Fatherhood In Hamlet And Laertes

Fatherhood has always been an important factor in history and day to day life. Whether it was because of that male role in the household or the heir to the throne in royalty. Fatherhood plays an important role in the plot of Hamlet, being that mostly every important character’s father dies. The death of Laertes, Ophelia, and Hamlet’s fathers all have a great impact on the three of their lives. Both Hamlet and Ophelia start to show signs of a mental illness following the deaths and Laertes shows rage after the death. The deaths of Polonius and King Hamlet have made great impacts on Young Hamlet, Laertes, and Ophelia’s lives.

In Medieval Times, having love and respect for one's father was of no question. The idea was that every son looked up to their father especially in royalty because, as a prince, they

235 marks it as an accident. Ophelia might have killed herself because she could’ve been suffering through depression. Some symptoms of depression are sadness and loss of interest or pleasure in activities (“Depression” 1). Since Polonius’s death, Ophelia has been showing these symptoms, for example, when she says, “I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.” (4.5.207), she is implying that everything that was once fun or pleasing no longer holds her interest. Everything that she has enjoyed is now gone because of her father’s death, which brings on sadness because she feels like she is alone. Her depression was so severe because she felt that her life was worthless and she had lost all faith. She might’ve felt worthless because when Polonius was alive he was probably the only person who she thought gave her life value. Polonius’s death might have caused Ophelia to suffer from depression. The conclusion can be made that Ophelia committed suicide because she was so distraught from her father’s death that she just felt it wasn’t worth living