Essay on Ophelia - The Innocent Victim in Shakespeares Hamlet

Ophelia - The Innocent Victim in Shakespe bes Hamlet misfortunate Ophelia, she lost her cogniser, her father, her mind, and, posthumously, her brother. Ophelia is the only truly sinless victim in Hamlet. This render will examine Ophelias downward spiral from a chaste maid to nervous wreck. From the beginning of the play, in Act I Scene iii, Laertes and Polonius are trying to convince her that Hamlet does not love her and only is enkindle in her so he can sleep with her. Laertes says Perhaps he loves you now, ...... His greatness weighed, his will is not his own. He is cogent Ophelia that she is give carely to surrender her heart broken because of Hamlets high birth. He may not be able to choose who he marries, so although he may love Ophelia, he can never marry her because of the difference in their complaisant classes. This cannot have a good effect on Ophelia, her brother telling her that the her relationship with the superstar she loves is doomed from the start Polo nius tells her Affection pooh You speak like a green girl, / Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. / Do you call back his tenders, as you call them? He means that although Lord Hamlet has been viewing many signs of affection to Ophelia, it cannot be existent. He is saying that Ophelia is blinded by Hamlets charm and is inexperienced (Unsifted) in this sort of situation. He goes on posterior to say that these affections are merely ...springes to catch the woodcocks (traps to catch stupid bittie birds.) Why does Ophelias family find it necessary to bring down her spirits rough her relationship with Hamlet? Cant they let her figure it out for herself? This, in my opinion, is a good example of how Ophelia is victimized in this play. Later in the play, when Hamle... ... shows how Ophelia is the real victim in Hamlet. Everybody else who was killed in the play had done at least(prenominal) something evil to warrant their deaths, but what did Ophelia do? Did Shakespeare intend fo r Ophelia to be an innocent victim? Was it his way of adding to the feeling of loss or waste that one is supposed to have after seeing the play performed? I see this to be true, but we may only speculate as to his reasons for doing this. workings Cited Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http//www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos. Showalter, Elaine. Representing Ophelia Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of womens liberationist Criticism. William Shakespeare Hamlet. Ed. Susanne L. Wofford. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. Boston St. Martins, 1994. 220-240.