Hamlet's Ophelia

It is with no doubt Shakespeare has included some of history’s most interesting and iconic characters in his plays. Most people have at least some indication as to who Hamlet was and the story that followed. What is rather difficult for people to define is the good supporting characters in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark that are just as important. Shakespeare, being much ahead of his time, included a lot of strong female roles in his plays and Ophelia is no exception to the rule. Ophelia can be a difficult character to define because of the little analysis that has been done on her compared to Hamlet and Claudius. Even some of the other smaller characters in the play have received more attention than her such as Horatio or Polonius. It is

Thinking highly of himself he gives Ophelia the advice that all youth her age are starting to become attracted to the opposite gender and thus Ophelia is falling in that category. “While (he believes) he has her safely secreted from the clutches of (other) men, Laertes attempts to teach his sister to dread male advances.” (Dane, 407) He believes Hamlet “is merely playing with her affections and that she must not consider his attentions as more than ‘a violet in the youth of primy nature.’” (Camden, 248) Ophelia takes Laertes’ shallow advice with caution for Laertes’ judgment of Hamlet influences his advice. With caution she still listens because Ophelia is the daughter everyone wanted in the sixteenth century. She listens to her father and brother and if she were to get married she would listen to her husband. “Ophelia has been shaped to conform to external demands, to reflect others’ desires.” (Dane, 406) Polonius believes the youth are easily influenced in the matters of love and that “she must not take the heat of Hamlet’s desire as true love.” (Camden, 248) He finalizes by saying she must never see or talk to Hamlet ever again. Ophelia is stuck in a predicament of marriage and has to map out the impossibility of a midcentury marriage, “Ophelia’s choice to obey her father compromises her future, but choosing to disobey her father would scarcely be any better in a

Hamlet continues to use more inappropriate language to insult her by saying things like “Shall I lie in your lap?” Ophelia tries to act as though she doesn’t understand what he is saying. She finally exclaims to him that he is naughty by using the word “show” as a pun. Ophelia, who sees herself as the blame for Hamlet’s madness, was most likely disturbed by the vulgar language Hamlet had been using. It would be hard to believe anyone in her sort of predicament at this point would not have been a little mad. Ophelia talks about her father as though there are deceptions in the world. She has great experience of this as she once lied to Hamlet of her father’s location. When she enters the scene where the actions of the queen are being described her first words are “Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark?” It would be safe to assume she was not referencing her father in this as most girls would not talk about their fathers in such manner, and a reference to Gertrude would be far out of the question. Nevertheless, she is once again applying her words to Hamlet whom she has already stated to be