In the play "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, the protagonist Hamlet has an interesting relationship with his apparent love interest names Ophelia. At first glance, it seems like they are a young couple who are completely in love with each other, but when analyzing the dialogue between the two, you could say that they are just kids fooling around. I think that Hamlet did love Ophelia at one point, but because of his quest to find out the truth about his fathers' death, he become so absorbed in himself that he lost touch with the people that really mattered to him. For example, in act two scene one, Ophelia runs to Polonius all scared and sad because Hamlet had just gone into her room and was acting like he was crazy in love with her. Hamlet knew that if he freaked Ophelia out enough, she would go running to her father and tell him that Hamlet was crazy which was part of his plan. To Hamlet, Ophelia was just a pawn in ultimate plan to reveal the truth about Claudius and his father. Also, during the nunnery scene in act three scene one, Hamlet says, "I did love you once." (III.i.115) and then four lines later, he says, "I loved you not." (III.i.119). Throughout the play, Hamlet is in the verge of crossing over the line to insanity and I think at this moment, he finally snaps. He is so caught up in his plans and games, that he actually becomes mad and starts saying stuff that he doesn't mean. When Hamlet says, "Get thee to a nunnery."(III.i.121), it could be interpreted many ways. I do think that he meant that Ophelia should go seek a place of safety so that she wouldn't get hurt from what he was about to do, which shows that he still cares for her, but just because you care about someone doesn't mean that you're in love with them. If he was really in love with her, I think he could of found a nicer and less ambiguous way to tell her to go find safety. At the end of scene three act two, Ophelia and Hamlet exchange some dirty wordplay which suggests that they could still have feelings for each other, but then Ophelia says, "'Tis brief, my lord." which Hamlet replies, "As woman's love." (III.ii.148-149). This shows that Hamlet might think that Ophelia did love him, but that a woman's love is so brief that she has already moved on. With all the tricks and the characters that Hamlet plays whether it be crazy in love Hamlet, or just crazy Hamlet, it eventually leads Ophelia into madness as well which is demonstrated in act four scene seven when Gertrude recounts the death of Ophelia. Gertrude says that Ophelia was out making flower crowns when a tree branch snapped and tossed her into the stream below. Ophelia was so out of it that she didn't even realize that she was drowning and like carried on singing and playing with flowers. If you love someone, you do not push them to the point where they are full off the wall crazy. Ophelia is actually NUTS and it is all because of Hamlet and his on and off "love" for her. In conclusion, I think that the love between Hamlet and Ophelia once existed, but because of Hamlet and his obsession with finding out the truth, he lost touch with who mattered to him and ultimately fell out of love with Ophelia.
Comment in response to Christie:
I agree with what Christie when she said, "Hamlet and Ophelia demonstrate multiple signs of love towards one another throughout the play...Hamlet's actions influence Ophelia's emotions and vice versa." They do seem to share many inside jokes and seem very comfortable with each other which hints at the fact that they do have history together. Whether the relationship was a thing of the past, or if the feelings are still mutual, there is no denying that they once did love each other. I never noticed how Hamlets' actions and emotions influenced Ophelia and vice versa but it is interesting to see the natural connection that occurs between the two.
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