heart. He is not played as the villain and his death actually inspires a sense of loss in the movie that was simply a momentary plot structure in the play. Polonius seems to get so wrapped up in the adventure of what is going on and the game of manipulation that when he ends up dead, it is as shocking to him as the viewer (Keahmann). Despite this positive on behalf of the movie version, it does more harm than good to the overall state of the work. The change in emotional dynamics leaves the character of Ophelia to be portrayed in a manner that detracts.…
In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare utilizes foil characters to illuminate Hamlet’s positive and negative attributes and thus portray him as a dynamic character. Shakespeare illustrates the commonality between Hamlet and the foil characters, Ophelia, Laertes, and Fortinbras, through the tragic events that consume their lives and their emotional responses. Furthermore, Shakespeare emphasizes the foil characters’ respective contrasts from Hamlet to expose his resilience, fairness, and procrastination. Ultimately, Shakespeare uses the foils to depict Hamlet’s both honorable and dishonorable feature to, in turn, convey his complex nature.…
Throughout the play, Ophelia is portrayed as the victim of the male characters around her. “Ophelia is very much a pawn to Hamlet and her father […] which ultimately is […] the reason for her suicide she committed later on in the play” (Jacklitsch). Hamlet makes Ophelia believe she is the cause of his madness and treats her as a sexual object rather than the woman he had led her to believe he loved. The manner in which Shakespeare chose to write Ophelia makes it so that there could be the character Hamlet without Ophelia. However, there would be no Ophelia without Hamlet showing her unimportance to the men surrounding her, namely Hamlet.…
The Death of Polonius Hamlet has gone through a vast amount of change. His father is dead and his uncle, whom killed his father, is now married with his mother Gertrude. These changes have vastly effected Hamlet in a way in which he seeks revenge. Hamlet should not be held accountable for the death of Polonius. There are many factors contributed solely by Claudius himself, to prove that Hamlet in fact should not be held responsible.…
Was Hamlets actions justified? In the story Hamlet finds out his father has been murdered by his uncle and he needs to get revenge. Hamlet was told by a ghost of his father that he was murdered. His mother has remarried with Hamlets uncle months after his father has died. Was Hamlets actions justified?…
David Leverenz believes that “Ophelia’s downing signifies the necessity of drowning both words and feelings.” This backing up that Ophelia never feels that she is wanted or understood. Ophelia’s death is the final end of her struggle and madness. Whether her death has been suicidal or accidental, she manages to evoke Hamlet’s affection achieving her play long objective. Her death however has both innocent and corrupt overtones.…
Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes, is an obedient daughter. She obeyed every rule that was commanded of her. For example, Polonius warned her about Hamlet’s attitudes and affections towards her, and not to “Believe his vows . . .” (1.2.127). Polonius doubts Hamlet’s love for his daughter.…
Hamlet Essay Characters who parallel, yet contrast one another are said to act as foils. Ophelia and Laertes act as foils for Hamlet, as they develop the theme: The murder of a loved one corrupts a person in a way that it triggers acts of irrational behaviour. In the play Hamlet, we are able to see the actions that Ophelia and Laertes take once they experience a murder similar to Hamlet 's. Ophelia and Hamlet experience the same feelings of grief and despair towards their fathers. After the death of Polonius, Ophelia becomes robbed of her sanity. As Claudius explains, “... Oh, this is the poison of deep grief, it springs all from her father 's death, and now behold!...…
Hamlet is portrayed as a gritty anti-hero with human flaws and qualities such as arrogance, apathy and paranoia, which are revealed in his hamartia and peripeteia. Hamlet’s selfishness fuels his revenge against Claudius but he follows through intelligently, but arrogantly as he refuses to consider the welfare of others. Hamlet’s revenge triggered a series of remorseless murders in the name of his father. The constant surveillance on Hamlet instigated his constant paranoia of being watched and plotted against because his trust was always betrayed. Gertrude’s hasty marriage and Duncan’s surreptitious murder infuriates Hamlet’s enough to feel obligated to avenge his father’s death mercilessly while demonstrating anti-heroic qualities of hamartia…
Indecision is as contagious as a virus that can destroy everything. The outcome when one procrastinates and fails to act may lead to horrific outcomes. Shakespeare portrays Hamlet as noble, intelligent, loyal, and contemplative. However, he is constantly questioning his position in life, especially when his father passed away, and when his mother married his father’s brother. One night, the ghost of his deceased father returns to Elsinore, and asks young Hamlet to avenge his death and kill the source of the treachery; although, it requires Hamlet to challenge the morals by which he has been raised.…
When Polonius dies tragically after being killed by her daughter’s lover, Hamlet, it leaves a lasting impact on the main characters and the audience. Polonius’s death is a tragedy since his innocent family becomes involved in schemes of Claudius and Hamlet and these actions of their own and the royalty resulted in their downfall, which was death. Although Hamlet did not intentionally kill Polonius, he considers Polonius as a deceiving fool that dared to eavesdrop on his conversation with his mother. He does not regret his death until his lover Ophelia dies, and when his family and most of his friends die. Hamlet has committed the very crime which he was seeking to punish, that the son of a murdered father has himself murdered a father, which…
Why is it that we read? We read to learn new things, whether that is a life lesson or simply new vocabulary. We can take two lessons from Hamlet. The first one is that if people let anger and revenge get the best of them, they can cause damage. The second one is in life you will be able to get away with something for long but not forever.…
Once the news spreads throughout the nobles of what Hamlet had done, Ophelia and Laertes reach their own points of instability. By killing her father, Hamlet causes Ophelia’s suicide. Additionally, once Laertes discovers the news, he counters with a plan to murder Hamlet that only leads him to his own doom later in the play. Therefore, Hamlet’s failure to act leads to the direct murder of Polonius and indirectly kills Ophelia and…
Polonius’s actions reveal that he is protective over Ophelia and, Ophelia is equally obedient to her father’s commands. Polonius does in fact set a nature of being too controlling of his daughter. Her father ridicules her as immature and naïve when Ophelia confides to him about her relationship with Hamlet. Even though Polonius shows scornful behaviour towards, Ophelia attempts to defend her relationship though with extreme politeness and respect for her father. Not only is Polonius protective of his daughter but also he is also incredibly concerned about his reputation in court.…
In Hamlet 's madness he accidentally kills Ophelia 's father, Polonius, because he thought it was an intruder in his mother 's chamber. He expresses his hope that it would be the king that he killed because that 's who he has been wanting to assassinate. After he finds out it was Polonius the situation gets even more complicated. Hamlet is stuck in a position that either way will be hurtful. He still loves her.…