Every person has events that shape their life story, many of us learn to handle these situations, but others succumb to the stress and results of these events. In Hamlet, Shakespeare develops many complex characters in order to create quite an attention grabbing and complex storyline. The characters have many levels of traits that reveal details about who they are and what their role is in the story. Hamlet and Ophelia provide intricate details on motives that affect the important parts of the play. Although they are quite different they have traits that prove them to be quite similar, the traits of love, loss, and madness spin these two into a web that although complicated and different proves to be connected in many ways. Love is the impetus behind the events of Hamlet, almost every character is affected by love or its effects. Both Hamlet and Ophelia are driven to madness by the love they show for each other and their families. How much Hamlet loved Ophelia is shown at her funeral when he announces, “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/ Could not with all their quantity of love/ Make up my sum.” (V.i.72-74) Ophelia’s madness is certain unlike Hamlet’s which is in part just antic disposition. The extents they will go for those they love vary, Hamlet of course will resort to murder …show more content…
Both Hamlet and Ophelia lose their fathers whom they loved dearly. Hamlet loses faith in God and hope for his country’s future as a result of the loss of his father. Hamlet’s loss of hope in his country is shown in his encounter with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He states, “Denmark’s a prison.” (II.ii.244) Ophelia on the other hand, loses her mind a result of both her father's murder and Hamlet’s dwindling love. Hamlet and Ophelia both lose many things throughout the course of the play, but their reactions