Student Question

Why did Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship break down?

Quick answer:

Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship breaks down due to a lack of trust and communication, compounded by external pressures and misunderstandings. Hamlet's erratic behavior and distrust of women, influenced by his mother's actions, clash with Ophelia's loyalty to her father, Polonius. Both are overwhelmed by their circumstances, and their love is too immature to withstand the political and personal turmoil surrounding them.

Expert Answers

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In the beginning of Act 1, Scene 3, we find Laertes advising his sister Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet. The reason being given is class status: Ophelia does not belong to a royal family, and during the Elizabethan period, marriages amongst royals were not based on love but on political gain and advancement.

Increasingly, as the play progresses, we find Ophelia being torn between her loyalty to her father and to Hamlet. In the end we find her loyalties clearly tilted towards her father Polonius.

She becomes a victim of her father's political ambitions as well as a victim of Hamlet's feigned madness and his bitterness and suspicion toward women. Hamlet loses all faith in women after having discovered his mother's abominable marriage.

He vents all his anger on Ophelia and uses harsh, bitter language such as asking her to go join a nunnery to protect her virginity. Hamlet feels totally betrayed by Ophelia when he finds that Polonius and Claudius use her to spy on him. Thus we can conclude that Hamlet and Ophelia are clearly the victims of their circumstances.

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