Example research essay topic: Hamlet And Ophelia Series Of Events - 1,685 words

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The Madness of Hamlet and Ophelia It was fascinating to look at how many characters in Shakespeare s plays poked at the brink of insanity. It seems to me, the plays couldn t have been tragedies if this didn t happen. In the plays we read, important characters evolved into madness, the plot thickened, figures died, and the tragedy prevailed. It was really interesting to see how this series of events would be an ongoing theme in the Shakespearean plays. Even though the same outcome was to be expected in his tragedies, every story was different and each was equally suspenseful. Hamlet was one of the many plays, which called to my attention to this Shakespearean theme of madness, the characters of Hamlet and Ophelia especially.

The characters interesting and philosophical representations bring up two important questions, which I thought were important to think about: Is Hamlet insane or not? and Why does Ophelia go mad? These questions are interesting to attempt to answer. They start to unravel many mysteries about characters that have had so many different interpretations.

I think my interest in this subject originated from my group work. Hamlet is also my favorite play out of Shakespeare s work. But in our project, we studied two different film versions. The Zeffirelli and Olivier versions were of a totally different era, and their interpretations of Hamlet was just as dissimilar. It amazed me how the play could be as effective by seeing Hamlet as two different people. By answering these few questions, I will better learn how the characters affected the story, and why the tragedy ended like it did.

The Sanity of Hamlet Hamlets sanity is a major question in interpreting the play. Hamlet s inability to take revenge draws attention toward the uncertainty of his mental state. Some critics view his sanity at a deeper, sub-conscious level; with self-destructive and sexual drives to explain his behavior. While others see Hamlet s undertones of incest and sexual word play as different psychological intentions. This question seems to be wrapped up in a puzzle. So, the issue of Hamlets basic sanity is worth re-examining from a clearer perspective.

There seems to be a split of opinion among the other characters of the play about Hamlets sanity. I noticed the division is along gender lines. Ophelia (Act II, I. ) and Gertrude (Act III, IV. ) both say Hamlet is mad. Ophelia is speaking of Hamlet s uneasy attitude towards her father and Gertrude is talking about being unable to see or hear her sons final encounter with the Ghost.

On the other hand, the major male characters, like Polonius, see that there is a deeper system in Hamlets madness. He thinks Hamlet s insanity is a mask to shield himself from a deeper and darker purpose of revenge. Since Hamlet is bothered by the sudden death of his father and his mothers speedy marriage to his uncle, his nasty behavior is understandable. Hamlet is withdrawn, dark, and glum amidst these traumatic events. And when he vents to his miserable mood with lines like How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable/Seems to me all the uses of this world! (I, II, 133 - 134). His exile and remorse, to me, seem normal reactions to a series of events to come.

He must retaliate, by the command of a ghost, without any instruction, against a powerful enemy; a guilty King. Besides, Hamlet does use the disguise of madness for his ultimate plan. He keeps Claudius, Polonius, and the other male characters of the play oblivious to his intentions. It is under a cover of insanity that Hamlet presents The Mousetrap, to successfully capture the conscience of Claudius. He also sees through the Kings plot to have him executed in England. These deliberate acts in which his appearance of madness is used to advantage are not those of a madman, but of an intellect.

Also, Hamlet sees and speaks with a ghost, but the rational character of Horatio does the same. All of this suggests that Hamlet is sane. However, Hamlet s treats Ophelia cruelly at some points of the play. Some would think he is mad because he s so nasty to her. When he says, Get thee to a nunnery, why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners (III, I, 120 - 121), he is being vicious towards Ophelias caring efforts to understand him. He is so vulgar in his suggestion that Ophelia is a whore and so certain in her denial of womanhood that I was surprised at it.

Mostly because I knew he loved her. Hamlets inexplicable brutality toward Ophelia shows a disturbed man acting under the appearance of madness. Even worse, there appears to be no good served by Hamlets crushing of the only flower in the Danish court. Hamlet does not advance his plans by turning Ophelia further into madness. He accidentally kills her father, making her attempt suicide. In a character that has a deep hatred toward his own mother, Hamlets aggressive anger upon Ophelia could really represent a mad condition.

