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How does the interpretation of Ophelia's pregnancy impact Hamlet?

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The interpretation of Ophelia's pregnancy adds a deeper layer of tragedy to Hamlet and potentially makes Hamlet less sympathetic to the audience. While there is no direct evidence of her pregnancy in the play, some scholars speculate that the stress of a possible pregnancy and her references to plants might hint at abortion. If true, Hamlet's treatment of Ophelia becomes more reprehensible, darkening the play's tone.

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If Ophelia really is pregnant at the time of her death, then Shakespeare is adding a much higher level of tragedy to Hamlet, and such a situation might actually make Hamlet less sympathetic to the audience.

The first thing to remember here is that there is no direct evidence in the play that Ophelia either is pregnant at the time of her death or that she has had an abortion. Ophelia is clearly not visibly pregnant, or one of the characters would have commented on that. Hamlet and Ophelia may have been intimate with one another. Hamlet does make some sexually suggestive comments, but he is also pretending to be crazy at the time, and those might be part of the act. But nothing in the play mentions or even strongly hints at a pregnancy.

The idea of Ophelia being pregnant comes from the speculation of scholars who are...

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trying to understand her actions in the play. It does seem rather strange that Ophelia would be so mentally unstable as to go completely crazy after Hamlet's apparent rejection and her father's death. This could be simply the inability of a rather sheltered young woman to handle what the world throws at her. Some scholars have argued that the increased stress of pregnancy drives Ophelia over the edge and that her references to various plants might be a coded reference to abortion. Again, this is speculation.

But let's assume for a moment that the scholars are right and that Shakespeare is subtly hinting somehow that Ophelia is or has been pregnant. In this case, the tragedy moves to a higher level. Ophelia may have felt that she had no other choice, no longer having a father to protect her and having a lover who has gone mad.

Further, if we accept that Hamlet and Ophelia have indeed been intimate, then his behavior toward her becomes even more inexcusable. Already, it is questionable at best, and he treats Ophelia quite badly. But if they have been in a sexual relationship (and Hamlet would or should have known that in such a case a child would be possible), then Hamlet would be even less sympathetic to the audience, perhaps even bordering on villainous. The tone of the play changes and becomes even darker than it already is.

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