Throughout the play Hamlet, we see how, when confronted by decisions with

harsh consequences and driven by love and a desire to please, Ophelia realizes how
she has been manipulated by the men she loves most and is affected by everyone
elses poor choices. Ophelias madness and its causes reveals a lot about her, and it
show us how the actions of several people can have much more influential
consequences than they couldve imagined.
Stuck at the crossroads of pleas by Polonius, Laertes and Hamlet, Ophelia is
confused. Her desire to obey her father, brother, and lover is what, in the end, seals
her fate. Polonius and Laertes, whom she respects and dearly loves, beg her to
break off her relationship with Hamlet, while her deep love and affections for Hamlet
leave her stuck in the middle. Ophelia knows that she cant leave the situation
cleanly, because obeying one means upsetting another. After choosing to obey her
fathers wishes, Ophelia angers Hamlet, and after Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia
realizes she has made an unfortunate choice. The man she obeyed is dead and the
one she upset is alive. Poloniuss death is what sends her over the edge into deep
depression and madness. The idea of consequential choices is a motif throughout
the play, and Ophelias aching and torn heart between obedience and betrayal is a
telling reflection of this major idea. In a time when women were expected to be
obedient, passive and, if unmarried, respectful of their fathers wishes, Ophelia
chooses her father instead of following her heart. Ophelias choice reflects the time
in which the play was written, and the madness that results from her fathers death
and an angry Hamlet shows her helplessness when she doesnt have a dominant
male figure in her life to obey.
After Polonius dies, we also notice how Ophelias eyes were opened to the
unfair way in which she was treated. The men she trusted had used her for their

own advantage, and she realizes this too late. Polonius, knowing the relationship
that exists between Hamlet and Ophelia, used Ophelia as a way to test Hamlets
madness while he secretly watched. This was uncomfortable and even dangerous
for Ophelia, and after realizing how she was manipulated by her father, she
becomes fearful, depressed, and crazy. Also, Hamlet also used her to find out more
about Poloniuss scheme, treating her unfairly and as a tool through which he learnt
more about Polonius. After realizing how the men she trusted used her as a pawn to
spy on and learn about the other, Ophelia decides she cant take it anymore and her
behavior changes. Here, we see how trust can be so easily, and once broken, cant
be easily repaired. Ophelias madness and eventual suicide are caused by an
understandably difficult period of manipulation, mistrust and her fathers murder.
This time in the play is full of realizations on Ophelias part, including finally
understanding how the actions of Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius and Hamlet have
collectively added to her misery. When she makes her appearance to Claudius,
Gertrude and Laertes, arms full of real or imaginary flowers, she begins to hand
them the flowers symbolic of the role they have played in her life. We can
understand that she somewhat blames Claudiuss marriage to Gertrude and
Gertrudes acceptance of it for Hamlets madness, which led to Poloniuss death
finally leading to her own madness and despair. The domino effect of poor decisions
made by other characters has made its way to Ophelia, and she feels the strong
result of it. Ophelia is the character that starts off innocent, nave, and likeable and
is beaten down by the turn of events that were caused by everyone else. She is the
only person in the play this happens to, and we can directly note that the decision
of one character, Claudius, to murder his brother and marry his wife, creates an
avalanche of consequences affecting everyone else. Finally it reaches Ophelia and it

robs her of her sanity and her life. Our decisions can have many more
consequences than we could have anticipated, and Shakespeare cleverly reveals
this through the choices made by others affecting the most innocent, passive and
obedient character, Ophelia.
Ophelia is tormented ruthlessly throughout the play, forced to choose a side
of the man she respects more, manipulated by the two men she trusts and loves,
and feeling the heavy consequences of the poor decisions made by others.
Shakespeare stresses the element of choice in Hamlet, as well as its consequences,
and how our own personal choices directly impact ourselves and/or those around
us. Ophelias decision to obey Polonius, his murder, and her realization of how
everyone had a part to pla in her pain creates strong sympathy associated with her
character, as we see how her impossible choice and her friend and familys choices
ended in her misery, madness, and death.