The Insanity of Ophelia In the play, and throughout history, Ophelia becomes a symbol of female madness, depression, and dissociation from reality. Ophelia displays all of these symptoms, and her course of change till her death is interesting. Before her reappearance as a mad woman in (Act IV, scene V) she is first presented in (Act I, scene III) in a carefully balanced exchange with Laertes. She also proves to be a sensible daughter to Polonius.

She agrees to end her growing romance with Hamlet. The cause of Ophelias change appears to lie in Act III. Here, Ophelia is brutalized by Hamlets nasty comments to her. By the end, her father Polonius has been incidentally killed by him. These are powerful psychological blows, and the idea of mad Ophelias ramblings about love and death highlight their shared confusion. There seems to be more to her madness than lost love and a fathers death.

The story keeps reminding us that Ophelia and Hamlet were lovers before its opening act. In her first conversation with Polonius, Ophelia says about Hamlet He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders/Of his affection to me (I, III, 99 - 100). The rejection scene in Act III ironically shows Hamlet s affection for Ophelia. And at her funeral procession, Hamlet declares, I love Ophelia.

Forty thousand brothers/Could not with all their quantity of love/Make up my sum (V, I, 269 - 271). But Shakespeare never shows us the two as lovers. We really see Hamlet s attitude towards her in Act III when he so rudely rejects her. This throws some doubt about the strength of his love for her and the significance of his rejection of her as a cause of her insanity.

So lost love is not the event that triggers Ophelias madness and it is the death of her father, Polonius. There leaves one question. When Laertes says that his sisters madness is the result of her love for Polonius, we think about Hamlet, and think about how Ophelia wasn t affectionate towards Polonius when he asked her to stop seeing Hamlet. So, Ophelias madness is not the clear-cut result of her fathers death.

It is a mixture of both. When I turn to the text, I find that the start of Ophelias madness may have occurred long before they grow in Act IV. In the rejection scene of Act III, Ophelia is subjected to sharply contradictory signals from Hamlet. After she tries to return mementos to him, Hamlet says I did love you once (III, I, 114) to which Ophelia replies, Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so (I, 115). But then Hamlet moves to an incredibly cruel person when he says Get thee to a nunnery, why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners. (III, I, 120 - 121). This rapid turn magnifies the shock that Ophelia feels, but this is not the first time that Ophelia has been exposed to a mixed message.

Ophelia has first been directed by Polonius to break it with Hamlet, and she agrees to do so without protest. But then, to help Claudius, she is instructed to engage Hamlet in conversation. These instructions of opposite nature could be the fuel of her madness. Unlike the dying Hamlet, there is no Horatio to tell Ophelias story.

Throughout the play, it is through Ophelia that the tale of Hamlets contrived madness is related to us. Ophelia describes and interprets Hamlets madness, but she cannot identify her own story because the messages she received about who she is and how she is to act are completely contradictory. So, long before her fathers death or her rejection by Hamlet, Ophelia is bound to self-destructive madness. Conclusion After reviewing what I noticed about the characters, I was left with a puzzled reaction to the entire play.

What really happened and why? I can see why there are so many different interpretations of Hamlet, because the characters have so many possibilities. Still, I can understand why the characters did what they did. I have read this play in high school and twice in college, and I always thought that Hamlet was completely insane. But now, I have begun to realize his tactics were the workings of a man about his wits, instead of a boy who has lost them. More so, how is a young man supposed to act if he sees his father wrongfully murdered and his mother ignorant?

Then again, I side with Gertrude and Ophelia, and think he is completely mad because of his vulgarity and aggressiveness. The only thing I can come up with is he is both. A genius tends to be insane and vice versa. With Ophelia, I was puzzled at first about why her condition became so extreme. Later, I realized why she became so fragile; Every man in her life was a force, leading her in a different direction.

She had Polonius telling her to avoid Hamlet, Claudius telling her to converse with him, and Hamlet being selfish and malicious

Research essay sample on Hamlet And Ophelia Series Of Events