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How Is Ophelia Presented In Hamlet

Decent Essays

Candace Powe
ENG4U
Mrs. Romain
July 17, 2015.
Hamlet Literary Essay

The play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, is a very connected play, as every event that happens can be explained by another past event. The lines in Act 4, Scene Three represent this well:
How does By Gis and by Saint Charity,
Alack, and fie for shame!
Young men will do’t if they come to’t;
By cock, they are to blame.
Quoth she, before you tumbled me,
You promis’d me to wed.
So would I ha’ done, by yonder sun,
An thou hadst not come to my bed. (Ophelia: IV, V, 56 – 61) as these lines relate back to the development of Ophelia’s character, as well as play an important role in the plot of the play, and a major conflict that is portrayed.

Throughout the play, Ophelia’s character …show more content…

In this scene, Ophelia feels inner conflict because she is no longer sure that sleeping with Hamlet before marriage was the correct thing to do. Ophelia is having a lot of doubts about the decision that she has made, and this can be connected to her decision of whether to end her life or not. Eventually Ophelia decides that she can not live through the pain any further and drowns herself in a river. This is not the only instance in which Ophelia felt a large amount of inner conflict, another example is during Act I, Scene iii, when Laertes confronts Ophelia about her relationship with Hamlet: “Perhaps he loves you now… but you must fear, his greatness weigh’d, his will is not his own.” (I, iii, 25-28). At this point, Ophelia feels that her love towards Hamlet is reciprocated and she is not sure why Laertes is doubting her relationship so much. However, when Polonius joins the conversation and tells Ophelia to end the relationship, she responds with: “I do not know my Lord what I should think.” (I, III, 103). This shows how Ophelia is conflicted whether she should go with her own feelings, and keep seeing Hamlet, or to listen to her father as he should know what's best for her. Eventually, Ophelia decides that her feelings towards Hamlet do not matter, because Polonius wants her to end the relationship so she must do what he

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