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Claudius: The Wrongful Death Of Ophelia

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Cloture for Claudius: The Wrongful Death of Ophelia
To blame, or not to blame? In Act I, scene v, Hamlet, the titular hero of William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, bemoaned the vile corruption that manifested “in this distracted globe” (Shakespeare, trans. 1986, 1.5.101-102) after discovering the heinous murder of his father. This is only the first of numerous catastrophes to transpire in Denmark. The most spiteful of these misfortunes is the death of pure and innocent Ophelia, lover of Hamlet and daughter of Polonius. Although one may initially regard her drowning as an accident, upon closer examination, it becomes evident that after enduring several tribulations, most notably the sudden murder of her father, Ophelia lost the desire to live. …show more content…

Hamlet was the first domino to tumble. In the woods, the ghost of Old Hamlet asserted that “. . . The serpent that did sting thy father’s life / Now wears his crown” (Shakespeare, trans. 1986, 1.5.44-45). In conjunction with Claudius’s prompt marriage to Hamlet’s mother, the prince became enraged and enacts a plot to avenge his father’s regicide. As a part of his plan, he decided to feign madness, putting himself in a better position to take revenge and protecting him according to the contemporaneous pagan belief that the mad were divinely touched. Observing Hamlet’s irregular mentality, Claudius feared that his murder of Old Hamlet was the root of Hamlet’s lunacy and a forthcoming attack, in revenge, would endanger his crown. The defendant thus proceeded to take drastic measures to determine what, in actuality, troubled …show more content…

Upon first learning of this tragedy, the defendant egotistically remarked, “It had been so with us had we been there,” fearing his people will blame him (Shakespeare, trans. 1986, 4.1.14). In an attempt to avoid tumult and inquiries from the people, Claudius arranged a hastened and undignified funeral for Polonius; this imaginably exacerbated the already troublesome situation for Ophelia. Claudius advanced to send Hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. By doing this, the defendant protected himself and avoided punishing Hamlet, which would have upset Gertrude and the commoners. However, Claudius may have feared that in prosecuting the prince for the murder, he risked Hamlet disclosing he was trying to kill Claudius. As Shakespearean scholar A. C. Bradley (2010) explained, this course would foreseeably raise the question of the defendant’s own behavior at the play. Though this may have been advantageous for the king, it was the opposite for Ophelia. With her brother Laertes at college, her father dead, and her companion across the sea, Ophelia had nobody to support her amid such immense suffering. Moreover, Ophelia could not ask Hamlet about his alleged involvement in the murder. This grueling uncertainty served the final blow that drove her to take her own life. At the end of the play, even Laertes, who initially blamed Hamlet, recognized Claudius’s culpability for the

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In the Elizabethan life, this act by Hamlet who is supposed to become the new king as he is next in line since his father had been murdered, would pass over and no one would believe that he did it without any physical proof of him doing it. It could just be sign of jealousy from king Claudius and would backfire on him if he were to try and presume legal action for the death of Polonius. The motivation of King Claudius is to try and get Hamlet sent away so he can cover up the fact that he had murdered his own brother so he could marry his wife. The motivation of Hamlet is to get revenge on King Claudius for his father, but if he was sent away then thee would be no one to get revenge on him for his sins. I think Shakespeare portrayed King

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This worked out in his favor because he was able to put reason behind his actions of sending Hamlet to England. Furthermore, after hearing of his fathers death, Laertes and an angry mob storm into the castle to accuse the king of murder. Claudius is able to convince Laertes that he is innocent and that Laertes should get revenge on Hamlet: “Hamlet comes back: what would you undertake, To show yourself your father’s son in deed More

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In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Ophelia intentionally kills herself. Ophelia, stricken to her core by the heinous murder of her Father, Polonium, began experiencing hysteria. Spiraling into despair, Ophelia quickly drifted into madness eventually unable to coherently answer questions. In her final hours, Ophelia surrounded herself with the beauty of nature.

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Hamlet has come to see his mother, Queen Gertrude, and ends up stabbing Lord Polonius, which ultimately leads to his death. Lord Polonius’ final words include “O, I am slain!” Even though this provides a slight amount of comic relief to the reader, it has a reverse effect on Ophelia’s mental state. Her father’s death seems to be the potent punch in this fight because she officially goes mad after this final event. This is apparent in Scene IV Act I, when Laertes has come back to visit his sister and check on her well being.

