These were the words that Queen Gertrude delivered to Ophelia's brother, Laertes, when she took her own life. Many think Hamlet is the most tragic character in the play, but some critics like to think that Ophelia is the most tragic. Ophelia's life is not mentioned often throughout the play, so it is shadowed by the life of Hamlet. Many obstacles that Ophelia faces throughout Shakespeare's tragedy support reasons why she is considered the most tragic character. Ophelia lives in a society ruled by men, faces rejection from the love of her life, and deals with the death of her father.
Although Friar Lawrence’s intentions were good, his decisions and actions were the sole cause of Romeo and Juliet’s death. Do you agree? Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is the story of two young lovers who fall for one another only to realise that due to the feud their families’ share their love is destined for destruction. With all good intentions the minor character, Friar Lawrence was one of, but not the complete cause of their tragic end. There are three dominant aspects of their deaths, the feud between the two families, Friar Lawrence and most importantly, fate.
When Tybalt is killed, Lady Capulet, Lord Capulet, and Paris think she is unhappy because of her cousin’s death, which makes Paris respond to this conflict by scheduling the wedding earlier to make Juliet happy again, and that’s one of the biggest conflicts since she told Friar Lawrence she would rather do the most dangerous things than marry Paris. Paris is a very kind-hearted man who treats Juliet like she’s very delicate, he still loved her even though she denied it when he called her his wife. Although he is arrogant, he loves Juliet and he treats the Capulets with admiration and formality, he highly respects Friar Lawrence and gets annoyed with Romeo at the end because
“To be or not to be, that is the question; whether’ tis nobler in the mind to suffer...” (Shakespeare Act 3, Scene 1). This quotation proves Hamlet becomes inferior to others and the environment through his madness, causing him to express himself explicitly towards others. Hamlet’s madness not only causes his loved ones lives but it allows his “end” to come because he accepts every challenge from his opponent. Hamlet’s madness not only affects him but Ophelia, who is mentally torn apart by Hamlet. Ophelia was once flawless, but since her encounter with Hamlet she has fallen into the same madness and wants to kill herself.
Soon, however, Othello steadily falls as Iago, Othello’s mentor, brings him down through his manipulative ways, making him believe that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him. Othello no longer trusts Desdemona and kills her, only to find out all that Iago has told him is a lie. Othello is stripped of his title as a general and has killed the innocent love of his life, bringing him to great depths, a pattern following that of a tragic
In Act IV, Desdemona portrays both loyal characteristics and qualities of innocence. In Act I she tells her father “You are the lord of duty, I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband…” (1.3.184-185). As Othello’s perspective and motive changes throughout the play, Desdemona’s characteristics alter minimally. Desdemona’s innocent, loyal, and honorable traits contribute to the theme that things are not always as they seem due to Othello’s failure to recognize them in his moments of jealous accusation.
Due to Desdemona’s never ending, continuous love for Othello, she ultimately played a role in her own death. The love Desdemona feels for Othello is seen in the fact that she goes against her family and marries the man she loves, not the man that may necessarily be more suited for her. Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, believes that Othello lures Desdemona away with his witchcraft and that her life would be much better if they never married. However, Desdemona ignores her father’s instruction; despite the fact Brabantio believes their relationship is unnatural: “She [Desdemona] is abused, stol’n from me and corrupted by spells and medicines bought of mountebanks; for natures so preposterously to err, being not deficit, blind or lame of sense, sans witchcraft could not” (Othello, 1.3.60-64). At first, Brabantio believes that his daughter was tricked by Othello, that he stole her away with his magic spells and witchcraft.
Even though Mercutio has a pessimistic view of life, he worries about Romeo, which is confirmed when he fights Tybalt. Mercutio´s character is essential to the play. First off all he convinces Romeo to attend the party at the Capulets house, where Romeo meets Juliet. Afterwards showing loyalty to Romeo by fighting Tybalt. Unlike the other dying characters, Mercutio blames the two disputing families for his death, dissimilar than the other members of the play who blame
When Trust Goes Wrong Trust is most of the time seen as a good thing, but trust can also be destructive; if the wrong people are being trusted. Shakespeare’s play Othello revolves around the life of Othello, a Moorish war commander who marries Desdemona, a Venetian. He is lied to by his right-hand man Iago, and believes everything Iago says to him. All of this false information causes conflicts leading to Othello killing his own wife. Various destructive forces cause the events to take place, but the most destructive force in the play is trust.
By saying these words to her he is crassly calling her a harlot, and making to appear that he never really loved her. Ophelia made one decision and that was to love Hamlet, and now he is using her actions to make her feel inferior and sinful. Up to this point in the play, Shakespeare depicted Hamlet as a mad man hell-bent on avenging his fathers suspect death, however: his cruel outburst at Ophelia is not a turning point in the story in which he goes from being a hero to being a cold-hearted oppressor. Hamlet tells Ophelia that she will have to ‘marry a fool’ because ‘wise men’ would know better than to marry her; he yells at her ‘get thee to a nunnery’, and yet the way it fits into the plot makes it seem almost expected. As the plot progresses Ophelia begins to lose her mind, resulting in her eventually suicide, but at no point his Hamlet called out for his harsh words against her in a significant way.