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Position:Home>Theater & Acting> Question on Hamlet & Ophelia...?Question: Question on Hamlet & Ophelia!.!.!.!? I don't understand why Hamlet is so mean to Ophelia in Act 3, Sc 1&2!?! He's being such an ***hole to her and for what reason I have no clue!! Does anyone know!. also!.!. why in the end does he say that he loved her more then 40000 brothers or whatever the correct number is!? Did he in fact love her!? or was he just messing w/ her head!?
Anyone care to enlighten me!? and yes i read the play-- i just dont get itWww@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: 1!. Partly, he is taking a lot of his anger and frustration on women in general!. See his first soliloquy about his mother's marriage!. Ophelia at some point in this scene represents women in general--it is not fair to her, no, but he is acting out of frustration and rage!. 2!. More importantly, he feels betrayed by Ophelia!. She was the last person he could trust in this kingdom!. His father is dead, his mother married his uncle, his uncle killed his father, and now Ophelia is returning his letters and denying that they ever loved each other!. We as readers know that her Ophelia's father is making her do this, but Hamlet does not know this!. He feels she is choosing her father over him!. See: "Where's your father!?" This is not fair to Ophelia, again, but Hamlet doesn't know why she has chosen to deny their love, perhaps the only thing he has left of his former life!. SOme actors chose to play this misunderstanding as the final straw which puts Hamlet over the edge into borderline real madness!. And yes, he loved her more than anything in the world, that is why it hurts him so much when he believes she is betraying him!. He is acting out of passion, of course, when he rails on her, but we have all done so with our first, painful, youthful loves!. These loves are everything, the kind of love which makes one sick!. Ophelia, unwittingly, and unintentionally, has made matters much worse!.Www@QuestionHome@Com In Act 1, Scene 5, Hamlet speaks of his intention "To put an antic disposition on," in other words, to act insane!. His treatment of Ophelia is part of that madness act!.Www@QuestionHome@Com The severity of his anger and the incredible meanness of his insults have puzzled theater goers for a long time!. One possible interpretation that is very popular is that Hamlet is aware the Claudius and Polonius are watching him talk to her, and he is putting on an elaborate show for their benefit!. However, that makes him a pretty calculating S!.O!.B!. to use his lover so calculatingly!. - Another is that he is misanthropic, that he hates people and women in particular, because of his feelings of betrayal!. - Another interpretation is that his portrayal of madness has become a mania, and he is simply lost his mind!. In some productions the scene is played out with such intensity that it is nearly a rape scene!. ------------------------------------- I've seen all of these interpretations in different productions!. In any event the effect on her psyche is profound!. Her final words of desperation uttered are "O, woe is me T' have seen what I have seen, see what I see!" The icing on the cake is when she looks to her father for some comfort from this emotional devastation, his reply is one of the most chilling lines in the play!. "How now, Ophelia!? You need not tell us what Lord Hamlet said!. We heard it all!." No pity, no comfort, no support, just the plain blunt dismissal !. ------------------- After this scene Ophelia only has two more scenes!. In the first she can only utter simple responses to Hamlet's vulgarities, and her final mad scene!. ------------------- ------------------- I always see Ophelia in the same class as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern!. They trust in power and authority, and power and authority mercilessly use them until they are dead!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |