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How Is Hamlet A Love Dynamic

682 Words3 Pages

Shakespeare uses Ophelia and Hamlet's erratic love dynamic to highlight the destructive nature of a love motivated by outside pressures and societal expectations, ultimately resulting in Ophelia's spiral into madness and eventually, her death. Ophelia’s respect for her father, Polonius, and love for Hamlet forces her to sacrifice her autonomy and succumb to her fathers wishes and Hamlet’s expectations. Shakespeare describes Ophelia and Hamlet's love dynamic as hectic and unstable. The relationship between the characters is motivated by ambiguity and uncertainty throughout the play. Ophelia opens the play in a haze of affection. "My lord, he hath importuned me with love in honorable fashion" (1.3). She stands up for him to her father and brother, expressing true love: the veiled reason for her and Hamlet’s continuing deranged relationship throughout the play. Ophelia then expresses fear and concern about Hamlet's behavior when he meets her in …show more content…

Hamlet asks Ophelia: "Are you honest?... Are you fair?... For the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to be a bawd...I did love you once." (3.1). Instead of relying on his love for Ophelia, Hamlet turns to societal expectations to rule if he belongs with her or not. Ophelia is meant to be seen as fragile and pure, partly because that is the old societal standard for women, and partly because her mind is controlled by all the men in her life. Hamlet is very insulting to Opehlia just because she is a young and pretty woman. Ophelia is used by all the men in her life, Polonius, Hamlet and Laertes because they all have some sense of authority over women to fufill. Eventually, it is Hamlet’s disregard for Ophelias own thoughts that lead her to madness.The tragic outcome of their relationship serves as a lesson in the value of human agency and autonomy. It warns against letting society's standards control one's personal

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