Role Of Ophelia In Hamlet

Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet “Follow her close, give her good watch, I pray you” (IV.5.73). Ostensibly, Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the riddling, enigmatic, inscrutable theatrical character par excellence. His motives, madness, conflicting morals and existential struggles are ambiguous to say the least. When analysing his character, Laertes and Fortinbras are often brought in as examples of less extreme characters dealing with similar but more tangible dilemmas.

The Tragedy of Ophelia in Hamlet Sweet and innocent, faithful and obedient, Ophelia is the truly tragic figure in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. " Her nature invites us to pity her misfortune caused not by any of her own self-initiated deeds or strategies"(Lidz 138). Laertes tells us convincingly how young and vulnerable Ophelia is, (act I. iii.10) likening her budding womanhood's destruction from Hamlet to a process as "the canker galls the infants of the spring,/ Too oft before their buttons be disclosed, /And in the morn and liquid dew of youth / Contagious blastments are most imminent". " He advises her to stay away and she lovingly banters back, typically like a young teen, reminding him to act as he advises" (Campbell 104). We then learn more of how pure and innocent she is as her father counsels her (Act I.iii.90).

First introduced through conversation with her brother, Ophelia is asserted as a love interest of Hamlets. Within the conversation, Laertes proposes hypocritical advice which she quickly replies to with witty retort: "Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,/ Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven;/ Whiles, like a puff 'd and reckless libertine,/ Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,/ And recks not his own rede." (I. iii.). Her introduction instills both her friendly relationship with her brother, as well as her comical, original nature. It asserts her neither passive nor aggressive. Within the same setting shortly after, her father asserts a protective command over Ophelia. "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." (I. iii.). Being told to stay away from Hamlet to protect her honor as a woman, Ophelia accepts and complies; it is somewhat foolish yet primarily protective of her father, but also displays Ophelia 's attachment to family in respect and care.

Many people have read Hamlet, and may or may not have been confused about two specific character’s affection for one another. Many questions are asked as to whether or not Hamlet truly loves Ophelia. Not only do people wonder if he ever loved her, but they wonder what has caused Hamlet’s actions towards her. Another question that was raised was whether or not Hamlet was responsible for Ophelia’s suicide. William Shakespeare does a great job at hiding Hamlet’s love for Ophelia, but there is evidence that shows how he truly does love her.

In Shakespeare 's tragic play Hamlet, Ophelia is seen as an under-developed character that is defined by her relationship to men and lack of mother in her life. There are some things a father woould not ever be able to help his daughter with and thats what polonius and ophelia went through. Not only did sh ehave to go through pressure with her father but with society as a whole. Ophelia has limited options as a woman in a patriarchal society and this is what separates her from Hamlet, who has the freedom to change his own fate. Ophelia needs to be obedient and is not allowed to express herself and her true feelings. What happens in her life is determined by the whims of the men who control her. She is obedient to her father and brother and

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...

In the playwright Hamlet by William Shakespeare, there are many characters that change throughout the play. For example, Hamlet is one of the characters who changed a lot throughout the play. Hamlet changes a lot because at first, Hamlet was depressed then became suicidal and in the end, Hamlet wanted revenge. However, Ophelia is also a character that changes throughout the play. In my opinion, I believe that Ophelia’s change throughout the play is the most important because Ophelia was obedient at first, then she became depressed and lastly, she became insane.

Ophelia is one of the characters in Hamlet with the most unrealized potential for character development. Even though she is relatively important to the plot we don’t know much about her. She is used as a pawn by almost every character in the play, and because she is woman, she is unable to say no, or speak her mind. She is essentially trapped. Throughout the play, she faces arguably just as much emotional trauma as Hamlet. She believes herself to be in love with Hamlet, but both her father and her brother insist, rather harshly, that she is being used and must stop seeing him. Neither of them seem to care for her feelings, they are mostly concerned with her reputation. After she breaks off her relationship with Hamlet at her father’s

When most people think about love and Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet comes to mind first. However there is another portrayal of love in works called Hamlet. WHen recalling Hamlet most people think about the relationship between Hamlet and his father, not the love story between Hamlet and Ophelia. Although there is much evidence arguing that Hamlet never loved Ophelia and that he was just using her, there is even more evidence refuting that argument. By the way he acts around Ophelia when he is alone with her, he shows that his feelings for her are true. Hamlet shows throughout the play that he is really in love with Ophelia.

The Character Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius, the right hand man of the King. Although she is only in five scenes Ophelia plays an interesting role in this play as the seemingly passive, melancholy, innocent 'little girl' whose story ends in tragedy. From the beginning Ophelia is an obedient character who has real trouble thinking for herself. This could be seen as one of the reasons for her eventual downfall, due to her inability to analyse a strange, complicated pattern of events.