In the late middle ages, in the time of kings and arranged marriages, women were treated inferior to men, constantly disregarded and seen as weak. Walking one step behind, asking permission and never being too confident women sat in the shadows always afraid of disrespecting men, their “superior”. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, nephew to the usurping Claudius, and son of King Hamlet, the previous King of Denmark, has relationships with both his mother Gertrude, and Ophelia, a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes, and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. His relationships with both women in the play demonstrates the way women were perceived in the time period Shakespeare wrote …show more content…
Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship is very unconventional. Like many other sad romantic movies they are not allowed to show their love for one another due to the cruel forces pushing them apart. In the beginning, Ophelia listens to her brother Laertes and her father Polonius when they tell her Hamlet is only young and just wants to use her for passion. This is shown when Laertes says, “For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favor, hold it a fashion, and a toy in blood, a violet in the youth of nature, forward not permanent, sweet, not lasting, the perfume and suppliance of a minute, no more”(1.3.5-9). Instead of following her heart Ophelia listens to the words of her father and brother and cuts Hamlet out from her life. She sends back Hamlet's letters and refuses to let him see her. Hamlet distraught, shows up in her room one day and grabs her arm and stares at her. As a result of Ophelia’s cold shoulder, Hamlet becomes infuriated at her. Hamlet says to Ophelia, “I have heard of your paintings too, well enough. God hath jig, you amble, and you lisp, you nickname God’s creatures, and make your wantonness your ignorance, go to, i'll no more on’t, it hath made me mad”(3.1.141-146). Moreover, Hamlet claims that Ophelia is a fake person and puts up an appearance. In this scene Hamlet reveals how much Ophelia’s disregard for him has truly made him upset. He loved Ophelia and feels betrayed by her thus he acts out and is very rude and condescending towards
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.
By not speaking anything, Hamlet at once strengthens his image as a madman, as well as shrouding his real intentions towards those around him. Just following this passage comes a place in the text where we can see how the character of Ophelia has been manipulated by Polonius. After his "hint" that he might be doing this out of frustrated love, Ophelia says that that is what she truly does fear. (87) Her feelings of pity and concern are shaped by her father in order to fit his case of madness against Hamlet.
His cruelness towards Ophelia must be investigated first, for poor Ophelia was one of the most innocent characters in the play. Hamlet knows Ophelia is in love with him, yet in order to fulfill his own plans of vengeance, which involve wearing a guise of madness, he insults her, saying "I have heard of your paintings too, well enough. God has given you one face and you make yourselves another. You jig and amble, and you lisp, you nickname God’s creatures and make your wantonness your ignorance." Later, the Prince continues his torment of the girl even in public, saying things such as "Lady, shall I lie in your lap?" and "That’s a fair thought to lie between maids' legs."
Hamlet treats Ophelia like property and because he does not care for her. This is proven because he insults Ophelia, uses her to get his revenge on Claudius and uses her as a way to get attention. To begin with, Hamlet abuses Ophelia by accusing her of having impure motives. To him she “jig[s]… amble and …lisp” (3.1.145) to seduce other men. He also accuses her of being deceitful because she changes the “one face [that]…God hath given” to her by putting on cosmetics. Hamlet verbally abuses Ophelia because he believes that she is worthless. Hamlet is not concerned about the effect that these insult have on Ophelia’s psyche. In addition to verbally abusing Ophelia, Hamlet uses Ophelia as a pawn. Hamlet uses Ophelia as a way to get to Claudius by also physically abusing her. Ophelia description of Hamlet’s abuse exhibits Hamlet’s unruly behaviour towards her: “He took me by the wrist and held me hard; then goes he to the length of all his arm” (2.1.88-89). Hamlet physically abuses Ophelia because he knows that Ophelia will report it to her father who in turn will tell Claudius. By doing this, Claudius will think Hamlet is insane and will then lower his guard and will not suspect that Hamlet intents to kill him. Hamlet does not stop to consider what kind mental toll will take on Ophelia, all he cares about is to finishing what his father asked of him. It is apparent
Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius, is another major character whose relationship with Hamlet drastically change throughout the play. At the beginning, Hamlet seems to have feelings for Ophelia, as seen by his love note, and Ophelia’s mention of holiest vows, however both her father, Polonius, and her brother, Laertes, seem to be suspicious of this, and warn her that they doubt it will last, and she should be more wary of Hamlet. She seems upset with this fact, but reluctantly agrees, although it seems she still really likes him. She turns down his signs of affections at every chance she has, and when she does try to talk to him, he snaps at her, and yells angrily. He claims,”You should not have believed me , for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish
They all try to control her sexuality and her choices, which makes her powerless. Both her father and brother try to tell her that Hamlet is just using her for sex and he will never commit to marrying her. This theme of Ophelia having no sense of self is first introduced in Act 1, Scene 3 where she has conversations with Polonius and Laertes about her dating Hamlet and her sexuality. They are both telling her what to do and she does not stick up for herself or fight back. This theme of Ophelia being manipulated and powerless carries throughout the rest of the play.
