Foils in Shakespeare's Hamlet

This allowed her to only accept her father’s views that Hamlet’s attention towards her was only to take advantage of her and to obey her father’s orders not to permit Hamlet to see her again. Hamlet has the disillusion that women are frail after his mother’s rushed remarriage as shown by “Frailty, thy name is woman!” He also believes women do not have the power to reason. (“O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason.”) Ophelia has the power to change his view but her unexplained rejection of him only adds to Hamlet’s disillusion. The ghost’s revelation that Gertrude dishonored Hamlet’s father but also their marriage by the adultery with Claudius is contemplated by Hamlet until he goes into Ophelia’s room to look upon her. As Hamlet searches Ophelia’s face for some sign that might restore his faith in her, he instead believes her face shows guilt and thinks she is another false Gertrude.

She tells Ophelia about her hope that Hamlet 's madness came from his love for Ophelia. If Gertrude keeps believing this, she won 't have to face the marriage as the problem or feel guilty. Gertrude 's romantic outlook again keeps her from seeing truth. Because of Hamlet 's powerful belief in his mother 's guilt, he takes his anger out on Ophelia, who Hamlet may think is just another insincere woman like his mother. Hamlet is determined to use the play to get at his mother 's conscience in addition to Claudius '.

On one hand people were saying that what the Queen did was wrong because she shouldn't have someone to talk to her son but that she should do it for herself. And on the other side of the arguement, people were saying that they would talk to their friend for the parent but not if they were going to get paid. I don't think that Hamlet is crazy, I feel that he just needed to get his thoughts to gether because he was still trying to comprehend that fact that his mother got married to his uncle and she didn't even seem to care about what he felt. What is the cause of someone being insane or who?

Ophelia is losing Hamlet’s trust due to her dependency on Polonius and Claudius when she shares Hamlet’s private love letters with Polonius and obeying his advice to stay away from Hamlet. Moreover, Ophelia even plays a part in the plan to test Hamlet to see if he is insane just because the king and her father ask her to, not caring how would Hamlet feel. Because of these reasons,Hamlet is telling Ophelia that nunnery is the only place where she will be faithful and cause the least amount of damage. This quote also conveys a theme of betrayal in the play, where Ophelia betrays her true love, Hamlet.Therefore, the attitude towards woman in the Elizabethan era is the reason why Ophelia betrays Hamlet . After her father’s death, Ophelia emotionally goes mad and sings, “He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone.

Also, when Gertrude asks Hamlet: If it be, Why seems it so particular with thee? (I.ii 74-75) she means to calm him down, but the word "seems" only makes Hamlet more suspicious. She fails to realize that in his sensitive mood, the word "seems" will give Hamlet the ... ... middle of paper ... ... him! But she finally has to admit to herself that Claudius is guilty of murdering old Hamlet and of trying to murder Hamlet. When she warns Hamlet not to drink the wine, she again is showing compassion for her son and her wish to protect him from danger.

If Laertes was so concerned with her well being when she was in love with Hamlet then why didn't Laertes show concern with her life and protect her during her weak point of her life? I do believe that Laertes truly loved Ophelia and would do anything for her but at the time of her madness he was too concerned with the death of his father to pay attention to Ophelia. Polonius acts toward Ophelia with dispise and disgust. Polonius uses her as a tool to become closer and get on Claudius' good side. Polonius cares nothing for Ophelia: she is considered as a pawn in a chess game only to protect the king, Polonius.

She also shows no awareness to how the sudden death of his father is tormenting Hamlet on the inside, so she isn't going to think deeply about King Hamlet's death or put any thought into what Hamlet is thinking. Another ex... ... middle of paper ... ...s love for each were still there. During Hamlet's sarcastic conversation with Ophelia, Gertrude wants to believe that the love is still there. "The belief at the bottom of her heart was that the world is a place constructed simply that people may be happy in it in a good-humored sensual fashion" (Bradley, p. 141). This being another example that reality escapes Gertrude thought process.

Although Hamlet loved Ophelia and Gertrude before his fathers died, the way Hamlet behaves towards them afterwards shows that the circumstances impacted negatively on his view of women. After his father’s death, Hamlet’s thoughts on everything changed. He thought that life was punishing, he could trust no one, and women were just game players trying to mess with the male population. “Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monster you make of them” (Shakespeare 3.1.133-134). Hamlet believes he is speaking privately with Ophelia, however Polonius and Claudius are spying on their conversation.

That weakness of mind and will, which permitted her obedience to her father and thus destroyed her hope for Hamlet's love, finally resulted in her insanity and death. When her father had challenged the honor of Hamlet's intentions, Ophelia could only reply "I do not know, my lord, what I should think" (III, iii). Used to relying upon her father's direction and brought up to be obedient, she can only accept her father's belief, seconded by that of her brother, that Hamlet's "holy vows" of love were simply designed for her seduction. She was to obey her father's orders not to permit Hamlet to see her again. Her father also wanted to prove Hamlet's madness to the king.

She overreacted and immediately screamed, “Call me your daughter? Now I promised you, you have showed a tender fatherly regard to wish me wed to one half lunatic” (2.1: 302, 304). Even after Baptista finally found a man who wanted to take her as a wife, she still seemed to be ungrateful. She accused him of showing her no a... ... middle of paper ... ... for Petruchio at the end of the play. She came to realize that her beliefs were immoral, and that she should have been more respectful towards her family.