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Hamlet Essay On Ophelia's Suicide

711 Words3 Pages

According to researchers, every 16.2 minutes, at least one person attempts suicide. Suicide is never the answer, but there are multiple characters in today’s literature that show the impact of the events leading up to the ultimate decision. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia takes her life because of the actions the individuals around her did. But, that is not the argument. The argument is that the people around Ophelia are not to blame for her committing suicide, it is Ophelia’s own fault, prompted by the madness surrounding her. There are many signs of suicidal thoughts and action. One of the indicators of a psychological issue is thanking someone or saying goodbye. Ophelia does just that during her crazed state. She repeatedly states “God be wi’ you”(4.5.223). Ophelia tells the King goodbye and “thank you for your good counsel”(4.5.76) through her father’s death. Polonius dying was just the icing on the cake to send Ophelia into a pit of despair. Shakespeare is trying to show exactly how …show more content…

That does not help the fact that Ophelia needs guidance and wisdom. Her father never her gave that to her during his lifetime. He was so infatuated with making sure his children do not mess up his agenda, that he totally threw their needs as humans to the side. Ophelia never learned how to cope with struggles that come up during one’s lifetime. Ophelia also lets her relationship with hamlet dictate her self worth. When Hamlet tells Ophelia “go thy ways to a nunnery”(3.1.140), he is practically calling her something no teenage girl wants to known as. When a teenage girl is called unspeakable terms by the one she admires and “tenders”(1.3.108), it can make a huge indent in the girl’s self love. Which is shown by Ophelia very clearly. Shakespeare shows the same message that today’s media is showing, young women put way too much of their self worth into the relationship they

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