Do you think I meant country matters? However, the best evidence that Hamlet and Ophelia have had sex comes from Ophelia. In her madness, she sings songs that seem to dwell on the causes of her grief. Some of her songs are about old men or fathers dying. Although none of this evidence offers definitive proof, Shakespeare strongly suggests that Hamlet and Ophelia have at least considered consummating their desire.
Once again, Shakespeare leaves the matter of sex ambiguous. Fortinbras is the nephew of the King of Norway. Thus, Fortinbras and Hamlet are in similar situations—that is, both are sons of murdered kings, whose thrones have been usurped by their uncles. Whereas Hamlet finds his situation unbearable and resorts to ineffectual and melancholy contemplation, Fortinbras is a man of action who effectively takes advantage of his situation. Hamlet himself offers several reasons throughout the play.
If the Ghost is a devil rather than the spirit of his father, then the possibility exists that the Ghost aims to manipulate him into committing a sin. Hamlet consistently reasons his way out of committing violence, suggesting that he is conditioned to be a thinker rather than a man of action. It's not fear that keeps Hamlet from acting. Hamlet delays killing Claudius because Claudius represents Hamlet's innermost desires to sleep with his mother Gertrude.
And by killing Claudius, Hamlet would be killing a part of himself. As Ophelia is laid in the earth, Hamlet realizes it is she who has died. At the same moment, Laertes becomes infuriated with the priest, who says that to give Ophelia a proper Christian burial would profane the dead. Gertrude and Claudius declare that Hamlet is mad. Hamlet storms off, and Horatio follows.
Analysis: Act IV, scenes v—vi Here, at the beginning of Act IV, scene v, things have palpably darkened for the nation: Hamlet is gone , Polonius is dead and has been buried in secret, Ophelia is raving mad , and, as Claudius tells us, the common people are disturbed and murmuring among themselves. Ophelia is a character in Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. She is driven mad when her father, Polonius, is murdered by her lover, Hamlet.
She dies while still very young, suffering from grief and madness. Gertrude describes how Ophelia fell into the river while picking flowers and slowly drowned, singing all the while. Laertes succeeds in wounding Hamlet , though Hamlet does not die of the poison immediately.
Hamlet then stabs Claudius through with the poisoned sword and forces him to drink down the rest of the poisoned wine. Claudius dies, and Hamlet dies immediately after achieving his revenge. Polonius echoes the request for help and is heard by Hamlet , who then mistakes the voice for Claudius' and stabs through the arras and kills him.
Polonius ' death at the hands of Hamlet causes Claudius to fear for his own life, Ophelia to go mad, and Laertes to seek revenge, which leads to the duel in the final act. The Queen's death encourages Laertes to reveal Claudius' plot. Hamlet takes his revenge on Claudius. To abandon both her and her unborn child and yet to love her so is a hefty contradiction.
This love, I think, is not one that could leap to adulterate actions. This again could point to the theme of ruinous revenge. Indeed, this could also spread to a new height, that the parent blames himself for that death, even if it is only a sin of omission. But again, I think the characters of Hamlet and Ophelia get in the way here.
It is enough. There is sufficient cause, I think, without there being adultery and a bastard child involved. Apart from my own role in this production, I think the character of Hamlet is largely misunderstood by the other characters: e. If they are truly in love, if they really did spend time together even chaste time , could he not ask that she pray for him?
I think it not unfit that a friend may ask a friend to pray for his forgiveness, and one whom he loves? Even more so. She is there, bait, so that her father and Claudius can watch him. I return now to the meaning in her mad songs. I do not believe that she is lucid here, but again, Shakespeare uses madness to have some fun wordplay and symbolism. Why sing about a maid seduced by her lover? Again, I am convinced that Hamlet seeks in vain to protect Ophelia since he must dedicate himself wholly to his revenge.
The warning to Polonius is, ironically, exactly what Hamlet wants, for Ophelia to be chaste and safe. The evidence of the flower rue, I think, need not go further than its symbolism of regret. Remember that she gives it also to Gertrude.
Now, maybe she demonstrates the thought that, should Gertrude conceive again with Claudius, such a child must be destroyed, or that Hamlet, her son already born, ought not have been a thought previously expressed by the prince himself. Gertrude should not have had sons, so Ophelia will not. Let all the rest go, this I cannot allow.
To accuse Gertrude of passively allowing Ophelia to die, intentionally, is the same as to accuse those students at school shootings of passively allowing the shooter to go on with his business because they were too terrified to move and intercede. My point is this: all the evidence which Epstein brings to the table can be interpreted in other ways.
Ultimately, given the characters of Ophelia and Hamlet, I think those other ways are preferable. Call me naive, but I would rather hold the image of a lovely, innocent Ophelia who is destroyed as collateral damage in the rampage of a man who loves her. I think the ultimate problem with it is that it is an easy answer to Ophelia.
Shakespeare did not write easy characters with easy answers. If Hamlet is as Epstein paints him, he is not such a sympathetic character. In the play. Within the play, the main character, Hamlet, attempts to overcome his fear and fulfill his father's revenge.
Hamlet's apprehension toward death prevents him from carrying out the murder of Claudius. Although confrontation with death is avoided for as long as possible, Hamlet comes to recognize his weakness, and faces this anxiety. Displaying an 'antic disposition', Hamlet first attempts to side. Exploring the Validity of Hamlet's Madness in Hamlet by William Shakespeare The issue of madness is one of major importance in this play. Is Hamlet truly mad, meaning insane?
Or is he merely angry? Does he feign madness and use it as a guise? Or does he place himself so dangerously close to the line between sanity and insanity that he crosses it without even realizing it? Or is he so intelligent, cunning and in control that this is merely the playing out of his completely conceived and well-executed. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, there are two characters that display qualities of insanity.
Specifically, Hamlet and Ophelia, although they both appear to be mad at times, their downfall or supposed downfall is quite different. Ophelia's madness seems complete while Hamlet's is questionable throughout the play. Hamlet's madness comes and goes; Ophelia's does not. Ophelia tells no one that she is "mad"; on the other hand, Hamlet shows everyone about his madness. Hamlet turns his madness on and off depending. The issue of madness has been touched by many writers.
In this paper I will focus on two important writings which deal directly with the mental illnesses. The second is "Hamlet" written by Shakespeare approximately in Ken Kesey worked nights in a mental institution in California and his novel has a lot of truth in it. He faced patient's insanity every day and was confident that it was natural response.
Open Document. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. The character Ophelia in William Shakespeares play Hamlet plays a very interesting and important role in the elaboration of the plot. In the beginning, she starts off in a healthy state of mind, in love with her boyfriend Hamlet, yet controlled by her father in regard to their relationship. During the play she encounters several troubling experiences involving Hamlet which cause her to become distressed.
Near the end, the death of her father leaves Ophelia mentally unstable and in a state of madness that eventually leads her to death. So, due to all of the unfortunate events that took place with the people she loved the most in her life, Ophelia gradually becomes mad, and in the end passes away.
0コメント