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She can’t accept the fact of Polonius’s death and doesn’t know what she should do next because no one would instruct her anymore. She also recalls that Hamlet had promised he would marry her, but now he had killed her father and betrayed her. Finally, Ophelia’s madness loses control and her sanity unravels which led to her death. She had no idea what herself was doing. She began to act strangely and sing weird songs all the time to express her emotion in her own way.

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He blames everything on Claudius because he is the one that killed Hamlet’s father and now his mother. This give Hamlet peace about all of the events that have lead to this moment. We should learn from this that revenge in haste can be chaotic and unsuccessful. Revenge may not always be the answer, but if that is what you choose, then it needs to be well thought out and tested for flaws. I think that Laertes got the revenge that he wanted and even though it resulted in his own death as well, he got some closure that he needed.

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As one incapable of her own distress… To muddy death” (IV, vii, 164-185). Here readers see that truly Ophelia’ madness has quite literally driven her to her death. While it is unknown if her death was an accident or suicide, it is clear to see that if it were not for her delusion, she would have had the ability to be cautious and self aware, thus preventing her drowning. The culminating effects of her father dying and Hamlet’s abandonment have driven Ophelia not only to a delusional state, but to her death.

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The character of Ophelia in Hamlet enters the play as a content, though naïve, young woman. However, Hamlet’s apparent rejection of her love and her father’s subsequent murder drive all reason from her head. She reverts to a simple-minded state, entering a world of madness. Because she is incapable of rational thought, Ophelia’s death is an accident rather than a suicide. A primary indicator of the accidental nature of Ophelia’s death is that it does not conform to traditional tragic suicide.

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According to (doc c), Hamlet kills Ophelia’s father for the no reason. Ophelia clearly is not happy about this action that Hamlet could have easily avoided. Also, Hamlet isn’t that respectful when it comes to the harassment and the torture that he inflicts on Ophelia just to get words out of her or other’s mouths. Ophelia is deeply affected by Hamlet during his plan to kill Claudius, and a common theory made by readers (doc d) is that Ophelia drowned herself because Hamlet is doing everything wrong to avenge the king, causing Ophelia to feel stressed over the limit. Hamlet also faked to love Ophelia to get information from her.

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However, Hamlet’s need for revenge inadvertently led to Ophelia’s death. By being so

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Throughout the play, Ophelia acts as a very honest person in the beginning, willing to tell Laertes and Polonius anything. She then receives mistreated love from Hamlet that leads her to drowning herself in a river. The true face and actions from Ophelia, Laertes, Polonius, Queen Gertrude, King Claudius, and particularly Hamlet lead to their deaths. The end result leads to unfortunate events, including death. The love throughout the kingdom of Denmark becomes toxic, killing all who lives

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Claudius, as seen in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is both intelligent and clever, two traits that, put together, complement his manipulative and dangerous nature. Due to his cunning nature he portrays the role of a very complex villain. The death of King Hamlet by Claudius results in Prince Hamlet to act out of character, which thus resulted in the tragic death of Polonius and Ophelia. While Hamlet and Gertrude were having conversation, Polonius was hiding behind the huge carpet that was hanging on the wall. Unknowingly, Hamlet stabs Polonius.

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Caught between the moral conflict of Claudius being the king and married to his mother, Hamlet falls into a depression. Depressed and not wanting to deal with the reality, he contemplates dying “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer” (III.1.56-57). Appalled at how his mother could so easily forget her first husband and marry his uncle, Hamlet lashes out at his mother Gertrude, who considers him “Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend Which is the mightier: in his lawless fit” (IV.1.6-7). Struggling with mixed emotions of anger, anxiety, and grief over his father’s death, Hamlet feels betrayed by his mother “A little month, or ere those shoes were old with which she followed my poor father’s body” (I.2.147-148). Not only is he betrayed by his mother, but also by Ophelia, his love, as she takes the side of Claudius over his, because of her father, Polonius.

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Hamlet's madness came first from seeing the ghost of his father. The ghost of his father told him that Hamlet needed to avenge his death by killing Claudius. That ought to make a person really nervous when they see a ghost and the ghost says that you have to kill the king. "O all you host heaven! O earth! What else?

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1427 Words | 6 Pages

In “Hamlet” a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, the death of a character is an occurring event. William Shakespeare uses imagery and allusion to demonstrate the result of manipulation from other characters upon Ophelia, daughter of Polonius, and leading up to her death. Her death was not the consequence of disgraceful actions of her own, but rather by the involvement of others and their influence on her life. Hamlet’s apparent rejection of her love and her father’s personal vindictive leads up to her simple-minded state, entering a world of madness. She has now gone mad, singings nonsense songs and giving people flowers that she has picked from the garden.

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