Crazy In Love

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, two people have come together and fallen in love. Those two people are Hamlet and Ophelia. Although there are many instances where the reader could say that Hamlet does not love her and just uses her, there are even more instances where he shows his love for her. It may not be as direct as "I love you" but the thought is still there in Hamlet's mind. The first example of Hamlet's love for Ophelia is when he is speaking to her in Act three. It seems like he doesn't love her, but when he said "I did love you once" (III, i, 115). In this line, he is telling her that he loved her but after that, tells her that he never loved her. He seems to flip flop in this conversation. He knows he is being watched so he can't express his true feelings for Ophelia. Later in the conversation, Hamlet tells Ophelia to go to a nunnery, "Go thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners" (III, i, 121-122). He seems like he is insulting her or mocking her but in reality, he is trying to protect her. A nunnery, by definition, is a place where a woman's chastity would be safe. If Ophelia were to bring a baby into that world, Hamlet was sure that the baby would be a sinner. If she is in a nunnery, she would be safe from the cruelties of the outside world and all of its negative influences. Throughout the entire play, Hamlet is trying to confuse everyone and make them believe things that aren't true so why would he treat Ophelia any different especially if he knows that everyone is watching them? A third piece of evidence is Hamlet's letter to Ophelia. Hamlet had said in the letter "never doubt I love" (II, ii, 118). He says tat he loves her. This was the last time that Hamlet revealed his true love for Ophelia in plain text before her death. He said in the letter that even though everything else may not seem true around her, that his love was true. After Ophelia showed the letter to Polonius, Hamlet knew that he had to hide his feelings from her and everyone else, but there is no doubt that his feelings were true. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, it is evident that Hamlet's love for Ophelia is true and unquestionable. It is seen when Hamlet was trying to protect her by requesting that she go to a nunnery, when he tells her that he did love her once, and through his love letters to her.  Although he might not have expressed it all the time, he feelings were always there between the lines.


Comment: I agree with what Toni said when she made the point of Hamlet and Ophelia at the end of Act 2 Scene 3 when the two lovers exchanged "dirty wordplay" and how Hamlet knew that Ophelia loved him but seems to have moved on because a woman's love is so brief. What I gathered from this point was that Hamlet was truly interested in knowing if Ophelia loved him or not because he loved her and hoped she felt the same.