In “Hamlet” William Shakespeare uses the character Ophelia to get to the men around her. She’s portrayed as a weak, trusting woman that tells her father and brother everything. They see her as a virtuous, unsuspecting, loyal daughter. Hamlet sees her differently. He sees her as an object, easily disposable. He knows she will snitch to her family, and even depends on it during the play. Ophelia is manipulated by the men she loves in order to further their agendas and make decisions benefiting them, regardless of her opinion. During Act 1 Scene 3 Laertes warns Ophelia not to trust Hamlet. He says that Hamlet will break her heart and use her for his own gain. “Then weigh what loss your honor may sustain, If with too credent ear you list his songs, Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open, To his unmastered importunity” (1.3.29-32). He’s saying that Hamlet will seduce her and use her for her body, then dispose of her once done. In the same scene Polonius also warns her not to fall in love with Hamlet because, no matter what, he will marry a princess. “His greatness weighed, his will is not his own, For he himself is subject to his birth” (1.3.16-17). He will marry someone based on their social status and how …show more content…
After the death of her father and her broken heart in Act 4 Scene 5 she goes insane, singing about her father in his grave. A gentleman says “She speaks much of her father, says she hear there’s tricks i' th' world, and hems, and beats her heart, spurns enviously at straws, speaks things in doubt that carry but half sense. Her speech is nothing” (4.5.4-9). She is incoherent, angry, and uses body language to communicate. Hamlet is the reason for her madness. Her sense of worth comes from trying to please men. Hamlet breaks her heart, ending their relationship, and kills the most important man in her life, her father, effectively taking away her