One of the most controversial topics of William Shakesphere’s Hamlet is the question of whether or not he truly loved Ophelia. Was there room in his sorrowful heart for the emotional roller coaster called love? Or was his heart shattered, broken into pieces by those he trusted and loved the most? Throughout the story, Hamlet is engulfed with grief and mourning, constantly being pushed to his limits. Hamlet sends Ophelia mixed signals that confuse her, making her question whether or not his feelings for her were genuine. Was Hamlet’s attitude towards Ophelia all a façade? The question arises on whether the love between these two individuals is deep enough to have lasted through the chaos and adversity of Hamlet’s living nightmare. There is no clear cut answer to this question, although one can assume both sides. It is true that Hamlets love for Ophelia is questionable, but given several examples from the play, one can see that his love is genuine.
Throughout the play, Hamlet constantly ridicules Ophelia. However, his additude towards her can be somewhat justified. Hamlet currently perceives his mother as despicable. This heavily influences his perspective on Ophelia. Ophelia’s betrayal also forces Hamlet to reject her. Ophelia lies to Hamlet in order to fulfill her father’s wishes. Because of this, he treats her quite harshly at times, but this is mainly due to the hardships that he is facing. His expressions of love towards her overwhelm the moments where he criticises her.
In Act III, Scene I, Hamlet says, ‘I did love you once.’ However, four lines later, he contradicts himself by saying ‘I loved you not.’ Hamlet claims to have loved Ophelia, but at the moment, he feels betrayed by several people, including her. The feelings of betrayal influence him to conflict with his emotions, and manipulate him to say things he does not believe.
A letter given to Ophelia before his crazed state expresses his most sincere feelings. We can see from the letters in which Hamlet writes to Ophelia that he was very much in love with her. In his letter, the only subject that he does not deny is his love for her.
Ophelia does stand up for her love with Hamlet briefly in a conversation with Polonius after she has spoken to Laertes. She says, “My lord, he hath importuned me with love in honourable fashion” (I.III,118-119). She also says he “hath given (evidence) to his speech, my lord, with almost all the holy vows of heaven.” (I.III.118-119) She defends Hamlet by saying he is honourable and has provide both vows and actions to prove his love.
When Hamlet feigns his madness upon Ophelia, he pretends that he does not love her anymore, He constantly reject and insults her. “To a nunnery, go”. (In this case, it is assumed that nunnery refers to a whorehouse.) However, this means that he had to have been in love with her before, and shows that love to her in one way or another in order to cause her the pain she deals with throughout the play. During the nunnery scene, Hamlet releases his love and resentment for his mother on Ophelia.
The nunnery scene is the most important aspect of Hamlets declaration of love. Hamlet transfer his love and anger for his mother into a rage of anger towards Ophelia. Perhaps Hamlet is hoping that Ophelia will realize that he is only pretending for the sake of the spies. As John Dover Wilson notes, “Hamlet’s accidental discovery of the intention to spy upon him has a bearing much wider than his attitude towards Ophelia.” But Wilson also notes that, “Moreover, it is clears that in the tirades of the nunnery scene he is thinking almost as much of his mother as of Ophelia.” Hamlet feels that he must separate himself from all personal ties in order to achieve his swift revenge for his father’s murder. This is backed by Eleanor Prosser who states, “Hamlet has said he would cut himself off from all normal ties, and Ophelia reports that he has, in effect, said good-bye to her, an implication that is confirmed by
Although Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia fluctuates, forcing many to question his intentions. The graveyard scene — where Hamlet first discovers Ophelia’s death, confirms his love for her. When Hamlet initially discovers whom the grave is intended for, he is taken aback. Ophelia’s death was news to him. After he hears Laertes grieving, he becomes upset and jumps into the grave and starts to tackle him. When they separate, Hamlet says “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum.” (V.I. 280-283) He continues, claiming he would do anything for her. Despite the fact that Laertes and Ophelia are intimate siblings, Hamlet says his love for her is greater than Laertes’ love. He outdoes Laertes by stating the following hyperbole:
“And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw
Millions of acres on us, till our ground,
Singeing his pate against the burning zone,
Make Ossa like a wart! Nay, an thou’lt mouth,
I’ll rant as well as thou.”
His love for Ophelia is so great that it can be compared to a colossal mountain that is so far above the ground it singes the sun. This last proclamation of his love for Ophelia reveals his true feelings.
Often times, many people take advantage of the time they have with their loved ones. You do not realize how much you miss someone until they’re actually gone.” This quote can summarize Hamlet’s feelings for Ophelia. Although Hamlet’s feelings towards Ophelia vary throughout the play, he has always loved her.
Throughout the play, Hamlet constantly ridicules Ophelia. However, his additude towards her can be somewhat justified. Hamlet currently perceives his mother as despicable. This heavily influences his perspective on Ophelia. Ophelia’s betrayal also causes Hamlet to reject her. Ophelia lies to Hamlet in order to fulfill her father’s wishes. Because of this, he treats her quite harshly at times, but this is mainly because of the hardships that he is facing.
å l e x says:
the nunnery part can also be inter[reted in a different way,
å l e x says:
like he wants to protect her
å l e x says:
cuz he knows that theres going to trouble in denmark
å l e x says:
and he wants to keep her safe
å l e x says:
This could also be interpreted as Hamlet’s way of protecting Ophelia and making her unable to marry anyone else but him until he can retrieve her from the nunnery
The quote that caught my attention was on page 46. It is the line that Hamlet starts out by saying “Get thee to a nunnery…” to Ophelia. It seems to me that he is trying to stress his point that she can trust no man. He is so serious about it he tells her to go to a nunnery. It seems that he is saying the only man that she can trust is Jesus, so she should go live her life with him.
He has seen so much mistrust show to him by others that he is expressing his mistrust in the whole of humanity to her and gives this advice to her on what he has learned about the world, that you cant place your trust in others?
Throughout the play, Hamlet constantly ridicules Ophelia. However, his additude towards her can be somewhat justified. Hamlet currently perceives his mother as despicable. This heavily influences his perspective on Ophelia. Ophelia’s betrayal also forces Hamlet to reject her. Ophelia lies to Hamlet in order to fulfill her father’s wishes. Because of this, he treats her quite harshly at times, but this is mainly because of the hardships that he is facing.
å l e x says:
the nunnery part can also be inter[reted in a different way,
å l e x says:
like he wants to protect her
å l e x says:
cuz he knows that theres going to trouble in denmark
å l e x says:
and he wants to keep her safe
å l e x says:
This could also be interpreted as Hamlet’s way of protecting Ophelia and making her unable to marry anyone else but him until he can retrieve her from the nunnery
The quote that caught my attention was on page 46. It is the line that Hamlet starts out by saying “Get thee to a nunnery…” to Ophelia. It seems to me that he is trying to stress his point that she can trust no man. He is so serious about it he tells her to go to a nunnery. It seems that he is saying the only man that she can trust is Jesus, so she should go live her life with him
he has seen so much mistrust show to him by others that he is expressing his mistrust in the whole of humanity to her and gives this advice to her on what he has learned about the world, that you cant place your trust in others?
there is no clear cut answer to this question, although one can assume both sides. It is true that Hamlets love for Ophelia was uncertain, but given several examples from the play, one can see that his love was truley genuine.
We can see from the letters in which Hamlet: writes to Ophelia that he was very much in love with her and this was before his world came crashing down.
