When her father orders her to quit seeing hamlet, she agrees i shall obey my lord 1.3.145. Later, when polonius uses her as bait to spy on hamlet for king claudius, she does exactly what she's told 3.1. Essentially, ophelia has no control over her body, her relationships, or her choices. Except that her dad is basically president and ceo of a matchmaking service for one: her marriage is totally in his control. And eventually, ophelia snaps just like a lot of people who spend their lives obeying other people without any sense of personal agency. The problem with being completely obedient and passive is that you can't fight back when you really need to.

Hamlet seems to know that ophelia is helping her dad spy on him, and he accuses her and all women of being a breeder of sinners and orders ophelia to a nunnery 3.1.131 132 , i.e. But she can't call him out on his language, because, as a good girl, she can't admit that she knows what it means. He says that if ophelia were to marry, she'd turn her husband into a monster, or a cuckold cuckolds were thought to have horns like monsters because she would inevitably cheat on him 3.1.151 and then he follows up these sweet nothings with a little i loved you not 3.1.129. Ophelia seems pretty crushed by all this: and i, of ladies most deject and wretched, that sucked the honey of his music vows, now see that noble and most sovereign reason, … out of time and harsh 160 3.1.169 171 172. But what's her recourse? she can't vent about it on facebook she can't even go find herself a nice rebound hookup.

In fact, her reputation depends on pretending that she never cared about his at all. In act i, laertes dispenses advice to ophelia on the pitfalls of pre marital sex for women, not men in a lengthy speech that's geared toward instilling a sense of fear into his sister. Just what you want to hear from your brother, right? in fact, he tells ophelia three times that she should fear intimacy with hamlet. Is laertes just looking out for his little sister's best interests? maybe, but his speech is also full of vivid innuendo, as when he compares intercourse to a canker worm invading and injuring a delicate flower before its buds, or buttons have had time to open 1.3.43 44. This graphic allusion to the anatomy of female genitalia turns his sister into an erotic object while still insisting on ophelia's chastity. Laertes takes a typically elizabethan stance toward female sexuality a deflowered woman was damaged goods that no man would want to marry.

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Which brings us to one important question: did hamlet and ophelia actually have sex? we don't know for sure. What's so tragic about ophelia in our humble opinion is that she hasn't done anything wrong, and she gets destroyed by the patriarchal court culture anyway. Some of the flowers ophelia gives away during her mad scene like rue and wormwood were used for centuries in abortion potions. And there's something pretty suggestive about the fact that she's literally being deflowered giving flowers away. Would it make a difference if they'd actually had sex? whether they've had sex or not, that's a lot of pressure to put on a young woman.

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When she goes mad, she sings a bawdy song about a maiden who is tricked into losing her virginity with a false promise of marriage 4.5.63 71 part of the reason why many literary critics see ophelia's madness as a result of patriarchal pressure and abuse. Gertrude describes it to us seems right that it's another woman: when down her weedy trophies and herself fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide, 160 and, mermaid like awhile they bore her up, 160 which time she chanted snatches of old lauds, 160 as one incapable of her own distress or like a creature native and endued unto that element. But long it could not be till that her garments, heavy with their drink, pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay notice how her death seems to be passive? rather than straight up committing suicide, as gertrude tells us, she accidentally falls in the water and then simply neglects to save herself from sinking.

This seems to be a metaphor for the way ophelia lives her life: doing what her father and brother and boyfriend tell her to do, rather than making decisions for herself. Gertrude also suggests that ophelia's drowning was natural when she describes ophelia as being like a native creature in the water. We also notice that ophelia is described as being mermaid like with her clothes spread wide. Will fortinbras's reign change that? i n the beginning of the tragedy hamlet by william shakespeare, ophelia has devoted her love to the prince of denmark. The intelligent and kind ophelia, however, betrays her father, and later collapses into insanity and kills herself.when ophelia s father ask about hamlet she tells him the hamlet has made many offers of his affection, she describes his love as honorable. Ophelia is very deceitful towards hamlet because polonius and king claudius sets up something for ophelia to return all of hamlet s gifts to see if he is really crazy or if he is just acting. In william shakespeare x27 s hamlet, the title character x27 s love for ophelia comes into question.

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In this essay i will demonstrate that hamlet x27 s feelings for ophelia are true and he loves her. Throughout the play there are key passages and actions that demonstrate hamlet x27 s affinity for ophelia. Hamlet being discreet and personal time and time again reassures ophelia of his love for her. In shakespeare x27 s play hamlet, hamlet finds out that his father has been murdered. Ophelia was self destructed due to the death of her father, which was caused by hamlet.

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3.1.150 hamlet has left the audience with uncertainty about how he is feeling about ophelia. Pretty ophelia, 157 as claudius calls her, is the most innocent victim of hamlet x27 s revenge in shakespeare x27 s play hamlet. Ophelia sucked the honey of his music vows 157 and returned hamlet x27 s affection. This may be one of the reasons why hamlet was first attracted to ophelia and now the reason why hamlet rejects ophelia. But as she sees hamlet x27 s madness deteriorate even further, she seizes the idea that hamlet x27 s madness might actually be caused by his love for ophelia. Opheliain the play hamlet by william shakespeare, the character of ophelia is portrayed as an easily controlled, dependent, and weak individual.

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When ophelia confides in her father that hamlet came to her and was mad for thy loveae 157 89.86 , polonius devises a plan in order to show the king and queen that the cause of hamlet s madness is indeed that of a love sick fool. It may be the result of sheer jealousy that polonius and laertes discourage hamlet seeing ophelia. Hamlet, who controls the world as laertes and polonius know it, would be taking away the one thing they have an. Hamlet and ophelia are linked by many common characteristics, not the least of which is their madness.

After polonius tells ophelia to repel hamlet x27 s letters, hamlet enters ophelia x27 s room and looks at her with such a piteous and saddened face that even ophelia begins to think there is something wrong with him. Ophelia and hamlet have their famous argument with hamlet telling ophelia to get to a nunnery, and ophelia saying to herself, o, what a noble mind is here o x27 erthrown!. 1106 this quote from laertes to his sister, ophelia, is stating that hamlet is a victim of circumstance. Hamlet, who has been attempting to get with ophelia, is a prince, which means that he may not have a choice in who he marries.

1106 he is suggesting that hamlet wouldn x27 t be able to continue a relationship with ophelia anyway, because he is the prince and might have an arranged marriage. Polonius has a pre conceived notion that hamlet is out to deliberately hurt ophelia which is even more of a drastic accusation than laertes x27. During act one scene three, we are presented with the growing attraction between the young hamlet, and polonius x27 daughter, ophelia. Interestingly, ophelia admits to her father that she did repel his letters, and denied his access to me , regarding the young hamlet ophelia decided to quell hamlet x27 s access to her altogether. Ophelia x27 s and hamlet x27 s love for each other in the beginning was very real.

When hamlet receives the letter from ophelia he is affected terribly by her words. Polonius convinced ophelia that her betrayal of hamlet was a necessary evil and she began to relay all of hamlet x27 s messages. The occurrence after their breakup was even more upsetting to ophelia because of the harsh way hamlet treated her.