Love in Hamlet Essay

According to Websters Dictionary, love is defined as a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. With love also may come a relationship. You commit yourself to one person with hope to spend the rest of your lives together. Trust me; its definitely not an easy thing. Sometimes it may even take almost your whole life to find your one true love. However when you find it, you know it. In the play of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, we meet Hamlet and Ophelia who appear to have a passionate love for each other. However, each of them is affected by the people around them. Which at times, makes it hard to believe that they really do love each other. Towards the end of the play, we learn that Hamlets love for Ophelia was real.

As I stated before, In Hamlet, we meet Ophelia and Hamlet who throughout the play, have a strong connection with each other. Ophelia, however, is affected by her brother, Laertes, who is somewhat of interference between the two lovers. He tries in whatever way he can to prevent his sister from associating herself with prince Hamlet. Laertes said to Ophelia:

If with too credent ear you list his songs,

Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open

To his unmustered importunity.

Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister (I.iii)

What Laertes is doing is warning Ophelia of Hamlets intentions. He is concerned about her virginity and does not trust his sisters judgement. Ophelia has no choice but to obey her brothers demands and stay away from Hamlet. In addition to Laertes affecting Ophelias decisions, there is also her father, Polonius. Polonius says to Ophelia:You do not understand yourself so clearly/ As it behooves my daughter and your honour.(I,iii)

In this quote, Polonius insults Ophelias discretion in her relationship with Hamlet. If you notice, he uses the word my which is declaring ownership and possession over his daughter, Ophelia. When Polonius uses the words behoove and honour, he is in essence saying that he is concerned about how he appears to the public because of Ophelias behavior. (http://elsinore.ucsc.edu/women/womenPosyhtml#)

In another case, Ophelia shows how she is inferior to Polonius when she says to her father (in her first conversation to her father about Hamlet): I do not know, my lord, what should I think. She is so accustomed to having her father or brother make a decision for her that she cannot even come up with what she should do on her own. Polonius responds: Marry, Ill teach you: think yourself a baby; That you have taen these tenders for true pay, which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly; Ornot to crack the wind of the poor phrase. Running it thusyoull tender me a fool. (I,iii)

This tone, again, shows Poloniuss superiority over his daughter and his concern for his image. He does not trust his daughter with Hamlet, at all.

Shakespeare makes it fairly obvious in his play that Ophelia and Hamlet have had a sexual relationship with one another. (http://www.hamlethaven.com/ophelia.html) When Ophelia enters the scene at the end of Hamlets suicidal soliloquy, he responds to her with the words : Nymph, in thy orisons. Be all my sins remembered (III,i) . Orisons is another word for prayers. This specific quote is suggesting that they have sinned together. In addition, we are confronted by Hamlets words of, Get thee to a nunnery. Nunnery is another word for brothel. We can look upon Ophelias relations with Hamlet as sinful, therefore needing a nunnery as a place to confess her sins. Also in this, it is suggesting that Hamlet may be accusing of Ophelia of whoring herself for the throne and for her fathers wanting of power. Polonius is described in this play as a fishmonger. Fishmonger is another word for pimp.

Towards the end of the play, we see a change in Ophelia. She is not the person she used to be. She suddenly starts saying suicidal things and comes off as very depressed. In the end, Ophelia ends up dying. It is not stated as a fact that she committed suicide but I see it as that way. Gertrude states shortly after her death,

There is a willow grows aslant a brook,

that shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;

There with fantastic garlands did she come

Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples

That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,

But our cold maids do dead mens fingers call then:

There, on the pendent boughts her coronet weeds

Clambering to hang, an envious silver broke;