Role of Ophelia in Hamlet by Shakespeare

Role of Ophelia in Hamlet by Shakespeare

Keywords: Love, Gifts, Retreat

Ophelia decides to leave Hamlet and return love tokens back when he needed her more. She promises her father and brother that she will obey them and will have no connection with Hamlet. There are several aspects which seem awkward in this respect.

First, she has been getting gifts and tokens of love from Hamlet. They both seemed to have mutual understanding for their love feelings. Hamlet had a critical time on his father’s death and his mother’s marriage on this occasion.

Second, this news was a not a normal news and everyone should be shocked including Ophelia, Polonious, Laertes or from specific person to common man. Such things can’t be justified that there were  strategies behind  marriage so soon after Late king’s death.

Third, Claudius is brother of late king and uncle of the successor. He is not a stranger or outsider but can supervise the things without having marriage.

 Forth, Ophelia retreats as, “ my lord, I have remembrances of yours,
that I have longed long to re-deliver;
I pray you, now receive them” .

Question arises, whether Ophelia had no other proper time to be disconnected with Hamlet. It was not the time like this, he needed moral support or to share things .There was no body to hear him neither his mother, nor beloved and uncle also.

 Hamlet is mature person and mother should clear things before marriage, even in normal situation.

On the other hand Ophelia takes gifts of love happily in past. Definitely she didn’t ask father or brother that she should receive gifts or not. As far as concerned expected queen in future she should be sensible, brave and courageous.

Fifth, she is mature and had right to love. In such critical situation Ophelia’s father or brother could encourage her to console him. She could share with him the problems he had to face. To marry immediately and pronounce the marriage and announcement of Claudius as a king were as surprising for others as it was for Hamlet or Ophelia. A critic states, “Polonius trying to use his daughter's charms to suit his underhanded purposes.”

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