One of the more interesting questions in Hamlet is whether or not Hamlet and Ophelia are actually in love with one another. There's evidence to support either view, but if you look carefully at the interactions between the characters, the "truth" becomes apparent. Using evidence from the text in what the various characters say and do, defend one side or the other of this argument.

To be most successful in this assignment, you must:

i) Dig into the text and analyse the issues, while resisting the temptation to retell the story.

ii) Include quotations and citations in your blog entry to back up your opinions.

iii) Finally, you must take what your classmates have posted into consideration, and to comment on their blog entries within the body of your own blog entry. **Do NOT comment in the comment section below your colleague's blog entry -- it makes them too difficult to track for evaluation.


** Caveat: Relevant allusions to other, outside, texts or sources will get you gravy marks. Mmm! Breaton loves wonderous allusions!

Sunday, 26 October 2014

If I Didn’t Love You, I Wouldn’t Have Told You To Become A Nun - Hamlet 1598

The Conspiracy on Hamlet’s Love For Ophelia, and Vice Versa, Explained.
 
In my own conceit, I think that Hamlet and Ophelia are two peas in a pod, they definitely love each other. There are many instances where we see that Hamlet shows his love for Ophelia, and she returns it right back. For Hamlet, his love for Ophelia is shown throughout the novel. An example of Hamlet’s love for Ophelia is within the letter that Polonius reads aloud for Gertrude, when he is trying to prove that Hamlet is mad in love. “Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move, Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love” (II.ii.115-119), Hamlet is essentially saying that Ophelia can doubt anything she wants to; the stars being fire, the sun moving, truth being lies, but he tells her to never doubt his love. To never give it a second thought if it could be true or not. This is essentially where he confesses his love to her always being true! As a reciprocal to show her love for Hamlet, Ophelia tries to back up Hamlet and herself when Polonius is questioning Hamlet’s love for her, whether it’s genuine or not. “My lord, he hath importun’d me with love In honourable fashion” (I.iii.110-111). She tells him Hamlet treats her well and his love is seen to be genuine by her. Why would she be trying to back up Hamlet and support him if she didn’t truly love him? Therefore, the quotation is fully supportive of Ophelia’s love for Hamlet. Another point in the play where Hamlet confirms the fact that he loves Ophelia would be the scene when he tells Ophelia to go to a nunnery. At first, it seems like Hamlet is mocking Ophelia and actually trying to tell her to go to a whorehouse, when in fact, Hamlet is only trying to preserve Ophelia for his own good and future marriage (III.i.121-151).  He also threatens to curse her if she decides to get married (III.i.136-137), he doesn’t want her to get married because he wants her to wait for him. Hamlet, at this point in the novel, doesn’t want any of his actions to conflict with the thoughts and feelings of Ophelia, that’s why he wants her to get to a nunnery, where it is safe, and she can secure herself for him without having to worry about what’s going on between him, Claudius and Polonius. As he says, he is going to complete a dangerous action, the murdering of Claudius “All but one shall live, the rest shall keep as they are. To a nunnery, go.” (III.i.150-151), he’s only looking out for her. In reaction to this, Ophelia seems to think that Hamlet has insulted her, or, has indirectly insulted her by telling her to go to a nunnery. If that is what she concludes, then in the next scene, there is yet another proof Ophelia loves Hamlet. During the Mousetrap Play, Hamlet and Ophelia seem to have no tension between each other, the only type of tension that is viewable is sexual tension. They exchange flirtatious jokes and Ophelia seems to have already forgiven Hamlet for his misbehaviours (III.ii.110-133). This acquires further insight to Ophelia’s love for Hamlet. If she didn’t love him, she wouldn’t have forgiven him that quickly, because he did say some pretty outrageous things about his feelings for her in the antecedent scene. Another instance where we see that Hamlet has seized a love for Ophelia would be within his soliloquy,  "The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons be all my sins remember'd." (III.i.89-90). Believe it or not, but Hamlet is asking Ophelia for forgiveness for what he is about to do. This could potentially have multiple meanings, seeing as a death of one of Ophelia’s family members is just around the corner, but he requires her forgiveness anyways. Even if what he is about to do doesn't have any affect towards her, he still wants her to forgive all of the bad things he has done. So this solidifies the fact that Hamlet and Ophelia do in fact, share a young love. Consider this conspiracy about their love, solved.
 
Comment:
In response to Brady’s argument, I agree with what he says about Hamlet’s soliloquy showing his love for Ophelia. If he truly did not love her, why would he bother to be asking her for forgiveness, and to be included in her prayers.  He seems to be going out of his way to achieve Ophelia’s forgiveness and is concerned about what she thinks about him. Hamlet just wants her to have positive thoughts, and Brady proves this well in his blog entry, he successfully shows the connection between the two young lovers confirming the fact that they love each other.

 
 


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