In this monologue, Hamlet seems to be having an existential crisis as he contemplates the meaning of life and death and whether or not he would be better off to take his own life. His madness and melancholy has driven him to the point wanting to commit suicide. Hamlet admits to suffering from melancholy. The death of his father only worsened a preexisting condition. Throughout the play, Hamlet displays pessimistic thoughts and negativity. He is unable to cope with his perceived responsibility to his father and is driven further into a state of depression Shaw.
This quest for revenge resulted in not only his own death, but in the deaths of many other characters in the play as well, including his mother, Gertrude, who drinks the poison that was meant for him.
His need for revenge against the man who murdered his father ended in the further destruction of his own family. Another character that can be construed as mad in Hamlet is Ophelia. Ophelia is portrayed as a weak character who is unable to think clearly for herself or to have any sense of individuality. Once these male influences are removed and these descriptions no longer define Ophelia, she loses her identity and becomes mad. According to Alison A. James, St. Mad with grief over the death of her father, Ophelia drowned herself in a river.
This madness, in the end, led Ophelia to commit suicide as she had nothing to live for without the men in her life who bestowed her sense of identity upon her. Madness is one of the main themes of Hamlet. Hamlet and Ophelia both display symptoms of madness, but each become mad for different reasons. While these deaths both sparked madness in these characters, they each dealt with their madness in different ways.
Brown, Heather. Westminster College, n. Chapman, Alison A. Academic Search Complete. Frye, Roland Mushat. Princeton, N. Over all, your post cleared up some misconceptions for me and went in depth on a character I would have liked to discuss more in class. I too wrote about Ophelia, however based it on her heartbreaking death.
At that point in time, it seemed to be an attribute to Ophelia letting herself go; but since you are comparing and including it within the madness of Ophelia I now find myself second guessing whether or not it was her letting herself go or if she was in fact mad.
Hi Sam, I too agree you regarding Ophelia as a pitiable character in this Shakespeare play. I know the focus is mainly on Hamlet and his questionable madness, but in a way I definitely see how Ophelia went somewhat mad as well!
I loved your analysis on Ophelia and your text examples on how she viewed each horrific death of her loved ones. Her death can be viewed as a suicide which is what I had originally thought, but now after reading what you wrote, it can be viewed as Ophelia seriously becoming mad from all the tragedy she faced all at once.
With the loss of her father, brother, and her lover all extremely close together is enough to make anyone go mad I suppose. I do pity her as a character because now she is truly on her own and I feel Hamlet and her family is partially to blame. Sam, I really liked the points you made about Ophelia and her madness.
You are right though, her character exists as a tragic character, unfortunately so because her character is so interesting. Many of the lines throughout her singing episodes also support your claim, as you aptly discuss. Sam, I like the way that you wrote about Ophelia singing as her madness.
I do think that she is a tragic character in this play, and I do think that it is in a pitiable way, because of the events that she has gone through.
A master of deception, Claudius suspects that Hamlet is not as he seems and, as such, is a danger. He hatches his plan to exile the Prince to England. Perhaps to save Hamlet or perhaps to buy favor with the Queen, Polonius suggests yet another trap. Send Hamlet to see Gertrude, and instruct her to beg Hamlet to leave well enough alone.
Polonius will spy as Hamlet confides in his mother. The old man expects that Hamlet will confess his love for Ophelia. For reasons he does not disclose, Claudius agrees to the plan. Hamlet knows that his elders are ganging up on him.
He is furious and skittish, and his judgment is entirely impaired. Polonius' plot cannot help but backfire. Previous Scene 1.
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