Hamlet

How do you think Ophelia treated Hamlet?

Act 2 scene 1

Asked by
Last updated by Rienzi R #645588
Answers 2
Add Yours

Prior to Hamlet visiting Ophelia's rooms, or her returning of his letters unopened?

Up to the beginning of the play, the word in and around Elsinore is that Ophelia and Hamlet were courting or at least dating. That is what we are told. What we see is completely different. When Polonius became aware of it he put a stop to it. His concern was that Ophelia was not a likely prospect for Hamlet's wife since Princes and kings marry other royalty for political purposes; alliances and treatys and such. Polonius thinks Hamlet is just going to use Ophelia for his own purposes and dump her when called upon for a higher political purpose. Ophelia then would be damaged goods and unworthy of marrying possibly into a higher station of life. Ophelia as an obedient daughter listens and obeys her father. The first indication that we have that the two are in the same room is Ophelia's account of a visit from Hamlet. She is visibly upset but she narrates the encounter digetically. We do not actually she the encounter on stage (though some movies incorrectly try to show this encounter). We have to take Ophelia's word that she did nothing to incite the reported behavior of Hamlet. It would SEEM (that is an important word in this play) that Hamlet was acting inappropriately here. Their next encounter is known as rthe nunnery scene. She takes it upon herself to return some gifts that Hamlet had given her. She says: "...to the noble mind [where did she hear that? in Hamlet's soliloquy?] rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind." She obviously thinks that Hamlet is the one acting badly and perhaps it is all actually an act, but moving on. The last time the two appear together on stage (not counting the graveyard scene of course) is during "The Mousetrap"/ "The Murder of Gonzago" play-within-the-play. Here, it is clear that Hamlet agressively treats Ophelia badly and with no provocation. What we learn from Hamlet in both this scene and in the nunnery scene is that Hamlet is angry at what Ophelia represents; namley his mother Gertrude. He sees Ophelia like he sees his mother, capable of cavalierly forgeting her first husband in favor of the second. Obviously, Hamlet has issues not Ophelia.