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Hamlet: The True Cause Of Ophelia's Madness

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In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, two of the most prominent characters, Hamlet and Ophelia, go mad. However, Shakespeare makes certain to leave Hamlet’s madness - and whether or not it is truly real or not - up to the interpretation of the reader, while specifically guiding the reader to believe Ophelia’s madness to be true insanity. In the play, Hamlet’s madness stems from one particular plot point - getting revenge on his uncle, Claudius, for the murder of his father - but the origin of Ophelia’s madness is never particularly revealed to the reader. So, if Ophelia really does go insane, what are the true causes of her madness? The origin of Ophelia’s madness emerges from the affectionate relationship she has with Hamlet and also from …show more content…

Ophelia, at the beginning of the play, is completely enamored by Hamlet and believes, without a doubt, that he truly loves her. However, scholar Carroll Camden writes that Hamlet blindsides her: “[Ophelia] believes, too, that Hamlet loves her; and her actions, if not her words, indicate the patience in which she listens to Hamlet during his mad speech. Yet when she meets him to return his tokens of love, he tells her, ‘I did love you once...you should not have believed me...I loved you not’...[his] tone is ill-mannered and is an affront that Ophelia would feel deeply” (Camden 249). Ophelia is blinded by her love for Hamlet, as she undoubtedly believes he is in love with her and is absolutely heartbroken to find out that he is not. She was invested in their relationship, even believing that they would end up married one day, and to find out that he no longer loves her leaves her humiliated and depressed. She feels betrayed, rejected, deceived, used, and thrown away by Hamlet, which is when her demeanor shifts and she begins to go mad. Furthermore, critic Barbara Smith clarifies that another

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