What does Ophelia symbolize in the play?

Ophelia, Hamlet’s beloved wife-to-be, is the symbol of femininity in the lengthy play. Her lines and the lines addressed to her show a lot about both her character and Shakespeare’s views of femininity.

Is Ophelia based on Shakespeare?

An Oxford historian has found evidence of a story that could be the real-life inspiration for Shakespeare’s tragic character, Ophelia. The girl, possibly a young cousin of William Shakespeare, had been picking flowers when she fell into a millpond near Stratford upon Avon.

Why does Shakespeare include Ophelia?

Ophelia is one of the most important characters in the play Hamlet. Ophelia’s character is important in the story because she represents femininity, and Hamlet is able to act out his aggression towards his mother on Ophelia. In the end, the pressure Ophelia experiences leads her to insanity and her death by drowning.

How does Hamlet describe Ophelia?

To her father and brother, Ophelia is the eternal virgin, the vessel of morality whose purpose is to be a dutiful wife and steadfast mother. To Hamlet, she is a sexual object, a corrupt and deceitful lover.

How is Ophelia characterized?

She is a naïve girl who wants to please both her father and her boyfriend Hamlet. She behaves innocently and is not trying to use her feminine nature to deceive or control a man as Hamlet suspected. Ophelia is loyal to her father and brother who raised her.

How is Ophelia’s condition different from Hamlet’s?

Hamlet and Ophelia both display symptoms of madness, but each become mad for different reasons. Hamlet’s madness is fueled by his father’s death and his desire to seek revenge on the man who killed him. Ophelia’s madness stems from her lack of identity and her feelings of helplessness regarding her own life.

How would you characterize Ophelia?

She has chosen one, and her choice seals her fate. The dilemma also forces her into madness. She has no way to reconcile the contradictory selves her men demand that she be and still retain an equilibrium. Ophelia’s desperation literally drives her crazy, and she has no means with which to heal herself.

What are Ophelia’s actions in Hamlet?

Ophelia obeys, but her action sends Hamlet into a fit of misogynistic rage. Soon after, Hamlet mistakenly kills Polonius. The combination of her former lover’s cruelty and her father’s death sends Ophelia into a fit of grief. In Act Four she spirals into madness and dies under ambiguous circumstances.

What are the themes of Ophelia’s songs?

Ophelia enters singing fragments of songs about chaos, death, and unrequited love. The King and Queen both try to speak with her, but she replies only unintelligibly.