abused women in Shakespeare
Like Lavinia, Ophelia falls victim to the abuse of the men she trusts. Ophelia is the most innocent victim of Hamlet’s revenge in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Ophelia’s trust and dependency upon the men in her life lead to her madness and ultimately to her death. “While suggesting complete mental derangement, Shakespeare advances the play by giving us a very clear indication of the reason for Ophelia’s madness: her irreconcilable attachments to Polonius and Hamlet as persons and to chastity and sensual love as desirable goals” (Tracy 83). Unlike many of the complex characters in Hamlet, Ophelia is presented simply as a one dimensional, innocent girl. Her father, Polonius and brother, Laertes, have raised Ophelia, who like Lavinia is motherless, in a patriarchal society that teaches obedience to fathers and husbands. Is the obedient nature in which she has been raised to blame for her madness? It is hard to read Hamlet and not feel sorry for Ophelia, she has been victimized by the! men she loves and even in her madness keeps the simplicity and purity that characterizes her. Ophelia is very close to her family, her father, Polonius, and brother, Laertes, have taken great pains to shelter her. She is not involved with matters of state
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Some common words found in the essay are:
King Polonius, Ophelia Desdemona, Confess Handkerchief, Polonius Laertes, King Queen, Polonius Hamlet, Ophelia Polonius, Ophelia Lavinia, Othello Lie, Hamlet Ophelias, polonius laertes, othello iago, lavinia ophelia, father polonius laertes, father desdemona, polonius hamlet, dies tragically, polonius takes, ophelia victimized, iago othello, hamlet gone mad, lavinia ophelia desdemona, life education,
Approximate Word count = 1763
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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