Hamlet by William Shakespeare Hamlet\'s

¶ … Hamlet by William Shakespeare [...] Hamlet's love for Ophelia, including her tragic life and death. Hamlet seems to love Ophelia throughout this tragedy, and Ophelia is convinced of his love. Early in the play she tells her father, "My lord, he hath importun'd me with love / in honourable fashion" (I. iii. 110-111). Her father is wary, and both her father and brother warn her to be careful with her heart. Yet, it is clear she loves him. The question remains, does Hamlet really love her?

Those surrounding Ophelia believe Hamlet loves her - even that he has gone mad with love for her. Her father, Polonius tells her Hamlet's rash behavior is based on his unrequited love for her. He says, "That [denial of love] hath made him mad" (II. i. 109). Thus, those surrounding Ophelia misinterpret Hamlet's actions, and Ophelia might have as well, although it does seem Hamlet loves her in his own tortured and odd way. He does leave her a note that seems to confirm his feelings for her. It reads, "O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers; I have not art to reckon / my groans: but that I love thee best, O most best, believe it. Adieu" (II. ii. 120-121). Thus, he has confessed his love to her, and no matter how it deteriorates from this point on in the play, he has held love for her in his heart.

As the play continues, it is clear Hamlet loses touch with reality, and with his love for Ophelia. In fact, he denounces it at one point, saying he never sent her love letters. He says, "No, not I; / I never gave you aught" (III. i. 95-96). This is the beginning of the tragedy that becomes Ophelia's life. The man she believes loves her is slowly going mad and denounces her love. He even says, "You should not have believed me; for virtue cannot so inoculate / our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not" (III. i. 115-116). Did Hamlet ever really love Ophelia? Yes, but in his current state of mind, he is out of touch with reality and no longer remembers or cares to acknowledge his love for her. He even wishes he had not been born, which is another clue that he knows he hurts Ophelia, but he seems to have no power to stop his reactions. He is out of control, and he hurts the one who loves him the most.

Ophelia is of course, devastated by Hamlet's denunciation. She cries to the King, "And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, / That suck'd the honey of his music vows, / Now see that noble and most sovereign reason, / Like sweet bells jangled, out of time and harsh" (III. i. 147-150). Hamlet is a tragic hero in this drama, but Ophelia is equally tragic because her love denounces her, and in her melancholy, she drowns herself. Her fate is tied to Hamlet's, even though he denies his love, and that helps make her a sad and tragic heroine. In today's world, Ophelia is even more tragic, because it is impossible for her to make up her own mind. She listens to the men in her life - her brother, the King, her father, and Hamlet, and really seems to have no ideas or thoughts of her own. She even says in the first act, "I do not know, my lord, what I should think" (I. Iii. 104). Thus, she allows others to make up her mind for her, and tell her who she should love. This makes her life even more tragic and unfulfilled. Today, Ophelia's life seems even more tragic, because she allows herself to be manipulated by the men in her life, rather than living her own life. What is even more tragic is her reaction to Hamlet's denunciation. She cannot deal with his rejection, and rather than go on with her life, she ends it, without fulfillment, without love, and with no future.