Characters in Hamlet are often seen as archetypes of different aspects of love. Hamlet and Ophelia are no exception. Their relationship is one that is filled with both love and tragedy.
Hamlet is a young man who is grieving the death of his father. He is also struggling to come to terms with the fact that his mother has married his uncle. These events have made him withdrawn and cynical. In spite of this, he is still able to experience love. His feeling for Ophelia are genuine, but they are also complicated by his other emotions.
Ophelia is a young woman who is caught between the two men in her life – her father and Hamlet. She loves them both, but she is ultimately loyal to her father. This causes her to make some choices that lead to tragedy.
The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is one of the most tragic in all of literature. It is a story of love, betrayal, and ultimately, death.
The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is crucial to the entire Hamlet concept. Their past connection has been full of sexual encounters, but once the play begins, their bond begins to shatter, affecting many characters later on. The connection indirectly motivates paranoia, death, madness, and a thirst for vengeance throughout the play.
Characters in the play often use Ophelia and her relationship with Hamlet as a way to further their own agendas, which only causes more pain for everyone involved. In the end, both Hamlet and Ophelia are driven insane by the events that transpired because of their relationship.
Ophelia’s love for Hamlet is mentioned early on in the play, when she is with her brother Laertes and father Polonius. Laertes warns Ophelia to be careful, because Hamlet’s motives for being with her are not out of love. He says that their relationship is “a violet in the youth of primy nature, forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,” meaning it is just a stage of youthful lust and won’t last forever (1.2 8-10).
However, despite the warning from her brother and father, Ophelia still falls in love with Hamlet. Polonius arranges a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia in order to spy on Hamlet and see if he is truly mad or just pretending. During their meeting, Hamlet tells Ophelia to “Get thee to a nunnery” (3.1 121). This could be interpreted in two ways: either Hamlet is telling her to go become a nun since she is not pure anymore or he is telling her that all women are prostitutes and she might as well become one. Either way, it is clear that Hamlet is no longer interested in Ophelia.
However, later on in the play, after Hamlet has killed Polonius, he seems to have a change of heart. When he is talking to Horatio about the death of Polonius, he says “I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers / Could not with all their quantity of love / Make up my sum” (5.2 232-234). This shows that Hamlet did truly love Ophelia and is now regretting his treatment of her.
After Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia goes insane and eventually drowns herself. Before she dies, she hands out flowers and says strange things that no one can understand. Many believe that she is saying goodbye to Hamlet through these actions and words.
The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is a complicated one. It starts out with Hamlet not being interested in her and ends with him realizing that he loved her all along. Unfortunately, it is too late by the time he realizes this and Ophelia has already died.
Unlike Laertes, Polonius immediately demands that Ophelia break off her relationship with Hamlet. He is more concerned with his own reputation than his daughter’s emotions, and he wants to maintain as much power over her as possible. If she were to marry Hamlet, he would lose some of that control – something which is unacceptable in his eyes. After Ophelia obeys her father’s wishes, Hamlet appears at her room in a state of complete disarray.
He has unkempt hair, is wearing dirty clothes, and his overall appearance is quite wild. This disturbs Ophelia, who had never seen Hamlet like this before. He starts to speak to her in an odd manner, and she becomes frightened. Hamlet then proceeds to grab her by the wrist and tell her that she should “Get thee to a nunnery.” He is clearly upset with her, and he doesn’t want anything to do with her anymore.
This scene between Hamlet and Ophelia is significant because it shows the deterioration of their relationship. Up until this point, there had been hints of trouble brewing beneath the surface, but this is the first time that it comes out into the open. From this point onward, things only get worse between the two of them. Hamlet becomes more erratic and unpredictable, and Ophelia is caught in the middle of it all.
There are a number of possible explanations for the deterioration of Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship. One possibility is that Hamlet is simply using her as a way to get revenge on her father. Polonius is one of the people who Hamlet believes is responsible for his father’s death, and so he may be taking out his frustration on Ophelia.
Another possibility is that Hamlet is truly in love with Ophelia, but he is afraid to show it. He may feel that he is not good enough for her, or that she deserves better than him. Whatever the reason, it is clear that the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is not as strong as it once was.
Polonius is concerned that Hamlet may be in a deadly scenario and that his father will suffer the same fate. Polonius thinks Ophelia’s rejection drove Hamlet insane. This is when Polonius’ quest for the source of Hamlet’s madness begins. Polonius’ desire to discover the origin of Hamlet’s insanity leads him to his death, which compels Ophelia to go deeper into her own despair.
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be; / For loan oft loses both itself and friend, / And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. / This above all: to thine own self be true, / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man.” – Polonius (Hamlet, I.iii.78-84)
Polonius’ advice to his son Laertes can also be seen as advice to Ophelia regarding her relationship with Hamlet. He is warning her that if she gives into Hamlet’s advances, she will lose him as both a friend and a potential husband. Ironically, Polonius’ own meddling in the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia leads to his death, thus sealiing Ophelia’s fate.
“To thine own self be true.” This simple statement is at the heart of Polonius’ advice to Laertes and, by extension, to Ophelia. It is a reminder that we must always be honest with ourselves first and foremost. And if we can do that, then we will not be able to lie to or betray others. In other words, being true to oneself is the best way to ensure that one does not end up hurting others.
