Essay Example on Hamlet's Unrequited Love for Ophelia: A Tragic Tale

The tragedy of Hamlet is a play written by William Shakespeare that revolves around the prince Hamlet and his quest to avenge his father's death by Claudius. Claudius is the late king's brother and has bequeathed the throne and married prince hamlet mother queen Gertrude's. The plot and thoughts of avenging his father's death effect and consume him causing him to act erratically. This paper is going to show that prince Hamlet truly loved Ophelia.

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There are indeed many instances in the play where one might question if prince Hamlet loved Ophelia. For example, the way she tells Ophelia to go to the nunnery. It sounds rude, but in his heart, he knew he had to fool Claudius that he is not in love with Ophelia.

The first evidence that shows Prince Hamlet loved Ophelia is exhibited in act one of scene two of the play (Smith, 2016). Ophelia, when talking to his father Polonius, acknowledges that prince Hamlet has confessed to her that she loved her. Secondly, in Act three, Ophelia was returning the letters and love poems to prince Hamlet. It means that prince Hamlet's love for Ophelia is not new but has been going on for some time (Roman, 2018). Claudius and Polonius want to make sure that Hamlet is not sick from love and tells Ophelia to take the letters to Hamlet as they hide and see his reaction. Hamlet is intelligent, and he knows it is a trap. When Ophelia approaches her, he tells her to go to the nunnery. Consequently, with the play-acting, he manages to fool Claudius and Polonius that he is not mad with love. This shows the extent to which Hamlet was willing to go to deceive and protect his love.

Another example that manifests prince Hamlet's love for Ophelia is when she dies. During the funeral, procession, Hamlet, and Horatio are seen hiding so that they are not seen by Laertes (Bradley, 2016). By this time, Hamlet did not have a clue about who was being buried. But after he learned that it was Ophelia, he came out from hiding and confessed his love for Ophelia. He discloses that he loved Ophelia with all his might, and the love of forty thousand brothers cannot make much his love. Hamlet was not obligated to confirm his love for the death Ophelia, but he did it out of his own volition. That shows how much she loved her.

Conclusion

In conclusion, castle politics and treachery were immense, and this one had to watch his moves. Hamlet had to be wary as there were spies all over the palace. If she confessed his love openly for Ophelia, his distractor might use her as a weak point to get to him. Prince Hamlet was witty and did not want Ophelia to be hurt by anyone and, as such, does not openly show his love to Ophelia as he knows he is being watched. He did not want Ophelia to be caught in the middle of the feud between him and his uncle Claudius. Ophelia also told his dad that prince Hamlet had said he loved him. Though the father does not approve of the love majorly because prince Hamlet is older than Ophelia, Hamlet would also not have sent love letters and poems if he did not love Ophelia. The way he was distraught during the funeral proceeding that he proclaims his love for Ophelia is evidence enough for his undying love.

References

Bradley, K. (2016). Play review: Hamlet. Cahiers Elisabethains: A Journal of English Renaissance Studies, 89(1), 105-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0184767816631277d

Roman, D. (2018). Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Theatre Journal, 70(4), 563-568. https://doi.org/10.1353/tj.2018.0113

Smith, P. (2016). Play review: Hamlet. Cahiers Elisabethains: A Journal of English Renaissance Studies, 91(1), 115-117. https://doi.org/10.1177/0184767816669040g