The Character Ophelia In Shakespeare's Hamlet

384 Words1 Page

Ophelia is a troublesome part to play on the grounds that her character, as Gertrude's, is dim. Some piece of the trouble is that Shakespeare composed his female parts for men, and there were dependably confinements on them that limited and characterized the portrayals conceived. On account of an ingénue like Ophelia, an exceptionally youthful and dazzling lady, Shakespeare would have been composing for a kid. The degree to which a kid could get a handle on inconspicuous subtleties may have kept the writer from fleshing out the character all the more completely. We realize that Ophelia is torn between two opposing posts. Her dad and sibling trust that Hamlet would utilize her, that he would take her virginity and discard it in light of the

Show More
Related

  • How Does Ophelia Change Throughout Hamlet

    245 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Ophelia as a Foil to Shakespeare's Hamlet

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Who Is Ophelia A Foil In Hamlet

    602 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ophelia is portrayed as a sensitive, fragile woman. Easily overpowered and controlled by her brother and father, Ophelia is destined to be weak. Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, warns and pushes Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet and is further supported by their father Polonius. “Polonius enters and adds his warning to those of Laertes. He orders Ophelia not to spend time with Hamlet or even talk to him. Ophelia promises to obey” (“Hamlet” 95). Ophelia’s obedience to her father’s directions prove the side she

    Read More

  • Ophelia's Tragic Flaw Of Hamlet

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Free Hamlet Essays: Lonely Hamlet

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ophelia’s obedience towards her untrusting father is indescribable ( I; iii; 101-103. "Affection? Pooh! You speak like a green girl, unsifted in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his tenders, as you call them"?). Why a grown woman would listen to her father and not help the man of her dreams in his time of need is disheartening. A man’s girlfriend should be there for him when a family member passes away, no matter what. If she had been with him on the plan to kill Claudius and knew about his fathers ghost who told Hamlet that Claudius was the one that murdered him, than neither one of them would have went crazy.

    Read More

  • Ophelia in Shakespeare´s Hamlet

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ophelia was driven mad by the death of her father Polonius and how Hamlet betrayed her love with his own wave of madness which was just an act. In her madness, Ophelia talks about her father and his death and about the “Tricks in the world” (terrible things that happen to people). Ophelia’s madness was also the extent of her being used by her father so he could spy on Hamlet to see if he was truly crazy and then by Hamlet when he claimed he no longer loved her and that he didn’t send her any letters (remembrances). Ophelia’s speech and her fragments of songs are unsensible. Her song was about her father’s death “He is gone, He is gone” (4.5.220), and a maiden who is tricked into losing her virginity with a false promise of love and the possibility of marriage. “To be your valentine, then up he rose and donned his clothes and duped the chamber door” (4.5.56-58)

    Read More

  • Ophelia's Descent to Madness in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    People have mostly seen women inferior to men because women have been thought of as simple-minded and could not take care of themselves. Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows how men treated and thought of women during the 1500s. There was an order most did not interfere with; however, some did. In the 1500s, women were supposed to conform to men’s wishes. Throughout the play, Ophelia first obeyed her father and brother’s wishes, ignored the social norms later, and then went mad, which caused her to never gain her own identity.

    Read More

  • Essay on the Oppression of Ophelia in Hamlet

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the play opened, Hamlet and Ophelia appeared as lovers experiencing a time of turbulence. Hamlet had just returned home from his schooling in Saxony to find that his mother had quickly remarried her dead husband's brother, and this gravely upset him. Hamlet was sincerely devoted to the idea of bloodline loyalty and sought revenge upon learning that Claudius had killed his father. Ophelia, though it seems her relationship with Hamlet is in either the developmental stage or the finalizing stage, became the prime choice as a lure for Hamlet. Laertes inadvertently opened Ophelia up to this role when he spoke with Ophelia about Hamlet before leaving for France. He allowed Polonius to find out about Hamlet's courtship of Ophelia, which led to Polonius' misguided attempts at taking care of Ophelia and obeying the king's command to find the root of Hamlet's problems. Ophelia, placed in the middle against her wishes, obeyed her father and brother's commands with little disagreement. The only time she argued was when Laertes advised her against making decisions incompatible with the expectations of Elizabethan women. Ophelia tells him, in her boldest lines of the play:

    Read More

  • The Abuse of Ophelia in "Hamlet"

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Female Role In Ophelia

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ophelia, in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, represents a self-confident and aware female character. She analyzes the world around her and recognizes the multitude of male figures attempting to control her life. Her actions display not only this awareness, but also maturity in her non-confrontational discussions. Though she is demeaned by Laertes, Polonius, and Hamlet, Ophelia exhibits intelligence and independence and ultimately resorts to suicide in order to free herself from the power of the men around her.

    Read More

  • The Innocence of Gertrude and Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is much similarity between Gertrude and Ophelia in the play. Both are attractive and simple minded, and are easily shaped by opinion, desires and ideas of others. Ophelia and Gertrude seem to be the same women at different stages in their lives. This may be one of the reasons why Hamlet was first attracted to Ophelia and now the reason why Hamlet rejects Ophelia.

    Read More

  • Hamlet Ophelia Character Analysis

    993 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the play Hamlet Ophelia is portrayed as an innocent young woman who does not have a say in anything. All the men control Hamlet, her father Polonius, and her brother Laertes. She is portrayed as inferior to all of them and lets herself be pushed around by them. She is unable to convey her opinions or emotions throughout the play. The men dominate her thoughts and behaviors. In Hamlet, Ophelia’s obedience to her father and brother, along with her dismissal by Hamlet, reveals that women were not allowed to assert their opinions, emotions, or desires in a courtly setting.

    Read More

  • The Analysis of the Character Ophelia on Hamlet

    1284 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Tragic Tragedy Of Ophelia

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet, he portrays a young Ophelia, who battles with her desire to please her father and Hamlet, eventually driving her to her own demise. The way Ophelia is perceived by the other characters in the book is not how the reader perceives her. Her love for Hamlet is strong, and very apparent throughout the play. The other characters, however, view her in the opposite manner. Her own father, Polonius, labeled her as a whore, casting her aside as useless. Ophelia’s pain consumes her as she fails to please her family and the man she loves dearly.

    Read More

  • Role of Women in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ophelia’s betrayal ends up putting Hamlet over the edge, motivating him in his quest for revenge. Ophelia is one of the two women in the play. As the daughter of Polonius, she only speaks in the company of several men, or directly to her brother or father. Since we never see her interactions with women, she suppresses her own thoughts in order to please her superiors. Yet, however weak and dependent her character is on the surface, Ophelia is a cornerstone to the play’s progression.

    Read More

More about The Character Ophelia In Shakespeare's Hamlet

Open Document