Ophelia In Hamlet Essay

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The tragedy of Hamlet, is one of Shakespeare’s most tragic plays. Most of the characters in this play suffered a heart-breaking death, although, all of the characters faced anger, regret, madness or distress. For instance the character Ophelia is completely driven to madness by the main character and ex lover, Hamlet. Ophelia exists as a tragic character in Hamlet and one that is entirely pitiable because of unfortunate circumstances that she has been put through. It is proven, in many ways, to be caused by Hamlet. For example, Ophelia is torn between two competing impulses. She is loyal to her father, Polonius, he doesn't want Ophelia to have anything to do with Hamlet; he thinks that Hamlet doesn't really respect her and just looks at her …show more content…
To prove this, Ophelia's songs all concern unrequited love. The third song, in fact, blatantly indicts a lover who has left his love's bed. "Before you tumbled me, you promised me to wed."(4,5,45). This song provides another proof that Ophelia's madness stems from her having been intimate with Hamlet and then rejected by him. In fact, considering her father's instructions that she not let Hamlet have his way with her, Polonius' death could only exacerbate her guilt. Premarital sex was a sin compounded by her father's command. As believed, she now carries Hamlet's child, therefore her desperation became all consuming. The problem with being completely obedient and passive is that you can't fight back when you really need to. Hamlet seemed to find out 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). 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. This helps push Ophelia towards her madness because of her struggle between the two men in her life, her father and her lover. She was stuck in between the two and never able to pick
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