All about Ophelia!

[kiranshoaib]

Considering the character of Ophelia and her relationship with Hamlet, it seems like she doesn't really care much about him and since he had gotten crazy, she didn't show any symptoms of being truly in love with him, that she would actually come and try to make him share his feelings and thoughts with her. This is the reason for why Hamlet couldn't share his secret of seeing the ghost and the revenge, at the time when he came to her, grabbed her and kept staring at her but couldn't say anything. I guess, if she would have proved herself trustworthy and if she actually cared about him, he might have shared his confusion with him in order to get to hear about her opinion to decide if its simply his craziness or is he doing the right thing?I think her relationship with Hamlet was quite weak from the beginning. I do think she is an obedient daughter as she literally follows her dad's instructions, but other than that, what do you guys think of her character in the play? And her relationship with Hamlet?

[cathysjun]

I also think that she had a weak relationship with Hamlet. If they had a ideal relationship Hamlet would have told his plans to her and discussed it with her because he should trust her enough. I think Hamlet couldn't tell Ophelia his plan because she is such an obedient daughter to Polonius and feared that she would tell her father about it. I think she sacrificed her relationship with Hamlet to have an ideal relationship with her father.

[sujeonggg]

I also think she didn¡¯t really love Hamlet. I guess it¡¯s because of overly protective Polonius, since he told her to stop getting closer with Hamlet before Ophelia could have time to learn more about Hamlet. So according to that, I think Ophelia¡¯s love towards Hamlet was not as serious as that of Hamlet, and so she didn¡¯t show much caring about Hamlet¡¯s madness. If she loved him as much as Hamlet, she should¡¯ve ask him the causes of his madness in person, rather than just strictly obeying her dad. So I think Ophelia has no other characteristics than obedient.

[minjaeyang]

Ophelia in general seems to be a person who easily listens to what everyone has to say. Therefore, she does not have a strong opinion on anything. Also, she seems very self-centered and does not like doing things for other people. Her relationship with Hamlet also seems very weak because she runs away from Hamlet even when she knows that Hamlet is in a very difficult situation.

[jessicashim2013]

I agree with you. Since she didn't love him much, she also couldn't trust him. And they were teenagers. So it would have been difficult to trust their love rather than their parents. Ophelia seems to be a young, naive woman who was raised in a upper middle class family with protection and love from her parents. Therefore she doesn't really know the real "outside world."

[elijahlee]

The relationship that Hamlet and Ophelia have is definitely not ideal. Hamlet does definitely seem to love Ophelia, but it is not clear whether or not Ophelia loves Hamlet is just as in love with Hamlet. Ophelia definitely is attracted, but less forward and outspoken about her love. The interaction seems to be a teenager relationship, because Hamlet really wants to have sex with Ophelia too.

[juliekim]

I think she was just about to fall for him when he was showering her with love letters and expressing his love for her. But Polonius stopped that and told her to avoid him because her relationship with him was getting her into a dangerous situation. I think she did love him but the fear she had towards her dad and her future was bigger than the love she had for him.

[minchoi0923]

During that time, women had comparably weak voices so they had to obey their father before they were married and had husband. Like Julie mentioned, I think Ophelia was about to fall in love with him as Hamlet was "flirting" around with him. She's a teenager and any teenager would fall for that. However, her father told her to stop and she must obey her own father so she was trying to reject him. So to me, I think Ophelia just represents a typical ordinary teenage girl who has to obey her father no matter what from that Shakespearean time period. Her relationship with Hamlet could have worked out if there was no interrogation from her father.

[hanbikang]

I guess its Ophelia's fault for the bad relationship that was going on between her and hamlet. I think that hamlet couldn't tell all his secret and plan because she wasn't a girl who could be trusted. Hamlet thought that her relationship is closer with her father than him.

[ginayang]

I think Ophelia is a young girl who is very dependent on her dad and her brother. She listens to them well and doesn't disobey. So her relationship with Hamlet isn't close. When her dad tells her not to hang out with Hamlet and ignore him, she does just that. I feel like Ophelia can't voice her opinions and doesn't truly love Hamlet. If she really loved Hamlet, she wouldn't have listened to her father's orders and followed her heart.

[hannahs]

I don't think they had a strong relationship either. Also, Hamlet seemed to have loved her more for lust than for actual love. Ophelia seems to have priorities in her life and Hamlet is definitely not the first in the list. She rather listen to her dad than to continue her relationship with Hamlet so it shows that she didn't love him enough.

[franicaza95]

i think the relationship between ophelia and hamlet wasnt strong but you could definitely tell how much hamlet loved her and how ophelia wouldnt show any kind of feeling back for hamlet. She is more of the obidient type to her dad, and she does that so she keeps having a good relationship with hamlet.

[seongrae]

I think Ophelia is obedient daughter for Polonius. She listens most of the things that Polonius order her to do like to stop love hamlet. However, even though Ophelia is obedient daughter, I think if one truly loves one man, than one will change their characteristic or change to love one man. So as Ophelia listens to her father to stop loving hamlet, relationship between hamlet and Ophelia is not deep and trustworthy, as hamlet can’t share any hardships that he is going through.

[rebeccahan0613]

I think Ophelia is a very very annoying character in the play. It's very funny how she gets her heartbroken when Hamlet says harsh things about her (which I think hamlet is right about) and acts as if she loves him but she tells her dad everything about her relationship between hamlet and her. i don't know if that's how relationships were back then, but i think ophelia is very annoying. Obviously, her dad is not fond of hamlet and she knows that but if she really loves hamlet she should tell her dad about anything that will make hamlet look bad. i also don't think it was very wise of her to tell her dad that her boyfriend came into her room at night and acted inappropriately. isn't that really awkward to have those conversations with your dad?! I just don't get her. and i think this is one of the reason why hamlet is so frustrated over her because she is so uptight!

[yerin0727]

I agree in that Ophelia doesnt seem to show her love toward Hamlet at all. She instead decides to refuse her after figuring out about Hamlet's insanity, which doesnt show her care for Hamlet at all. Her actions doesnt seem to make her trustworthy toward Hamlet at all. If she was being more caring for Hamlet from the beginning, he may have wanted to share his secrets with him including his confusion toward his uncle's murder.