ipl-logo

Love Is Toxic In Shakespeare's Hamlet

937 Words4 Pages

Love is Toxic “But never doubt that I love” (2.2.119). Throughout the play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, Hamlet professes much love to his girlfriend Ophelia. However he begins to mistreat her through his antic dispositions caused by revenge on his uncle, King Claudius, who killed his father. Hamlet has not only become distraught from his conniving and lying stepfather but also his mother, Queen Gertrude as well. The unfaithfulness that Gertrude shows to Hamlet’s father and Hamlet has a toll on him and plays a part in his insanity. The facade that Hamlet displays slowly leads to his insanity, causing him to show mistreated love towards Ophelia. In the beginning of the play, Ophelia displays a very honest …show more content…

She then begins to hand out flowers to express herself and her feelings toward the people. As she is handing these flowers out she declares, “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. /I pray you, love, remember”(4.5.199-200). The flowers she hands out symbolize: remembrance of her father’s death, columbines for the disloyalty that King Claudius depicts, fennel for how he seduced Queen Gertrude, rue to Queen Gertrude to show sorrow for marrying her brother, and daisies to Queen Gertrude for the infidelity because she is unfaithful to her ex-husband, Hamlet Senior. After handing out the flowers, she then begins to walk around the castle talking to her family and friends while singing songs about death “Hey, nonny, nonny, hey, nonny, /And in his grave rained many a tear” (4.5.189-190). In this quote it represents how she begins to act crazier and her insanity takes over her. Soon enough, this leads to her suicide by drowning in a river “One woe doth tread upon another’s heel, /So fast they follow. Your sister’s drowned Laertes” (4.7.187-188). Ophelia’s extremely sudden and unexpected death cause the doctor to question what happened, “As we have warranty. Her death was doubtful” (5.1.234). Queen Gertrude says this to Laertes to let him know of the news about Ophelia. Ophelia ends up going insane and committing suicide from the way Hamlet uses her and the harmful love he provides …show more content…

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

Show More
Related

Examples Of Deception In The Great Gatsby

700 Words | 3 Pages

These characteristics of Hamlet’s can be shown through him expressing, “you should not have believed me: for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not.” (3.1.117-119). Hamlet explains this to his love interest Ophelia, whose relationship with Hamlet is quick to begin and end. Hamlet’s mass deception throughout the play of “pretending to be mad” hurts many relationships. Through this quote, Hamlet tells Ophelia that he never loved her, however through prior quotes, this is hard to believe.

Read More

Schizophrenia In Gilmore's A Noble Insanity

1342 Words | 6 Pages

Another factor is the constant psychological abusive behaviour by Hamlet towards Ophelia. An example of Hamlet’s mistreatment occurred when he insulted her by stating she is a hoar and telling her to, “…Get thee to a nunnery…"(Act 3 scene 1).Ophelia’s victimization represents the patriarchal oppression she experiences which causes her to lose her mind as Hamlets comments are, “…words like daggers …” (Shakespeare).to her mental state. Lastly, the final instance which significantly impacts her mental well-being is the sudden death of her beloved father.

Read More

Examples Of Ophelia's Madness In Hamlet

798 Words | 4 Pages

He is disappointed to see that Ophelia is displaying irrational behavior when she begins to sing “They bore him barefac’d on the bier; Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny; And on his grave rains many a tear.” She is so mentally ill that she must be locked in a padded room during the day. At other times, she is in a straight jacket to prevent her from hurting herself. It seems as if nothing can help her mental madness.

Read More

Examples Of Hamlet's Actions Justified

701 Words | 3 Pages

Then Hamlet lies to her saying he never really loved her which made her situation worse. And she was set up to see why hamlet is acting crazy and is spied on by Claudius to see where hamlet is week. So, as you can see Ophelia is put

Read More

Why Is Revenge Important In Hamlet

732 Words | 3 Pages

Laertes believes Hamlet is to blame not only for his father’s death, but also for Ophelia’s death because the death of her father is ultimately what drove her to killing herself. Once Laertes returns, he asks King Claudius who is responsible for the death of his father and is informed that Hamlet is the one to blame. Ophelia enters and reveals to everyone that she has gone crazy and ends up killing herself. Hamlet returns to Denmark and is surprised to find out that Ophelia has died. Laertes and Hamlet start fighting at her burial service and Hamlet says he wants to be

Read More

Depression And Anger In Hamlet

948 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet wished to punish Gertrude but was prevented by his father’s ghost. In Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 3 scene 2, Hamlet will “speak daggers to her but use none” representing his future interactions with Gertrude. Shakespeare uses this metaphor to show Hamlet’s hatred towards his mother and to create tension. In Act 3 Scene 4, Hamlet reveals Claudius’ involvement in his father’s death to his mother, but she thinks Hamlet has turned into a madman. At this

Read More

Examples Of Insanity In Hamlet

1154 Words | 5 Pages

When Ophelia returns all his letters and gifts he tells her that he has never loved her and that she should “get thyself to a nunnery.” This is one example how his mood changes throughout the play. Then after all this her father, Polinous, is murdered by Hamlet. The Hamlet is sent away to England All of these actions result in her feeling such stress that she becomes insane in the end.

