Essay - Hamlet the Love Theme: Figure Out Ophelia the Figure of...

Hamlet

The Love Theme: Figure out Ophelia

***** figure of Ophelia and the relationship that builds between her and Hamlet are extremely significant elements in the overall meaning of Shakespeare's masterpiece. It has to be noted first of all that madness is one of the most important motives of the play. As it is obvious from Shakespeare's ot***** works, madness ***** correlated paradoxically with wisdom, rather than nonsense. Thus, King Lear for instance, becomes wise only when he ***** mad. T***** same applies to Shakespeare's fools and clowns, who, while speaking nonsense, actually reveal the truth. In Hamlet ***** plays the same role as is the *****her pieces: ***** finds ***** ***** only means of dealing with the moral and philosophical choices he has ***** make is to feign insanity. Interestingly, the effect of his game on Ophelia is fatal: his *****ced cruelty towards her and his apparent madness drive ***** mad. Also significantly, Polonius and Claudius think that Hamlet is *****n to *****ness by his unrequited love towards Ophelia. Polonius admits to having summoned Ophelia to reject Hamlet's advances, as a m*****iden was required by ***** social constraints: "And he, repulsed--a short tale to *****--/Fell into a s*****dness, then into a fast,/ Thence to a watch, *****ce into a we*****kness,/ ***** to a lightness, *****, by this declension,/ Into the m*****dness wherein now he raves,/ ***** all we mourn for."(2.2. 54-59) ***** such, Hamlet seems to have been driven mad by his unanswered ***** for Ophelia. In the end however, it is Ophelia who goes truly mad because of the pain Hamlet's ***** madness causes her to feel. However, in *****, as well as in Hamlet, madness functions as a true redeem*****g power, that makes her unveil the love she had repressed before.

Throughout the play, Ophelia is s*****owed as a figure by ***** p*****triarchal discourse. She is disposed ***** her own will, and she is made to obey ***** father and her brother, and then to suffer unresisting the cruelty that Hamlet piles upon her. Because *****'s presence ***** dialogue are seldom seen nor heard in Shakespeare's Hamlet, ***** may appear an enigma, but in actual*****y just the opposite is true. Using careful observation *****d literary analys*****, ***** reader catches glimpses of Ophelia's ***** and intrinsic nature via her submissive tone in response to dialogue of others in the play. The patriarchal discourse should not deceive however as ***** Ophelia's actual value as a pure ********** *****nocent character, fully capable of unconditional *****. Ophelia is genuine and empathetic.

The setting, a royal palace in Denmark, exposes ***** as a product of her environment forcing women into subservience. Like a subplot, Ophelia's restricted presence personifies the norms of a culture w*****e men dominate and order women around. ***** seldom speaks or emerges unless prompted to do so. Her compliance is further illustrated by the patronizing *****ne of men who dominate Ophelia influencing and comm*****ing her to rely ***** their decisions since they view her in***** of good judgment.

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