Laertes advises Ophelia to treat Hamlet's love as a "trifling of his favour," and a "fashion and a toy". He says that Hamlet's affections are "sweet, not lasting." It is unequivocally clear that Ophelia's brother believes Hamlet is only physically attracted to her, and that any relationship could not seriously last. Laertes points out that "Perhaps" Hamlet loves Ophelia now, but "his will is not his own" and "he himself is subject to his birth". He reminds Ophelia that Hamlet is a Prince, and that he may be forced to choose a wife who has royal blood, regardless of whom he might actually love. Therefore Ophelia could not become Hamlet's wife. In addition, Laertes suggests that his sister should remain "chaste" as she would lose her honour if she lost her virginity to Hamlet before marriage, and she would become worthless. In fact, Laertes

lia's brother tells her that even "The chariest maid is prodigal enough if she unmask her beauty to the moon." Effectively, Ophelia could be the purest girl on earth, but if she allowed somebody to share her body before marriage, this would be enough to destroy her purity forever. Finally, Laertes shares with Ophelia his belief that "Youth to itself rebels, though none else near." Ultimately, Laertes thinks that young people rebel but will only hurt themselves; if Ophelia rebels by losing her virginity to Hamlet, she will indeed only end up hurting herself more than anyone else.

Furthermore, not only does Ophelia have to take in the monotonous advice of her brother, her father also gives her similar advice. Polonius informs her that she is a "green girl," and she should "think" herself "a baby" as she has "ta'en these tenders for true pay Which are not sterling." Polonius is under the impression that Hamlet's advances towards his daughter have no true meaning and are not fuelled by real love. Polonius advises his daughter that Hamlet could not possibly be serious, though he knows "when the blood burns, how prodigal the soul lends the tongue vows." Polonius realises that one can become too overwhelmed with lust to realise the obvious. He warns Ophelia that she "must not" take Hamlet's promises for "fire." They will be "extinct," soon, he says. Finally, like Laertes, Polonius advises Ophelia to remain a virgin, and he tells her, "Do not believe his vows". Polonius is afraid that Hamlet may be trying to pursue sexual favors from her. He orders her not to give "words or talk" to Hamlet. Exhausted with so much advice, Ophelia simply gives in. We notice, however, that Ophelia refuses to take her brother's advice seriously, while, having had the same advice from her father, she agrees obediently. Ophelia may have dismissed her brother's advice, but after hearing her father, it is quite likely that what they were saying had some significance and was not simple meddling in her affairs, as she may have earlier suspected.

In conclusion, it seems clear just how affected Ophelia

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Approximate Word count = 1408
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)