Ophelia Cromwell Essay

Ophelia is having an internal conflict in which she has her own beliefs and values but is forced to follow the wishes of her father. After seeing the hypocrisy in her father and her lover Ophelia loses trust in love. Ophelia’s father states that “Then I’ll tell you. Believe that you are a foolish little baby for believing these “offers” are something real. Offer yourself more respect, or—not to beat this word to death—you’ll offer me the chance to be a laughing-stock.”

We see Ophelia torn between her desire to be near Hamlet or pleasing her father and her brother. This clearly represents a massive internal conflict to Ophelia. Especially when she has been ordered by her father to stay away from Hamlet. Then, He ordered again to be the bait for Cladius who 's want to snoop on her conversation with Hamlet. Hence, Ophelia placed for the second time in a difficult choice, She must choose between her loyalty to her father or her loyalty to her lover

Ophelia’s lie to Hamlet marked betrayal in their relationship and ultimately the end to their trust. Inevitably, Ophelia’s honour with Hamlet was broken by her betrayals and lies she presented. The fate

As the innocent victim of Hamlet’s feigned madness, Ophelia’s insanity is a product of her inability to cope with Hamlet and her father’s death. Her songs show hidden grief and sorrow; her flowers represent the fact that beneath the innocent exterior, there is a weakness or flaw in everyone. Hamlet was able to look past his grief for his father’s death, but he caused someone he loves to be in pain. Whether it is the frailty of women, sorrow, or death, anything, including love, can appear to be pleasant, but can be the ultimate cause of a person’s

Hamlet encounters Ophelia, his estranged lover, after mulling over his own melancholy during the first scene of Act III. It is the first time that Ophelia and Hamlet have seen each other since Hamlet frightened Ophelia by her intruding upon her privacy and barging into her closet while she was sewing. Neither party is particularly pleased to see one another and they are both vocal about their discontent. Their interaction revolves around honesty and its importance to Hamlet, drawing comparisons between his own honesty and the honesty of other characters such as Ophelia and Gertrude. It establishes tension between Hamlet’s values and his own actions and the appearance on one’s intentions versus the reality.

Although I disagree with the character traits presented by the author, it has provided me with some insight regarding Ophelia. That insight being the possibility that Ophelia’s personality may be a facade. Ophelia

but wherefore I know not—lost all my mirth.” His depression over his father’s illness is very real but often rolled up in his faked madness. On the other hand, Ophelia is genuinely “mad,” sick with grief over her father’s death and unable to fit in with the court society. Her scene with her brother, who just confirmed his father’s death, is heartbreaking. She doesn’t recognize him at all.

Part of Hamlet revolved around a frail, timid, feminine figure named Ophelia and their relationship together. Elaine Showalter notes that Ophelia only appears in five out of the twenty scenes in the play, in which that itself reflects male dominance of the Elizabethan era; in other scenes she is merely added as a flashback (Showalter 221). Despite her relative absence in the majority of the play, however, Ophelia still gets attention from readers and play goers. But why? It is because of in her few scenes, the tragic circumstances she faces stands out more.

Thus, Ophelia’s “madness” is determined by the extent to which she subverts female gender expectations. The more she exhibits traits traditionally associated with men, the more “mad” she becomes. In this context, Ophelia serves as both a caricature and a warning against female enlightenment as told through a patriarchal lense. She is ultimately ostracized from society, implying that women who seek freedom will receive the same fate as

They did sleep together, and then Hamlet told Ophelia that she needed to go to a nunnery and that he would never marry a girl who slept around. Ophelia's feelings turned around and she felt very disrespected by

Just one of these traumatic events could make a character go mad, but the combination of the three justifies Ophelia’s madness. The use of these three tragic events in Ophelia’s life makes her madness reasonable. The first event to happen that changes Ophelia’s demeanor is her relationship problems with her boyfriend, Hamlet. In Act III, Scene I of the play, Ophelia says to Hamlet “My lord, I have remembrances of yours, That I have longed long

For the duration of the play, Ophelia was portrayed as a naïve and submissive woman. Her passivity and powerlessness reinforce the voicelessness of women during the Elizabethan era. For example, “I shall obey, my lord” (I.iii.134) shows that Ophelia concedes to her father’s will, even though she believes Hamlet’s love is genuine. She is willing and expected to obey her father despite the fact that she still loves Hamlet, which emphasizes her character’s submissive nature. Furthermore, in Act I Laertes warns Ophelia that it would be shameful of her to love Hamlet, and she responds with “I shall the effect of this good lesson keep as a watchman to my heart” (I.iii.45).

Before Hamlet supposedly made love to Ophelia, Hamlet promised her that he would marry her. Instead, he just ended up mocking and offending her. Laertes came home when he found out his father was murdered, but he found Ophelia going mad, “Drowned, drowned” (4.7.210). Queen Gertrude informed Laertes that Ophelia had committed suicide in a creek. She was sunk down by her

In Act III, scene i of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, readers will come upon Ophelia’s soliloquy. After Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have failed to find a reason as to why Hamlet is acting in a peculiar and mad way, Claudius is persuaded by Polonius that the reason for Hamlet’s madness is the broken romance between Hamlet and Ophelia. To prove this, Claudius and Polonius plan to spy on Ophelia’s meeting with Hamlet. During their conversation, Hamlet denies ever having loved her and curses her. Ophelia is left fretting over his sanity.

As a young woman of the 1600’s Ophelia is most likely unaware of the patriarchy that shadows above her. “I do not know my lord, what should I think?”. Ophelia is so unsure about her affair with Hamlet that she