If Hamlet’s actions towards his mother were to have a direct correlation to how he treats his relationships with other women, such as Ophelia, one can suggest that he would not respect them or refrain from becoming exceedingly angry.
One example, he began to reject Ophelia and he would constantly insult her and deny that he loved her. It is so hard to understand Hamlet's true feelings toward Ophelia because of the contradicting ways that he acts. In one of the scenes, Ophelia returns the love letters Hamlet wrote to her rejecting him. He becomes so hurt, he lashes out at her. Hamlet has always seen Ophelia as innocent and virtuous but she is also a woman.
In other words, he continues to tell everyone about his love for Ophelia after she has passed, even though he has no obligation to do so. He does this because he wants everyone to know how important she was to him. Although at some points during the play it’s suggested that Hamlet does not love Ophelia, the truth is that he’s scared to get her involved because of the feuding between himself and Claudius. During a controversial time in the play when Hamlet orders Ophelia to leave for the nunnery, he is only trying to protect her. This could have all been different if Ophelia would have accepted Hamlet’s love since, without her, he is grieving the loss of both his father and
In particular, the “tenders of his affection” leave Ophelia feeling insecure about Hamlet’s intentions, and the meaning behind everything he does and says to her (1.3.108). During her time of insecurity, Ophelia remains within her circle of familiarity: her father and her brother. She counsels both of them in hopes of receiving a better understanding of her situation and how she should react, and she takes Polonius’s advice to pretend that she does not love him so she can analyze whether he truly loves her or not by his reaction. Upon their next interaction, Ophelia was unsure of the meaning, but she “truly [did] fear” it was rejection (2.1.97). She worries that given her father’s advice, the risk of losing Hamlet is too great, and she does not want to do anything that could sabotage their potential relationship.
When reading the text, one can comprehend that Ophelia is caught in the middle between two opposite sides. Her family (father and brother) believe that Hamlet is a womanizer rather then the philosopher that he is. They also believe that he will use her in order to achieve his own purposes, and that he would take her precious virginity only to discard it because he would never be her husband. But, Ophelia's heart mesmerized by Hamlets cunning linguistics is set on the fact that Hamlet truly loves her or loved her, even though he swears he never did. In the eye of her father and brother, she will always be a pure, wholesome girl, an eternal virgin in a sense, (due to a parents nature to always see their offspring as a child) they want her to ascend into her stereotypical role in life as a vessel of morality whose sole purpose of existence is to be a obedient wife and a committed mother. However, to Hamlet she is simply an object used to satisfy and fulfill his sexual needs. He also seems to hold her at a distant which suggests that he may...
He interferes in her relationship with Hamlet, regulates her sexuality, and treats her like a commodity. As a result, Ophelia, initially adamant in defending Hamlet’s intention, becomes subservient and complies to her father’s wishes. Ophelia defends Hamlet, claiming that “[Hamlet] hath importuned me with love/ In honourable fashion”, and asserts her stance by continuing her statement, “And hath…” despite her father’s mocking and interruption of her speech, highlighting her extent of trust and love for Hamlet. This suggests she is not completely submissive, as she is not afraid to assert her viewpoint, although it increases the tension.
Laertes, and Polonius would interfere with their relationship, and Ophelia would reject his love. During the play Hamlet deals with many issues to make him question who in the kingdom he can trust. Hamlet having trust issues effects his relationship with Ophelia tremendously. Feeling betrayed by his family after finding out the truth behind his father’s death, he had gone mad.
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 ...
For many years in the past women played a small role socially, economically, and politically. As a result of this many works in literature were reflective of this diminutive role of women. In Elizabethan theatres small boys dressed and played the roles of women. In contrast to this trend, in Shakespeare's Hamlet the women in the play are driving factors for the actions of many other characters. Both Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, and Ophelia, Hamlet's love, affected many of the decisions and actions done by Hamlet.