The Relationship Between Hamlet and Ophelia

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The Relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia

Table of Contents

1. Introduction iii 2. Body iii 2.1 “I did love you once” iii 2.2 “I loved you not” iv 2.3 “This is I, Hamlet the Dane” v 3. Conclusion vi

Bibliography vii Versicherung viii

1. Introduction

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is by all means a troubled young man. He seeks revenge for the murder of his father and has to deal with the incestuous relationship between his mother and uncle. In order to hide his motives, he pretends to be mad. Is it under such circumstances possible for him to return Ophelia’s feelings for him? And in what way does Hamlet’s struggle with himself affect Ophelia?
This paper deals with the relationship between the characters of Hamlet and …show more content…

She believes to have lost Hamlet to madness, reversing the effect intended by him. To make things worse, she loses him also physically when he is sent to England as a result of him killing Polonius, her beloved father.
Now bereft of two dearly loved persons, her mind cannot cope with the loss and she drifts into madness.
3. Conclusion
The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is certainly one of the most tragic aspects of the play and full of bitter irony. Hamlet is disgusted by the impurity and falseness of mankind in general and the gentry he is part of specifically, yet he destroys the life and sanity of the most pure and innocent character in the play. When he seems to finally have found insight, he speaks his wisdom on life and death over the grave of his love for whose madness and death he is responsible for without being able to acknowledge it.
Hamlet loves Ophelia. But in his inner struggle with his melancholy and inability to act, he sees it necessary to sacrifice his love for his revenge with disastrous consequences.

Bibliography
Edwards,Philip (ed.). 2003. Hamlet Prince of Denmark. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wilson, Dover. 1951. What Happens in ‚Hamlet‘. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. Edwards (ed.) Hamlet, I.iii.99-100hH
[ 2 ]. Edwards (ed.), Hamlet, V.i.235-237Ham
[ 3 ]. Edwards

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