Ophelia and Polonius

[juliekim]

When Polonius realizes that Hamlet's been hitting on Ophelia for a long while, he tells her to stop responding and ignore him. If I were Ophelia, I wouldn't want to just blindly obey my father just because he tells me to do something. I would want to do it out of my own decision and standards.

This applies more to the girls, but if you were Ophelia would you listen to your father and start ignoring Hamlet without really getting to know him? Would you just obey what your dad tells you to do?

[jessicak016]

I think that during that time, it was not unusual for a daughter, like Ophelia, to obey her father, even though it did not really fit to her own decision, especially when it comes to relationship. I heard that a father could harshly punish his daughter if she did not obey him and Ophelia knows that. Today, we have a lot more freedom in relationship and love. But during that time, parents arranged marriage and chose partner for their children.
But if I was Ophelia, it would also be hard for me to listen to my father like that and ignore Hamlet. I don't think I would just obey my father like Ophelia did without protesting.

[sujeonggg]

I personally don't want to just obey whatever my father says even though it's part of our culture; still in some culture, there are many parents who just want their children to follow whatever they say, but not every child just obey them. So since Ophelia didn't even have a chance to get to know Hamlet, I would just pretend to father that I'm ignoring him while getting to know him better secretly. Then after I learn more about him and his love towards me, I would choose what to do.

[ginayang]

Polonius gives no good reason for why Ophelia should not meet with Hamlet. He just says that meeting Hamlet will ruin their family's reputation and Hamlet is only flirting with her. Hamlet never cheated or did anything bad to Ophelia. If Polonius really loved his daughter, he would have supported her no matter what because Ophelia loves Hamlet. So I would not obey that kind of father.

[cathysjun]

I think I would try to decide for myself if it is worth staying with Hamlet. If I were Ophelia, I think I would respect my dad's advice, but I would try to get to know Hamlet before I really decide anything.

[sageda]

We're not that far into the story so we don't really have a deep insight into their relationship what kind of person Hamlet really is. Like Jessica said, following what your father said was the norm. It still is. And it's not a bad thing. More often than not, your parents really do know best and want the best for you. I would be afraid of my daughter being involved with the dysfunctional royal family. They're already having their own problems and if I saw that Hamlet didn't seem to be so sane anymore, I wouldn't want my daughter anywhere around him or his family.

But if I were Opehlia, that would make me want him even more. What's forbidden is more tempting. She probably is very naive and would genuinely think that her and Hamlet have a real future.

[michellelee]

If I were Ophelia, I think I would not have listened to my father and try to meet Hamlet in order to learn more about him. Rather than just listening to one person and making decision based on what that person tells me, I would have tried to figure it out on my own.

[sarahlee4]

If I were Ophelia, I wouldn't have just bluntly followed whatever my father told me. He cant love for me and he cant decide what I do in my life. I think there are things that a father can tell his daughter not to do and to do. A decision like this is something thedaughter should figure out on her own. If she really loves him, she wouldnt leave him.

[jessicashim2013]

I understand that it was a time when women had to obey men, but I don't think I would have listen to my father. I can take his suggestion to consider, but not to decide the whole thing. I would try to talk to Hamlet more often and get to know him first. Polonius was just making assumptions and he didn't know much about Hamlet. If I believed in myself, and believed Hamlet. I would trust him.

[hannahs]

If I was Ophelia I wouldn't listen to my father. Even if I wanted to I think the fact that my father told me to ignore Hamlet would make me want to talk to Hamlet even more. Also, I don't think it is right for my dad to decide if it's okay for me to talk to Hamlet. He doesn't even know him that well and just said it wouldn't work out.

[sang]

I'd argue till the end but I think that in the end, I would end up listening to my parents because they always tell me about the "more life experience thing." And in this case, that's what Polonious is exactly doing at the moment as he is telling her that he is young, immature, and etc.. It's like when our parents tell us about what we should be primarily concerned about in highschool. So, I think that I'd eventually end up listening to him.

[minjaeyang]

If I were Ophelia, I would take my dad's words as advice only. I would not blindly obey what my father tells me to do because I want to make decisions on my own. If I listen to everything that everyone tells me, I might regret some of the things I do. Therefore I would like to act according to what I believe is right instead of having other people tell me what to do.

[joon]

I don't think that Ophelia obeyed her father just because of her culture. I think that she obeyed her father's wishes because she didn't want to ruin her relationship with her dad. Maybe to her, Hamlet was not worth disappointing her father, who she valued more than Hamlet.

[franicaza95]

I feel like obeying your father is something important but in the case of Ophelia, why would she just ignore a guy who in the beginning is trying to be friendly with her and also someone who she hasnt given the opportunity to get to know him at least as a person!

[Alam10kkfs]

Most of teenagers wouldn't just listen to their parents and do whatever their parents want them to do, teenagers are crazy. But if I was Ophelia, I wouldn't just listen to my parents because just like I said, teenagers wants to rebel and have fun with their life. Yup, it's such a hard decision to make