Ophelia and Hamlet’s love for each other in the beginning of the play was very real. Following the death of his father, Hamlet is quite attracted to Ophelia's beauty, and quickly falls in love with her. It is not uncertain, however, that Ophelia is very much controlled by her father. She is the daughter of a hig

Lastly, perhaps the biggest cause of Ophelia’s madness is the death of her father. The news of Polonius’ death is just enough to throw her over the edge. What’s worse, she finds out that her dearest father was murdered by the one she loves, Hamlet. In hearing this, Ophelia loses all control of her mind, and slips completely into the realm of madness. She begins singing songs to herself that don’t really make sense to anyone. "He is dead and gone, lady, he is dead and gone…" (IV.V.). The King, all that she has left in her life, feels pity for her because she has lost so much, "O! This is the poison of deep grief; it springs all from her father’s death," he says (IV.V.). But The King attributes too much of her plight to her father. It becomes clear when she sings a song about a maid on St. Valentine’s Day, that the way Hamlet treated her was also a great contributor to her insanity. In this song, she sings, "Quoth she, before you tumbled me, you promis’d me to wed" (IV.V.) And it can be seen from these words that she is angry because Hamlet slept with her during their relationship, yet they did not wed as he had promised. These songs represent that she has finally succumbed to her madness, and there is nothing left of what she once was. No longer is she the center of the maelstrom; she has become the storm that was raging around her.

Next, she sees Hamlet once more, and though she attempts to talk to him, she is coldly rejected. He will not listen to her and instead screams harsh words leaving her feeling worse than before. She is faced with the harshest words that he could give her, "…I loved you not" (III.i.). He continues, telling her to "Get thee to a nunnery. (III.i.) … you jig, you amble, and you lisp, and nickname God’s creatures, and make your wantonness your ignorance. Go to, I’ll no more on’t;" (III.i.). As he exits, Ophelia is left feeling nothing more than disturbed. She sits weeping while her father and the King practically step on her weak body to find out the reasons behind Hamlet’s actions. In this depressed state all she can say is "O! Woe is me, to have seen what I have seen, what I see!" (III.i.) Because of Hamlet’s rudeness and rejection throughout

Some topics in this essay:
Finally Laertes, Hamlet Ophelia, Queen Hamlet’s, William Shakespeare’s, IIIi Hamlet’s, Iiii Polonius, Day Hamlet, Ophelia Hamlet’s, IVV King, Ophelia Hamlet, death father, controlled father, madness events, events play, ophelia's madness, love hamlet, father tells ophelia, father hamlet, throughout play, towards madness, ophelia’s madness, road towards madness, ophelia left feeling, madness death father,