ipl-logo

Ophelia's Kindness In Hamlet Essay

507 Words3 Pages

Hamlet is a strategic play by Shakespeare. The play has a number of themes like mortality, madness, women and political livelihoods. Most of the characters are driven by their own well-being. They do not mind hurting others. This paper will concentrate on the role of kindness in the play. It will show how kindness was used by different characters when determining their own destiny.
The first character to look at is Ophelia. Ophelia shows her goodness from the start of the piece. This is shown by the way she is devoted and shows concern to others. Ophelia prays for a number of times for the help of heavens. Shakespeare (3.1.135, 143) states “O, help him, you sweet heavens “ and “Heavenly power restore him”. In most of the cases Ophelia pleads for Hamlet. This shows her kindness and concern for him. Ophelia is made vulnerable by her kindness to Hamlet. “For wise men know well enough that monsters you make of them” shows that the sins of Gertrude were imposed upon Ophelia (3.1.140-141). Hamlet uses the kindness of Ophelia to release his frustrations. In spite of all this she still loves Polonius and Hamlet unconditionally. This makes her not to know what is going on around …show more content…

Claudius kindness is shown when he assumes the role of the chief mourner during the kings’ death. He shows deep distress while mourning his brother who he killed. He quickly turns the mourning into a celebration, “With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage”. Through this he unites the people through a collective suffering. Through his kindness he sends Cornelius and Voltimand in order to appease the Norwegian king. He likes Ophelia and he usually treated her with kindness. The kindness he shows the queen makes her defend him all the time. This is shown when she was in agreement that they send her son to the battle field. From this, Claudius uses kindness to hide his evil deeds from the other

Show More
Related
1378 Words | 6 Pages

However, Claudius does not care. By doing this speech he displays his power to everyone and has their attention to return to him. This attention-greedy trait of Claudius would help him achieve the greatest possible outcome in any situation because he has the determination to look very dominant in the public eye. Not only does Claudius do anything to appear powerful but he will do anything to retain power even if it means sacrificing forgiveness to keep his position as king. Claudius expresses true feelings about murdering his brother as he prays: “My crown, mine own ambition and my queen May one be pardon’d and retain this offence?”

Read More
871 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet on the other hand tends to share his and others people’s desires when choosing what actions to take. His actions have shown that he cares about other people’s feelings. This becomes obvious when Hamlet apologizes to Laertes and when he agrees immediately to help his dead father exact revenge. This decision to help his father wholeheartedly is initially what started Hamlet down his path to his death. This shows the flaw that he is will to do whatever to help his father even if it means dying.

Read More
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
728 Words | 3 Pages

Hamlet repeatedly acknowledges his faults, most precisely to her. In conversation, he tells Ophelia how he is guilty of such terrible things that he shouldn’t have been born, and that he proud, revengeful, and ambitious (3.1.132-135). Hamlet is fully telling her his faults and that, while being scathing towards her, he is no better. Even after her death, he continues to express his flaws around her presence. This is seen at her funeral, for which he says to her brother, Laertes, “For though I am splenitive and rash, I have in me something dangerous, which let thy wisdom fear,” (5.1.275-276).

Read More
1517 Words | 7 Pages

Claudius schemes and manipulates many people for many different reasons whether for his personal protection, sparing someone’s feelings, or to carry out a crime. This motives affect other characters causing them to do things that

Read More
1517 Words | 7 Pages

His soliloquy “reveals him not only as passionately remorseful – with a heart in no way cauterized by crime – but as so clear-sighted, so pitiless in the analysis of his own offences and of the motives that actuated them that he cannot juggle with his conscience” (Gopinath and Abraham 12). It is obvious that he values the benefits and not the emotional effect of his actions on the people around him. The people closest to him are harmed by his selfishness, but they do not realize they have been manipulated into doing Claudius’s deeds until it is too late. Selfish desires are a normal experience, but acting upon them frequently and deceiving others to achieve these wishes not only harms the relationship between people, but it also has a negative effect on the deceiver’s conscience and leads them to believe that they are doing what is best for

Read More
937 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
905 Words | 4 Pages

In Act III, scene i of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, readers will come upon Ophelia’s soliloquy. After Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have failed to find a reason as to why Hamlet is acting in a peculiar and mad way, Claudius is persuaded by Polonius that the reason for Hamlet’s madness is the broken romance between Hamlet and Ophelia. To prove this, Claudius and Polonius plan to spy on Ophelia’s meeting with Hamlet. During their conversation, Hamlet denies ever having loved her and curses her. Ophelia is left fretting over his sanity.

Read More
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
540 Words | 3 Pages

He becomes a king, a husband to his brother’s wife, and a stepfather to his nephew. He uses this marriage and fatherhood for his own benefit, to have the power of the crown. Claudius is selfish and controlling. He needs to be aware of everyone’s intentions. Claudius is a deceitful, unemotional, and controlling king who murders his own brother for his own benefit to gain power and rule over Denmark and his family.

Read More
360 Words | 2 Pages

Gertrude’s actions make Hamlet fearful of Ophelia because of the potential for betrayal. Hamlet thinks all women are unfaithful because of the actions of his mother. Hamlet projects the anger he has for Gertrude onto Ophelia. Hamlet treats Ophelia in a disrespectful manner.

Read More
937 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet once again fails to understand that Ophelia much like himself is only trying to stay loyal to her father, much like what he is doing himself. In addition, Hamlet blames woman for giving birth to such evil and deceiving men like Claudius and himself. When he was talking to Ophelia he told her "Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better

Read More
745 Words | 3 Pages

Ophelia is grieving the loss of her father after Hamlet kills him. Ophelia doesn't know that Hamlet killed her father. But Ophelia has gone mad from learning about her father's death. Also, after Hamlet telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery, Ophelia is a little bit discouraged. She is discouraged because Hamlet had told her before that if Ophelia would sleep with him that they would get married.

Read More
809 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet becomes so distressed he leaps into Ophelia 's grave. He then follows with, "I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity of love Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?" As his way to fiercely reinstate that he truly loves Ophelia.

Read More
1056 Words | 5 Pages

Hamlet does not value Ophelia 's feelings he belittles her. In Hamlets defense this is the way he was brought up to treat women, during that time this was a common way to treat a women. Even though in today 's society it is not at all ok to treat women with such disrespect. He also likes for everything to go as planned and this may result in why he can not have a stable relationship with a woman. This also causes him to have many stumbling blocks in his life that causes some emotional pain

Read More

More about Ophelia's Kindness In Hamlet Essay

Related Topics

Open Document