Hamlet and Ophelia :: Essays Papers

Hamlet and Ophelia 1. Plays fool foils to help the audience understand distinguished characters in the play. Foils atomic number 18 minor characters that have similarities and differences with a more important character in the play. Sometimes the minor character is just there for the character to talk to this is the basis for being a foil. In the play Hamlet, Titles by William Shakespeare, the character Ophelia is a foil to Hamlet. 2. Similarities are an important part of being a foil. One coincidence that Hamlet and Ophelia share are that they both are children of controlling parents. SV - 1 Hamlets father, who is murdered, comes back as a ghost to tell him who his murderer is. This news is his fathers way of controlling him from the grave. Hamlets mother and stepfather are also controlling him by presuading persuading Hamlet not to go to Wittenburg. Men in those days went away to get an education. There was no need for Hamlet to do so because he was a prince. As a Pri nce, he might have been even more likely to go abroad for his education. Ophelia is controlled by her father also. She tells him how Hamlet has tried some times to express his affections for her. Ophelias father does not believe Hamlet is sincere and orders her to stay away from him. Ophelia obeys her fathers wishes. Women were expected to do as they were told and believed what they were told to be true. 3. Another similarity between Hamlet and Ophelia is their the feelings they have for each other. In the beginning of the play, we are lead led to believe that Hamlet loves Ophelia. This frightens Ophelia, but that does not mean she does not have feelings for him also. It is her father who discourages encourages her to suppress any feelings she may have then. Later in the play Ophelia confesses her love for Hamlet, and he then hides his feelings and denies that he loved her. He suggests that she goes go to a nunnery. This makes Ophelia feel worthless and not wanted. 4. Fina lly the reactions that the characters have to their fathers deaths are also similar. When Hamlet learns that his father was murdered and that his stepfather is the killer, it is more than he can handle.