Hamlet - the Character of Ophelia

Her father also wanted to prove Hamlet's madness to the king. He used Ophelia as bait so he and the king could listen to Hamlet's words. Ophelia willingly obliged to her father's desires. By not thinking for herself and only doing as her father wished, she ruined her chances of love with Hamlet. Hamlet put pressure on Ophelia by expecting her to surpass his mother's shortcomings and be an epitome of womankind.

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.

We become aware of Desdemona's determination when she marries Othello, despite accusations from Iago that she is under a spell and is deceiving her father. When her fiancé is accused of bewitching her, she immediately defends her love for him. "And so much Duty as my mother showed to you, preferring you before her father, so much that I may profess due to the Moor my lord". Like many of Shakespeare's other female characters, Desdemona does not embody the stereotypical role of sixteenth century women. When Shakespeare wrote Othello, women had few rights and little power in society.

Analysis of Ophelia from Hamlet Ophelia is gentle, loving and beautiful. She is also obedient to her father and loyal to her family and it is this which draws her into the circle of disaster and leads to her "untimely death". She is deeply in love with Hamlet and believes his "tenders" to be sincere, but her obedience to both her father and her brother must come first. Laertes tells her to beware of Hamlet's interest as it is driven by lust, not love. He also points out the difference in their background and rightly concludes that Hamlet is not in a position, as heir to the throne to choose freely who he will marry.

It can be heavily assumed that she knew of his wicked ways, but only seen him as her loving husband. Gertrude seemed to not hold the ability to think deeply about the situation at hand, and she ran straight into the Antagonist’s arms. Having the mental capability to assess a tragic situation and to figure out the suitable actions was something Gertrude lacked. Additionally, in Act One Scene Five the ghost of Hamlet’s father says “So to seduce, won to his shameful lust the will of my most virtuous queen.” The Ghost illustrates the picture of a woman who was loyal to her husband, but was seduced by his brother. For one to be seduced by the brother of one’s love, the mental proficiency to repress the advances must be moderately low.

Gertrude marrying her husband's brother is incestuous, and this bestirs feelings of bitterness in Hamlet. However, sinc... ... middle of paper ... ...mark. Unable to speak freely before Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, Hamlet exaggerates his emotional turmoil so that these two women will soften their attitudes towards him and listen to him. Not only does Hamlet wish to win back the hearts of Gertrude and Ophelia, these two women also serve to verify Hamlet's supposed madness to the other characters. Furthermore, Hamlet must hide his rationality and cunning from his peers and from King Claudius so that he may proceed with his revenge plan.

On the surface he appears to be a rough, noisy, and insensitive, one who cares nothing for Katherine's feelings so long as she has money. Yet, in the inside Petruchio's intention is not interested for her money but the challenge of capturing her because of the reputation that she has. Like a secondary character is Katherine's sister Bianca. Apparently in her gentle behavior, she is an unkind sister and through the play she is in fact a disobedient wife. She fosters her father's attitude of favoritism for herself and dislike for Katherine by playing the part of a whole victim.

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.

Her love for her father is simply too great to describe in words, unlike the sheer flattery her two elder sisters spouted. “Then poor Cordelia! (to herself) And yet not so, Zhou 2 since I am sure my love's more ponderous than my tongue” (11). Although Cordelia is Lear's favorite daughter, Lear's misconceptions prevented him from listening t... ... middle of paper ... ...elming his heart as well, for his imprudence had killed the purest love given to him by his most beloved daughter. A mistrust of the good and complete trust of the evil brought about the Gods' punishment on mere mankind.

Ophelia believes Hamlet loves her but,  because of her father’s wishes, constantly turns him down and denies that she feels the same way. Ophelia finally denounces denies that she loves him but Hamlet states that "I did love you once." He also stated that "You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not." "Get thee to a nunnery."