We do not realize it, but there are an infinite number of things that can affect our daily decisions and actions. Dan Ariely best explains this in his video; Are We In Control of Our Own Decisions? He explains that there are things in life that, “trick” us, and affect our decisions. Love is one of the most common things that affect our lives; feelings play a crucial role in determining our human behavior, and how we feel towards others. Our feelings, our love seems almost like an oxymoron, because it can also be destructive and lead to our demise, our own downfall that can kill us. This idea that love is a motive for our actions is shown in the character Ophelia, in Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare uses Ophelia as a symbol of love
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Ellen Rosenberg, the author of Love in Hamlet suggests that, “The customary love between children and their parents is exemplified by Ophelia and Laertes’ love for their father…” (Rosenberg 1). She goes on to explain that at the beginning of Hamlet, Ophelia and Hamlet were in love, but Polonius’s love for Ophelia and her innocence stops her from a relationship with a Prince who has lost the throne. In reverse, Laertes and Ophelia’s love for their father continues the plot of revenge. Laertes loves his father, and that is shown by through his own plot of revenge, where he looks for accidental murderer of his father. These first examples of the love of family, is the reason behind: stopping Ophelia from dating Hamlet thus setting the scene for the rest of the novel with Ophelia’s madness, and the advancement in the revenge plot to kill Hamlet for the murder of …show more content…
Throughout life people go through bad breakups, and continue to fall in love, its human nature. Even God created Eve for Adam in the bible, and he created someone for everyone. That leads into Charles Boyce’s article about Ophelia. He states, “Ophelia's nature is abundantly affectionate; her wounded but faithful love—both for her father and for Hamlet—makes her one of the most touching of Shakespeare's characters” (Boyce 1). This suggests that Ophelia too has a “wounded love” for Hamlet, meaning she does love him but something is standing in the way. Whether this is because of her father, or Hamlets own madness is unclear but nonetheless show that Hamlet means something to her and is related to her downfall. If she didn’t love someone would it matter if they themselves were mad? Why would it matter if Hamlet was insane, how would that affect her if she didn’t care for him? For whatever reason that Ophelia did not love hamlet, he began to think of her less and less. In the beginning of the play Hamlet’s love is rejected by Ophelia, and then through the play “she has become for him simply a stimulus for his disgust with women and sex, and he no longer really sees her as an actual person” (Boyce 1). Ophelia's “fall” into madness is a direct result of Hamlet's emotions towards her. Ophelia's insanity is triggered by the crushing of her love for Hamlet and then
Ellen Rosenberg, the author of Love in Hamlet suggests that, “The customary love between children and their parents is exemplified by Ophelia and Laertes’ love for their father…” (Rosenberg 1). She goes on to explain that at the beginning of Hamlet, Ophelia and Hamlet were in love, but Polonius’s love for Ophelia and her innocence stops her from a relationship with a Prince who has lost the throne. In reverse, Laertes and Ophelia’s love for their father continues the plot of revenge. Laertes loves his father, and that is shown by through his own plot of revenge, where he looks for accidental murderer of his father. These first examples of the love of family, is the reason behind: stopping Ophelia from dating Hamlet thus setting the scene for the rest of the novel with Ophelia’s madness, and the advancement in the revenge plot to kill Hamlet for the murder of …show more content…
Throughout life people go through bad breakups, and continue to fall in love, its human nature. Even God created Eve for Adam in the bible, and he created someone for everyone. That leads into Charles Boyce’s article about Ophelia. He states, “Ophelia's nature is abundantly affectionate; her wounded but faithful love—both for her father and for Hamlet—makes her one of the most touching of Shakespeare's characters” (Boyce 1). This suggests that Ophelia too has a “wounded love” for Hamlet, meaning she does love him but something is standing in the way. Whether this is because of her father, or Hamlets own madness is unclear but nonetheless show that Hamlet means something to her and is related to her downfall. If she didn’t love someone would it matter if they themselves were mad? Why would it matter if Hamlet was insane, how would that affect her if she didn’t care for him? For whatever reason that Ophelia did not love hamlet, he began to think of her less and less. In the beginning of the play Hamlet’s love is rejected by Ophelia, and then through the play “she has become for him simply a stimulus for his disgust with women and sex, and he no longer really sees her as an actual person” (Boyce 1). Ophelia's “fall” into madness is a direct result of Hamlet's emotions towards her. Ophelia's insanity is triggered by the crushing of her love for Hamlet and then