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

Iago: With her on her what you will.

her looking completely disheveled. Polonius is upset when he hears this, and he concludes that her refusal to see Hamlet anymore has driven the young prince mad. Polonius takes Ophelia to go see the King and Queen and tell them what has happened. The King is not completely convinced that love is the full cause of Hamlet's insanity. He and Polonius decide to put Ophelia into the hall where Hamlet is known to spend hours pacing each day. They plan to hide behind a tapestry and watch what happens. The character of Polonius emerges in this scene not as a fatherly figure giving advice, but as a "self absorbed busybody who regards his daughter as a tool..." (Camden 249). After forbidding Ophelia to see him, Polonius then eagerly delivers his dutiful daughter up to Hamlet, in his publicly acknowledged "turbulent and dangerous lunacy" (3.1.4), in order to prove his loyalty to Claudius, and perhaps to elevate his social status via a royal union. After Ophelia has been verbally assa!

Iago: Faith, that he did... I know not what he did.

It is not until the couple arrives at Cyprus that their marriage begins to go awry. Once there, Iago begins his plot that eventually will destroy innocent Desdemona. Desdemona in her willingness to help Cassio, played right into Iago's hands. He could not have asked for a more obedient or helpful character. Unfortunately this generosity was used against her and Othello became very jealous of Cassio and Desdemona. Othello's jealously pushed him over the edge until he was obsessed with the notion of her infidelity. Some may argue that Othello was just as much an innocent victim as Desdemona was but I feel that he is more to blame than Iago. Othello believed Iago almost immediately even though Iago's reasons for suspecting Desdemona and Cassio were skeptical. Iago but merely places the idea in Othello's head and Othello in turn expands it. In act 4, scene 1 Othello asks Iago to repeat the confession he has heard from Cassio:

It is in this scene, popularly called the "nunnery scene," that we see Ophelia victimized by another man that she has loved and trusted, Hamlet. It is not clear wether Hamlet is treating Ophelia so poorly because he knows there are spies or, if he is taking out his anger towards his mother. Whatever the reason, Hamlet's cruel words lead Ophelia to believe that it is her fault that Hamlet has gone mad. Conflicting messages, mostly negative, whirl around in Ophelia's mind, each demanding primacy. From Hamlet, within the space of several minutes, comes a dizzying array of mixed communications. "I did love

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 Ophelia's, othello iago, polonius laertes, lavinia ophelia, lavinia ophelia desdemona, hamlet gone, ophelia desdemona, father desdemona, polonius hamlet, father polonius, ophelia victimized, hamlet gone mad, father polonius laertes, polonius takes,
Approximate Word count = 1763
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)