Read More

Hamlet Compare And Contrast Hamlet And Ophelia

932 Words | 4 Pages

Ophelia goes mad throughout the story. She is overwhelmed by the loss of her father and the rejection of Hamlet. Her character is seen spiraling down a dark path that also ends in death. Ophelia is depicted as not having control over her actions; speaking and acting erratically. While Hamlet is speaking erratically and behaving oddly, he still maintains control over his actions and movement throughout the story.

Read More

Paradox In Hamlet And Ophelia

1389 Words | 6 Pages

Saying this, Hamlet’s behavior towards Ophelia is crude, rough, and full of anger. Despite Hamlet’s harsh treatment towards Ophelia, he really did love her, but because she was not his main focus, the

Read More

Essay On Does Hamlet Really Love Ophelia

806 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet's views on love could be ruined because of his mother's relationship with his father and how she got over him so quickly and married his uncle Claudius. Hamlet is also protecting Ophelia from getting hurt with his plans of revenge or protecting her from his uncle knowing he would use her as a way of hurting him. Hamlet shows his love for Ophelia in many different ways throughout the play. the first way Hamlet shows his love towards Ophelia is with

Read More

Hamlet: The Cause Of Ophelia's Suicide

745 Words | 3 Pages

Ophelia’s death results from Hamlet's madness, his telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery, and Polonius's death. Hamlet telling Ophelia to go to a nunnery made Ophelia feel insecure. Especially when Hamlet told Ophelia that he would marry her just so she would sleep with him. Then, Hamlet comes back to Ophelia telling her that she needs to go to a nunnery. Which is basically calling Ophelia a whore, because a nunnery is like a whorehouse. Ophelia at this point felt very insecure about herself and she questioned her relationship with Hamlet.

Read More

Essay On Ophelia's Death In Hamlet

1427 Words | 6 Pages

Gertrude states that Ophelia fell into the water when she was trying to hang her “fantastic garlands” on a tree and one of the branches broke. However, when she was in the water, she was “one incapable of her own distress”, not acknowledging the danger she was in (4.7.177). Even though she was in the water, she did not struggle to escape the river, but instead sung “snatches of old tunes”, until finally the weight of her thick clothes pulled her under the water and she drowned (4.7.176). Therefore, Ophelia’s death was an accident to a certain extent, because her madness made her blind to the danger she was in.

Read More

How Is Love Portrayed In Hamlet

88 Words | 1 Pages

Love is a very strong feeling and it 's portrayed in many ways. In Hamlet, Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius, has fallen for The young Prince Hamlet. In the play, Hamlet confuses us in the beginning because we think he’s just using her for pleasure, and not that he actually has feelings for her. But at the end of the story, we see a whole other side to the story. We see how much he actually loves her and not that he was using her for his own needs.

Read More

Hamlet's Attitudes Towards Women

1056 Words | 5 Pages

Hamlet surely thought that his mother Gertrude dearly loved his father Old King Hamlet, now he may feel like his mother never loved his father. This may result in why he feels like he may not love Ophelia. We are also aware that Hamlet has trouble with his own happiness and this probably reflects on the way we feels towards people mostly women. Hamlet thinks that the reason real love does not exist is because of the female gender. Hamlet blames both his mother Gertrude and Ophelia for portraying men as monsters.

Read More

Analysis Of The Nunnery Scene In Hamlet

851 Words | 4 Pages

In the “nunnery scene” which is played in Hamlet, Ophelia (as per her father’s and King Claudius’ instruction) attempts to push Hamlet away. As Hamlet realizes that Ophelia is trying to cut ties with him, his mood changes from sweet and loving to angry and sour. In a fit of rage Hamlet curses Ophelia’s name, ruins her name in a public setting and leaves her, upset (and crying in most adaptations) as she expresses her sorrow about having to leave Hamlet. In Ophelia’s soliloquy following her interaction with Hamlet, Ophelia mourns the loss of her ‘one true love’ and the way that Hamlet was behaving.

Read More

More about Love Is Toxic In Shakespeare's Hamlet

Open Document