Throughout the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600’s, the relationship between the protagonist Hamlet and a girl named Ophelia is judged and ridiculed by Ophelia’s father Polonius, who is King Claudius’ counselor. The way that Polonius advises Ophelia and judges Hamlet’s intentions would be analysed in similar and different ways by a father from Shakespearean times compared to a father from modern times. Because Christianity was the prominent religion in the early 1600’s this would lead to a father from that era strongly believing in concepts such as sex after marriage. He would also strongly encourage the traditional values and expectations of a woman. However a father from modern times would be open to many different …show more content…
Polonius’ response is “in few, Ophelia, do not believe his vows, for they are brokers” (line 135-136). He then continues on to advise her not to speak to Hamlet anymore. Here Polonius sees Hamlet’s “holy vows of heaven” as just ways to get Ophelia to have sex with him rather than actual true feelings for his daughter (line 123). Furthermore he views those vows as disguised enticements into a sinful relationship that is against the beliefs of Christianity. Polonius tells Ophelia not to speak to Hamlet anymore. His reasoning he does not explicitly share is because he does not want to see her get hurt nor does he want her sleeping …show more content…
Polonius immediately wants to tell King Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, that Ophelia’s denial toward Hamelt has made him go crazy. He tells Ophelia “I will go seek the King. This is the very ecstasy of love, whose violent property fordoes itself and leads the will to desperate undertakings” (lines 113-116). Rather than asking how Ophelia feels about Hamlet, Polonius contends that love is self - destructive and causes people to do “desperate” things. His manner subjugates Ophelia and makes it seem that her feelings are not that important. Instead, Polonius is more concerned about how Hamlet has recently gone crazy and he believes that it is due to
We are first introduced to the flawed relationship between Polonius and Ophelia when her brother, Laertes, is departing for Norway in Act 1 Scene 3. Here, Ophelia shows the viewer/reader her subservient behavior and her undeniable love for her family, and how that is taken for granted at the same time. Laertes tries to warn Ophelia and convince her not to get involved with Hamlet, “Fear it, Ophelia. Fear it, my dear sister, / And keep you in the rear of your affection, / Out of the shot and danger of desire.” (I.iii.33-35). Laertes is, to be blunt, telling Ophelia not to have premarital sex with Hamlet, basically scaring her away from doing so. And though she readily agrees, because he is after all her brother, it is Polonius that really uses and takes advantage of Ophelia’s loyalty to her family.
Ophelia states Hamlet has been “affectionate”. Polonius warns her to be careful before she becomes looking like a fool that had been played around with. He tells her to talk to him less.
With her father’s word being law and with that what he says she must follow, if she refuses Polonius, she risks social exclusion and grave insult to the man who controls her future. Her real attitude is clear when she has a conversation about chastity, first with Laertes, her brother, then with Polonius, her father. After Laertes rather explicitly warns Ophelia to fear losing her virginity, she replies by telling him not to lecture her, “Whiles, a puff'd and reckless libertine, / Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads, / And recks not his own rede” (1.3.48-50). When polonius gives her the same lecture and tells her not to accept Hamlet’s propositions, she simply replies, “I shall obey, my lord”
The causes of Ophelia's decent into madness start long before she is raving and signing rude songs. It is a madness brought of mistreatment; a mistreatment that started with her father. Upon first hearing of Hamlet's affection for her Polonius is very dismissive of it. He even tells her not to waste her time with him as a result "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." (Shakespeare & Bevington, 2009, pp. P1105 L133-135) This is given as an order, which Ophelia says she will obey. The earlier exchange is quite dismissive of the affection between Ophelia and Hamlet, despite her defending it in terms of Hamlet having shown that love both in words and gifts and the defense of him courting her in an honorable fashion. Polonius is again quick to dismiss his daughter's view of the world saying "Affection? Pooh! you speak like a green ...
Ophelia is talking to her father Polonius about Hamlet and she mentions to her father that Hamlet has given her gifts: "He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders / Of his affection to me" (1.3.99-100). Polonius is afraid Ophelia will get pregnant by Hamlet, because he thinks Hamlet won 't marry his daughter. Polonius only worries is his reputation, and he doesn 't want his daughter to make a fool out of him. Polonius also mentions that
In 1600, William Shakespeare composed what is considered the greatest tragedy of all time, Hamlet, the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark. His masterpiece forever redefined what tragedy should be. Critics have analyzed it word for word for nearly four hundred years, with each generation appreciating Hamlet in its own way. While Hamlet conforms, without a doubt, to Aristotle's definition of a tragedy, one question still lingers. Did Shakespeare intend for the reader or viewer of Hamlet to feel greater sympathy for Hamlet, or for Ophelia, Hamlet's lover? Both characters tug at the heartstrings throughout the play, but it is clear that 'the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark' is a misrepresentation of Shakespeare's true intention.
