Ophelia And Hamlet Comparison Essay - 929 Words

When it comes to Ophelia and Gertrude they can be completely different but in some aspects they are completely similar. In this Essay I am going to explain my reasoning behind Ophelia and Gertrude’s connections. Ophelia is a very strange character, masked behind her good looks and charm she is an innocent and sweet girl who loves life. This is a good thing but is also bad. Due to her father realizing this it causes conflict between her father, Polonius and Hamlet. Polonius thinks young Hamlet wants one thing and causes a disturbance in the story. Just like young Ophelia, Gertrude is sought out to be a sweet woman who has her son’s best interest in mind. She is a sweet woman that feels an immense amount of guilt when her son Hamlet calls†¦show more content†¦A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe of your precedent lord; a vice of kings; A cutpurse of the empire and the rule, Thad rom a shelf the precious diadem stole And put it in his pocket!† (Act 3, Scene 4, Line 2492). Hamlet in this quote is explaining how selfish his mom is acting when it comes to her outlooks on relationship and how she negatively affected his father. He was explaining how his dad would feel if he was able to be there and tell them. However just like Gertrude, Ophelia is just as bad when it comes to selfishness. She states â€Å"There’s Rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is a pansy, that’s for thoughts. † (act 4, Scene 5, Line 3053). This was right before she went mad and ended up drowning herself. In this situation she was being selfish and doing something that she thought was best for her not even thinking about anyone else and there possible reaction to her suicide.Another characteristic that Ophelia and Gertrude have are that they both take part in what a â€Å"superior† tells them. In all cases of this book it ends up being a man. For Gertrude it was a queen and for her this was h er weakness. Just like Ophelia the man ends up being there weakness. In Gertrude’s case she ends up marrying Hamlets Uncle and submits to what he says the majority of the time until Hamlet starts getting through to her. For example Gertrude tells poor Hamlet, â€Å"O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.† (Act 3Show MoreRelated Hamlet Essay: Comparison of Gertrude and Ophelia3265 Words   |  14 PagesHamlet – a Comparison of Gertrude and Ophelia      Ã‚  Ã‚   Even though at opposite ends of the courtly society in the halls of Elsinore, the characters of Gertrude and Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet have much in common. This essay intends to explore that commonality.    Howard Felperin in his essay â€Å"O’erdoing Termagant† illustrates one point of similarity between these two female characters – they are both recipients of Hamlet’s ill-will. 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