Hamlet Group

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nayems
nayems
Teacher
High School - 11th Grade

In "Hamlet" why did Hamlet reject Ophelia and be unkind to her, and what is her reaction?

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Posted by nayems on Monday April 13, 2009 at 8:10 PM and tagged with characters, hamlet, ophelia, reject.

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  1. mrs-campbell Teacher
    High School - 11th Grade

    Best answer as selected by question asker.

    Hamlet was pretty upset with the world; his father had just died, he suspected his uncle of killing him, and his mother had insulted his father's name and honor by marrying his uncle so quickly.  So, he is upset at the world, and especially angry with his mother.  He can't fathom how she would, in just two month's time, be able to get over his father so quickly, when she loved him so much, and then go and marry someone else.  Because she did this, Hamlet starts doubting the fidelity and purity of all women, not just his mom.  If his mom could be so fickle and frail, couldn't any woman be that way?  He spreads his anger out over all women, not just his mother, and unfortunately, that includes Ophelia.

    So, he is hating all women, and Ophelia comes up to him and gives him all of his presents that he had given her back.  She tells him that she is returning them, and basically signals that their relationship was over.  This confirms Hamlet's bitterness towards women; here was Ophelia, a woman, rejecting him and being wishy-washy.  So, in order to vent some of his pent-up rage against women, his mother (who he suspects might be listening to the conversation) and Ophelia's rejection, he unleashes a rather mean tirade against Opehlia.  He rants that all women should never marry, because they just bear children who will grow into corrupt men.  He says that beauty is a just a charm to draw men in.  He says that there are no honest women and that all women should become nuns in order to not create any more confusion or children in the world.  All of this is just Hamlet, venting his frustration at his mom and all women in general, and Ophelia happens to be the victim of it.

    Shakespeare doesn't really explain Ophelia's reaction to Hamlet's behavior; later, she goes mad, and we can't help but wonder if Hamlet's cruelty played a small part of that.  I hope that those thoughts help; good luck!

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/hamlet/hamlet-character-analysis
    http://www.enotes.com/hamlet/ophelia-character-analysis

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    Posted by mrs-campbell on Monday April 13, 2009 at 8:23 PM

  2. ray-eston-smith-jr
    ray-eston-smith-jr

    As with his mother, Hamlet "must be cruel, only to be kind."  When he was courting Ophelia, Hamlet had some hope of making her the bride of a Wittenberg scholar.  But since then he has promised his mother to obey his uncle's injunction to "be as ourself in Denmark."   He has also wiped away his true self from the book of his brain and has written his father there.  Now he is trapped in the "prison" of Denmark.  As Laertes had warned,

    Perhaps he loves you now,
    And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch
    The virtue of his will: but you must fear,
    His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own;
    For he himself is subject to his birth:
    He may not, as unvalued persons do,
    Carve for himself; for on his choice depends
    The safety and health of this whole state;
    And therefore must his choice be circumscribed
    Unto the voice and yielding of that body
    Whereof he is the head. Then if he says he loves you,
    It fits your wisdom so far to believe it
    As he in his particular act and place
    May give his saying deed; which is no further
    Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal.

    Because Hamlet loves Ophelia, he does not want to make her, like his mother, "imperial jointress to this warlike state" and a "breeder of sinners" - sinners who would become warlike kings and princes like his father ("the question of these wars") and like his uncle and like Fortinbras.  When a king (or prince) falls, he cannot "sigh alone,"  but Hamlet does not want spokes to his wheel (especially not Ophelia) as he rolls to his doom.

    Hamlet had tried to overlay his bloody birthright with education from Wittenberg,  but virtue "cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it." 

    As for Ophelia, like Hamlet she had let duty to her father make her untrue to herself.  She had let her father tell her what to think and let her brother keep the key to her memory.

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    Posted by ray-eston-smith-jr on Wednesday April 15, 2009 at 6:54 AM

  3. john420
    john420 Student
    High School - 10th Grade

    hamlet was mad at her because he was mad about his dad passing and ophelias brother told hamlet to stay away from her and so ophelia takes it pretty hard as rejection.

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    Posted by john420 on Thursday April 16, 2009 at 6:18 AM

  4. pigasus
    pigasus Student

    Because everyone was saying that Hamlet was crazy, when Ophelia gave back the gifts he gave her, it upset him. He wanted to marry her and loved her and so was naturally upset. He thought that she had come to agreement with those who thought he was insane and didn't want to marry him anymore.

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    Posted by pigasus on Monday August 10, 2009 at 8:21 AM