The way that Polonius acts as a good father towards Ophelia is mostly how he doesn’t want her to get hurt by Hamlet. Ophelia tells Polonius all about what Hamlet has said and given her. She tells her father that Hamlet gives her presents and tells her nice things out of affection.
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 ...
Hamlet, Ophelia’s lover, accidentally kills her father and “confesses” he never loved her, Hamlet toys with Ophelia's emotions intentionally and unintentionally to solidify his madness. Even though she was the who initiated the “breakup”, her sorrows of the relationship are much more public than Hamlets. Hamlet’s madness scares Ophelia away which he used as a defense mechanism to not be hurt anymore. His madness looks as though he had been "loosed out of hell to speak of horrors" (2.1.83-84) and she "truly [did] fear it"(2.1. 86). His insanity and rudeness suffocated any love she had for him. She admits that their "their perfume [has been] lost" (3.1. 99). This helped Hamlet solidify his insanity by cutting ties with the ones he loves, and having them tell others he is mad. This comes with the cost of discontinuing his relationships: especially with Ophelia. Both have hinted around in the text of an intimate affair. This makes the emotions and breakup even more difficult for both of them. Their relationship was a love, not an innocent crush or courtship. Poor Ophelia initially thought she caused Hamlet's madness due to the abrupt ending of their affair. But because of her naivety, she lacks to see his other internal struggles. Ophelia’s trust in Hamlet left her heartbroken. Hamlet’s agenda of or getting justice for his father occupied his mind more than Ophelia did. Which left her feeling
In the life of Ophelia, it can be seen that she is very dependant on Polonius. She obeys him, even if she doesn’t want to. When she is told by Polonius, “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.”(1.3.132-135), her immediate response is, “I shall obey, my lord” (1.3.136). Being a woman, Ophelia is not allowed to make many of her own decisions in life, and therefore grows to rely heavily on her father. When her father commands her not to “give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet”, Ophelia complies, even though she believes that he really does love her, because she said earlier, “He hath, my lord, of later made many tenders/ Of his affection for me” (1.3.99-100). She immediately promises to obey, demonstrating her custom to follow his orders, even though it is not what she desires. By saying, “my lord”, she is respectfully acknowledging her father’s request, and submitting herself to his authority. In doing so, she continues in her dependance on him.
Ophelia is first portrayed as an innocent, or as her father, Polonius, describes, "a green girl" (1.3.101). The concern lies not with Ophelia's behavior, but with Hamlet's lustful desires for her--she is told to see him no more. Polonius then confronts Gertrude and Claudius, Hamlet's mother and uncle/father, with Hamlet's attempts to seduce his daughter. As evidence, he has confiscated a love letter written to Ophelia by Hamlet. Claudius challenges Polonius's accusations by asking, "But how hath she received his love?" (2.2.127-28). This response is the first implication of the possible absence of Ophelia's chastity.
The most wonderful and intriguing topic for discussion is one of Shakespeare’s play has to be the relationship of Hamlet and Ophelia. Some people have doubted the love that is there, while others believed that there was love. Today in our current generation we still read and analyze this bond that they have. Everyone at least has experienced love in some kind of way to know how love should and should not feel, and even how love looks. So how about we try to get find out the truth in this romantic, horrific, and tragic play. The bond/romance that Hamlet and Ophelia is real, but it was also used and at one time even put to an end so how intertwined were they really?
Polonius is selfish and only cares about his well-being. Polonius does not care about Ophelia and her relationship with Hamlet, but only cares that it makes him look bad. Polonius is more worried about where he stands with King Claudius, than his standing with his daughter’s thoughts and feelings. When he discusses Hamlets love with her he states, “You’ll tender me fool,” a...
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). Telling her that she is a "green girl" and to think of herself as "a baby" in this matter, he insists that she must stop seeing him.
He is essentially telling Ophelia how she should be behaving and reacting to her own situations. This is portraying her as a woman who cannot think for herself and is dependant on Polonius. In addition, Polonius’ death is the trigger to Ophelia’s insanity, because she depended upon him a great deal. When Ophelia is told by Polonius to never contact Hamlet again, she obeys Polonius, but Hamlet acts crazy in reaction to her denial. Ophelia says, “No, my good lord; but, as you did command, / I did repel his letters and denied / His actions to me.” (2.1.109-111) By doing everything Polonius tell her to do, she makes matters for herself worse. Ophelia cannot stand up for her...