Explore the ways in which the character of Ophelia
contributes to the dramatic nature of William Shakespeare's'
tragedy 'Hamlet'
contributes to the dramatic nature of William Shakespeare's'
tragedy 'Hamlet'
The character of Ophelia in the play 'Hamlet' written by William Shakespeare is arguably one of the most important characters in the whole of the play based on the fact that Shakespeare has used Ophelia throughout the entire play to further the plot and undoubtedly add massively to the dramatic nature of the play.
At the start of the play the audience is under the assumption that Ophelia and Hamlet are in love. It is clear that Ophelia's father Polonius isn't happy with the two of them romancing and he tells her to stay away from him. She replys with
'I shall obey, my lord.'
The audience at this time feel a little sympathetic towards Ophelia because he character appears to be loving and caring and yet torn between the loyalty of her father and the love she feels for hamlet. Polonius takes advantage of this loyalty to the point when he is using Ophelia as bate in order to plot against Hamlet.
Primarily Ophelia seems to be in a healthy state of mind. Loving, caring, beautiful. Shakespeare has shown us Ophelia like this in the beginning of the play because in order for us to gain some sort of emotion for Ophelia we must see some sort of tragic event take place in her life. As the play progresses however it seems that Shakespeare uses Ophelia and her characters life to boost the dramatic nature in the play by revolving every tragic situation around her. Every time something bad happens Ophelia seems to always be effected by it. For example, her being used by the king and her father, then hearing the words 'Take thee to a nunary' by her loved one Hamlet who appears to her to be under some mental illness. Then later the death of her father.
Taking the above into consideration of course the audience at this time would be feeling extremly sympathetic towards Ophelia. As shakespeare cleaverly uses Ophelia as a time bomb as the plot progresses he then has Ophelia develop a mental illness, ironic because her love Hamlet displays this madness that she has developed to her in an earlier scene in the play, Cleaverly placed by shakespeare as an unforseen warning to us as an audience.
Although it is hard to pin point the exact cause of Ophelia's madness, personally i feel that there are several contributing factors, Ophelia is generally a weak character who bends to the will of many other characters. Hamlet not only mistreats her but completly ignores her feelings in his plot to gat revenge. Next when she losses he father, when he is accedentally killed by hamlet in his mothers bedroom in act three. It seems as though when certain characters die or disprove of Ophelia she simply breaks.
Another factor that i personally have found is that i think it may be slightly hinted at in the song that Ophelia sings that she may be pregnant by her fathers murderer and her love Hamlet. my reason for thinking this is that Ophelia sings of 'A masters daughter being stolen' and then she sings of ' herbs of grace o' sundays' and also 'rue'. which could be used to cause a miscarriage. These key elements are cleverly placed to add alot of dramatic nature to the play and also alot of tragedy of Ophelias behalf.
Throughout the play Ophelia and the events that take place during her role in the play all have a dramatic effect on the play and the characters in it, although it does appear that every single mishap that occurs has some effect on Ophelia her health, or her feelings.
This is of course after the death of Ophelia herself, the audience is shocked after the death of Ophelia because it is unknown whether Ophelia's death was an accident or if she committed suicide due to the unbearable loss in her life. This is extremely dramatic because the death of such a lovable character has a huge impact on the play. Yet the death of Ophelia is a bit weird because where nobody paid any attention to Ophelia and her feeling before hand, when she does die it seems like all the remaining characters take her death hard and become very angered by it. The mooment she dies the audience are just completly sickened by the way Ophelia has been mistreated and used throughout the play. taking everything into consideration.
In conclusion it can be argued that Ophelia is one of the most dramatic characters in the play and had it not been for Ophelia the play would not have panned out in the same way and would not be nearly as dramtic had Ophelia not been in the play.
At the start of the play the audience is under the assumption that Ophelia and Hamlet are in love. It is clear that Ophelia's father Polonius isn't happy with the two of them romancing and he tells her to stay away from him. She replys with
'I shall obey, my lord.'
The audience at this time feel a little sympathetic towards Ophelia because he character appears to be loving and caring and yet torn between the loyalty of her father and the love she feels for hamlet. Polonius takes advantage of this loyalty to the point when he is using Ophelia as bate in order to plot against Hamlet.
Primarily Ophelia seems to be in a healthy state of mind. Loving, caring, beautiful. Shakespeare has shown us Ophelia like this in the beginning of the play because in order for us to gain some sort of emotion for Ophelia we must see some sort of tragic event take place in her life. As the play progresses however it seems that Shakespeare uses Ophelia and her characters life to boost the dramatic nature in the play by revolving every tragic situation around her. Every time something bad happens Ophelia seems to always be effected by it. For example, her being used by the king and her father, then hearing the words 'Take thee to a nunary' by her loved one Hamlet who appears to her to be under some mental illness. Then later the death of her father.
Taking the above into consideration of course the audience at this time would be feeling extremly sympathetic towards Ophelia. As shakespeare cleaverly uses Ophelia as a time bomb as the plot progresses he then has Ophelia develop a mental illness, ironic because her love Hamlet displays this madness that she has developed to her in an earlier scene in the play, Cleaverly placed by shakespeare as an unforseen warning to us as an audience.
Although it is hard to pin point the exact cause of Ophelia's madness, personally i feel that there are several contributing factors, Ophelia is generally a weak character who bends to the will of many other characters. Hamlet not only mistreats her but completly ignores her feelings in his plot to gat revenge. Next when she losses he father, when he is accedentally killed by hamlet in his mothers bedroom in act three. It seems as though when certain characters die or disprove of Ophelia she simply breaks.
Another factor that i personally have found is that i think it may be slightly hinted at in the song that Ophelia sings that she may be pregnant by her fathers murderer and her love Hamlet. my reason for thinking this is that Ophelia sings of 'A masters daughter being stolen' and then she sings of ' herbs of grace o' sundays' and also 'rue'. which could be used to cause a miscarriage. These key elements are cleverly placed to add alot of dramatic nature to the play and also alot of tragedy of Ophelias behalf.
Throughout the play Ophelia and the events that take place during her role in the play all have a dramatic effect on the play and the characters in it, although it does appear that every single mishap that occurs has some effect on Ophelia her health, or her feelings.
This is of course after the death of Ophelia herself, the audience is shocked after the death of Ophelia because it is unknown whether Ophelia's death was an accident or if she committed suicide due to the unbearable loss in her life. This is extremely dramatic because the death of such a lovable character has a huge impact on the play. Yet the death of Ophelia is a bit weird because where nobody paid any attention to Ophelia and her feeling before hand, when she does die it seems like all the remaining characters take her death hard and become very angered by it. The mooment she dies the audience are just completly sickened by the way Ophelia has been mistreated and used throughout the play. taking everything into consideration.
In conclusion it can be argued that Ophelia is one of the most dramatic characters in the play and had it not been for Ophelia the play would not have panned out in the same way and would not be nearly as dramtic had Ophelia not been in the play.
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