other women in their life. Hamlet is a good
Hamlet is distraught by his father’s death and disgusted with his mother’s hasty marriage after his father’s death. Because his mother has tainted Hamlet’s view of women through her hasty marriage to her deceased husband’s brother, Hamlet takes his anger out on Ophelia in their conversation in Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1, calling women two-faced and untrustworthy. The actions that take place in Hamlet change Hamlet from a man that appreciates honesty, loyalty, and truthfulness, to a man that justifies murdering two of his childhood friends, who finally avenges his father’s death by killing King
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous work of tragedy. Throughout the play the title character, Hamlet, tends to seek revenge for his father’s death. Shakespeare achieved his work in Hamlet through his brilliant depiction of the hero’s struggle with two opposing forces that hunt Hamlet throughout the play: moral integrity and the need to avenge his father’s murder. When Hamlet sets his mind to revenge his fathers’ death, he is faced with many challenges that delay him from committing murder to his uncle Claudius, who killed Hamlets’ father, the former king. During this delay, he harms others with his actions by acting irrationally, threatening Gertrude, his mother, and by killing Polonius which led into the madness and death of Ophelia. Hamlet ends up deceiving everyone around him, and also himself, by putting on a mask of insanity. In spite of the fact that Hamlet attempts to act morally in order to kill his uncle, he delays his revenge of his fathers’ death, harming others by his irritating actions. Despite Hamlets’ decisive character, he comes to a point where he realizes his tragic limits.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was forced upon him.Death is something he struggles with as an abstract idea and as relative to himself. He is able to reconcile with the idea of death and reality eventually.
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia is the most static character in the play. Instead of changing through the course of the play, she remains suffering in the misfortunes perpetrated upon her. She falls into insanity and dies a tragic death. Ophelia has issues surviving without a male influence, and her downfall is when all the men in her life abandon her. Hamlet’s Ophelia, is a tragic, insane character that cannot exist on her own.
Keys to Interpretation of Hamlet & nbsp; William Shakespeare's Hamlet is, at heart, a play about suicide. Though it is surrounded by a fairly standard revenge plot, the play's core is an intense psychodrama about a prince gone mad from the pressures of his station and his unrequited love for Ophelia. He longs for the ultimate release of killing himself - but why? In this respect, Hamlet is equivocal - he gives several different motives depending on the situation. But we learn to trust his soliloquies - his thoughts - more than his actions.