Wednesday, January 1, 2020

The Consequences Of Ophelia In William Shakespeares Hamlet

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a compelling story filled with suffering, revenge, and manipulation. While these are all aspects that come together to create a memorable and thought-provoking play, they also result in the downfall of various characters. With these unfortunate individuals, Shakespeare shows that it is not necessarily one’s actions, but their situation that decides whether they lose it all. In this play, the victims’ suffering is not their own doing, but instead it is caused by the situations they were manipulated into by other individuals. Ophelia, Gertrude, and even Hamlet himself are all victims that have these sorts of situations imposed on them by characters who mean only to benefit themselves. One of the multiple†¦show more content†¦She is one of the first people he meets when he starts to put on the act, and in their interactions he emotionally traumatises her. The first time they meet Hamlet acts so out of hand that Ophelia claims that Hamlet acted â€Å"as if he had been loose’d out of hell† (II. i. 93). Moreover, Hamlet persists to play with her emotions when he tells â€Å"get thee to a nunnery† (III. i. 131), and it is all done to present a believable madness. It is evident that Hamlet’s discarding of Ophelia likely plays a role in her madness throughout her singing: Quoth she ‘Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed He answers: ‘So would I’a done, by younder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed’ (IV. v. 67-71). Hamlet’s faà §ade is meant to convince everyone that he is mad, yet in the end it does not end up helping him to enact his revenge. Instead it puts Ophelia into an emotional state that causes her to lose her mind, and consequently drives her to end her own life. The queen Gertrude is also an example of a character who is forced into difficult, and even deadly positions. She is a character who is kind to her son, loyal to her new husband, and does nothing out of line. Despite all this Hamlet faults her for marrying his uncle. Hamlet is struggling to deal with his grief, and his solution is to take it out on his mother. He calls her marriage immoral by saying, â€Å"She married. O, most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!† (I. ii. 161-162). Additionally,Show MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Hamlet - Longing For Revenge1304 Words   |  6 Pagesfor Revenge William Shakespeare was born in England in April of 1564 and was an English poet and playwright . Shakespeare is universally known as the greatest writer in the English language. Shakespeare frequently produced tragedies that are continuously acted out today, along with many plays and sonnets.. Although Shakespeare is seen today as a great writer who changed the world, his reputation did not rise to these heights until around the 19th century. 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