Comparing Hamlet And Ophelia In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the character Ophelia is very controversial due to the fact that Shakespeare places her as the focus inside the minds of all the men in her life such as Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet. Although Ophelia may appear to just be a beautiful, weak girl, she has the ability to gain power and attention over all of the men in her life. Throughout the play, Ophelia does not have much of a voice while also being mistreated and emotionally abused by her boyfriend Hamlet. Although Ophelia does not express her opinions and emotions publicly, she propels the plot along by influencing major events. Ophelia’s weak, indecisive, and obedient personality allows her to progress the plot by Shakespeare making her the focus of the men in

The play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, looks at the issue of madness and how it effects the characters of the play. Madness can be looked at from very different perspectives, such as strong and uncontrollable emotions, a person’s desires, and also a persons mental stability. Throughout the play, the audience is questioning the sanity of the main character, Hamlet, as he goes on his quest for revenge. The people around him also show signs of madness, such as Ophelia and Claudius, but in different forms. Existentialist philosopher Friedrich Nietzche says, “There is always some madness in love. But there is also some reason in madness.” What Nietzche is saying is that when you are in love with someone or something, there is always a little

Denmark is in a state of chaos shown by the opening death of the true

  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.

‘The pangs of despised love” (3.1.72). Though Ophelia’s father, Polonius, in The Tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, orders her to stay away from Prince Hamlet, that does not stop her from loving him. The love that both Prince Hamlet and Ophelia share appears to be very strong, but sensitive at the same time. The mistake that Ophelia makes not only breaks Prince Hamlet’s heart and love, but it also makes her go crazy trying to redeem that lost love.

Madness, the state of being mentally ill, exuberating extreme behavior, or a state of a frenzied mind. A definition which is a recurring major theme in Hamlet. By comparing and contrasting Hamlet to Ophelia, readers can see the different state of mind between the two characters.

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.

Both Ophelia from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet along with the unnamed woman from “Anne Sexton’s Music Swims Back To Me” both face very horrendous tragedies, this proves to be the undoing of their sanity. In “Anne Sexton’s Music Swims Back To Me”. The woman in the poem is very perceptibly confused and distraught, she appears lost and there isn’t anything clear to point her towards what to do or where to go. The woman appears to be scared that is until she hears the music. It is the sole thing she has to help her cope. The music calms her, it is her helping hand to remembering her old memories. Inside the mental institution she is revealed to be in as a result of the unrevealed tragedy she is facing. What’s more she is told what to do by

I went a little over when I was writing this analysis but I wanted to pack in as much information as I could. I took what I felt were the three major points of this play with women in it. I analyzed how Shakespeare portrayed and meant the two major female characters to be (Ophilia and Gertrude), and an example of the interactions between Ophelia and Hamlet, as they were very consistent throughout the story, and are an interesting but very easy display of societal norms at that time.

In this case Ophelia is taking his fathers dead very seriously. She has a lost her mind, and she has not find out yet that the murder of her father , more than anything is her beloved Hamlet; in act 3, scene 4, lines 24 through 31, we can appreciate that when he hears noise behind the arras, he draws his sword and stabs it through the arras, killing Ophelia's father, Polonius, When Ophelia claims “ He is dead and gone, lady. He is dead and gone….” ( 4.5.25) show us that she misses her father and she cannot forget him. However, the murder of Hamlet's father is his uncle, someone of his own family. Hamlet did not know who was the murder or the way his father was murdered , until his own father's ghost appears to him and says to him “... ‘Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me”(1.5.35-36) “... The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown.”. (1.5. 39-40). This explains to us that the murder is his uncle because he is now marrying his mother, becoming the new

Strength and weakness are the two extremes between which Ophelia and Gertrude oscillate. Despite their characters being viewed as powerless victims, their paradoxical nature makes them unique and representative of human dilemmas. If these characters were fully formed, they would not allow us to fully understand the patriarchal mindset of the time. Polonius and Hamlet manipulate Ophelia. Ophelia`s voice remains ignored as the other characters and plan. However, her final act of taking her own life signifies a strength of sorts. Gertrude appears to extensively try to keep the peace between Claudius and Hamlet. Though Hamlet hurts and disrespects Gertrude, she never retaliates or demands respect. Though her actions seem weak, she shows strength when she agrees that many of her actions may be sinful. Therefore, the paradoxical nature of both these women characters presents an interesting contrast.

    The Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet features two female characters in main roles, Ophelia and Gertrude. They are similar in a surprising number of ways. This essay proposes to elucidate the reader on their likeness or similarity.

   Michael Pennington in “Ophelia: Madness Her Only Safe Haven,” elucidates the character of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet:

Hamlet and Ophelia were both forced into situations they weren 't in a position for due to the fact of instances. Given their royal and social role, they needed to care for distinct things most humans don 't seem to be involved about- akin to who has the correct to rule and avenging a father 's murder. In addition, they had been each younger. Ophelia had the fact that she was female as good.

Elbert Hubbard, who is an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher, once said, “There is no failure except in no longer trying.” Hubbard’s idea rings true for Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. She should have known this before she let go of something important in her life. Ophelia had a love for Hamlet that she thought was true, but a series of events that took place have broken that love. In the end, she was driven insane from her grief. Ophelia has the fatal flaw of being a stereotypical girl during the time period this book was written. She is obedient, unable to take action, and excessively dramatic. While these traits may be beneficial at times, they led to her insanity and, consequently, her death.