Hamlet, Blog Post 6

Kayla Burns

AP Literature and Composition

Ms. Wilson

November 14, 2013

AP Prompt:

“Works of literature often depict acts of betrayal. Friends and even family may betray a protagonist; main characters may likewise be guilty of  treachery or may betray their own values. Select a novel or play that includes such acts of betrayal. The, in a well-written essay, analyze the nature of the betrayal and show how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

I have read and understand the sections in the Student Handbook regarding Mason High School's Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I am certifying that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act, which could include a "0" on the paper, as well as an "F" as a final grade in the course. Kayla Burns

Ophelia’s insanity arose from the betrayals she endured which acted as blows to a table, knocking her down leg by leg. Though these betrayals were only partially intensional and they were primarily accidental products of self-centered and self-important actions, they ultimately decimated an innocent bystander, Ophelia. This lack of acknowledgement prompts an extremely hostile aura to linger over the characters as none of them feel they are being supported or even thought about by any of the surrounding people. For most of the characters it becomes more so about what you can do for yourself rather than what a group of logical people can do together. As each character poignantly acts for their own well-being, the play’s theme of distrust and general uneasiness is displayed boldly in the decaying mind Ophelia.

The betrayal of Ophelia was all-encompassing. Gradually her brother, her father, her lover, and the only female whom had any sense of power all in her life put their own desires above hers. Her father tells her she is not to talk to Hamlet anymore as he is “...a prince, out of [her] star” (2.2.149). This is found to be absolutely heartbreaking for Ophelia, she obeys however and is distraught. The destruction caused by thoughtless actions is crucial to the tragedy. Hamlet slays Polonius, and responds to his mother Gertrude when asked what he had done that he didn’t know.  “O me, what hast thou done? / Nay, I Know not. Is it the King?” (Hamlet 3.4.31). Hamlet’s killing of Polonius, Ophelia’s father, is the last leg to come out from under her. Her insanity begins here as explained by a Gentleman, “She speaks much of her father, she says she hears / There’s tricks i’ th’ world, and hems, and beats her / heart” (Hamlet 4.5.5).

Ophelia’s ability to maintain her sanity was temporary and strained, any sense of normalcy she had may have come from the security that she had in the relationships she held, however, as they broke down she slowly perished as well. The King himself calls on the insanity of Ophelia as being a product of grief, “O, this is the poison of deep grief” (Hamlet 4.5.80).  Perhaps if one of these legs had been able to hold, if one of her relationships had been able to hold true, she may have been able to keep her composure. Tragedies cannot help themselves though, and innocents is fleeting. Ophelia is thoroughly victimized throughout, her decaying mind is a symptom of the chaos and distrust that befell Denmark in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”.