The Madness of Ophelia and Analysis of Queen Gertrude in Hamlet

Running head: HAMLET
Hamlet
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

HAMLET1
1. The Madness of Ophelia
Hamlet, also known to the readers as The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a
well-known play which is written by William Shakespeare. In the play itself, the readers are
introduced to a character named Ophelia. Ophelia is portrayed in the play to be a young
noblewoman of Denmark, who is the daughter of Polonius and also the sister of Laertes. She
had also been portrayed in the play to be the potential wife of Hamlet himself.
In the play, however, the readers notice that the character of Ophelia slowly goes mad
in the days before she dies. The main reason for this fact is that Ophelia is confused between
her obedience to her father and her love for Hamlet (Graf, 2013). On one hand the readers
find her obeying her father’s wishes and on the other hand, she is romantic in nature, which
makes her fall for Hamlet. It is the pressure which she encounters from all sides which finally
makes her lose her mind and she succumbs to madness as well as mental illness. In Act IV
Scene V, it is seen by the readers that Hamlet’s rejection as well as the murder of her father
causes her to lose her mind completely (Graf, 2013).
The flowers which Ophelia hands to the people of the court symbolises her emotions
as often seen in the Shakespearean plays. By the image of the flowers, she urges her brother
to remember her true loyalties. Through presenting the flowers, Ophelia speaks of the themes
of abortion, adultery, innocence and loyal love as well as the modesty and the integrity of the
characters in the court room itself.
2. Analysis of Queen Gertrude
Queen Gertrude is one of the characters that the readers are introduced to in the play
Hamlet by William Shakespeare. She had been portrayed to be the mother of Prince Hamlet
and the wife of his father and his uncle.