In the play Hamlet, the role of Ophelia can be overlooked. On the outside, she seems like a character who is put in by the playwright simply for background. However, this is not so. Ophelia has a very large role in the play in several main ways.
The first of these ways is that she is a tool for Hamlet's use throughout. Chronologically speaking, the first time he begins to use her is for sex. On the exterior, there appears to be no evidence of this within the play, and therefore many people may think I'm talking nonsense. However, on a close analysis of Ophelia's singing in Act four, scene five, it appears that her father's warnings in Act One came much too late. Ophelia sings of being spurned by Hamlet just moments after they had had sex. Her words “To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine. Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes, And dupp'd the chamber-door;” suggest in no uncertain terms that, sometime in February, probably Valentine's Day, Hamlet made love to Ophelia, then swiftly got up from the bed, redressed, and left the room without a word. This shows Ophelia as a tool for Hamlet's gain as no self-respecting woman in the time of Shakespeare would have had sex with a man without coercing or a promise of marriage, it being seen as important that women remain virginal until the time of marriage. This idea of a promise or betrothal continues as she continues singing. “Quoth she, before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed. So would I ha' done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed.” seems to suggest that Hamlet did indeed promise to marry her before he 'tumbled' her, as she puts it, but then, after they have rolled in the hay, she goes to him, possibly a few days after they did it, and asks after the wedding. As an answer to this, she is told that actually, he would have married her if she was still a virgin. This meant that, even though she thought she was securing her future, because Hamlet is two-faced she has actually ruined all hope of ever getting married.
More evidence to support the fact that this happened is shown in Act Three, when Hamlet says to Ophelia “Get thee to a nunnery”. Whilst this might be to get her out of the way whilst Hamlet has his justice (as he has promised us since Act One), it is most likely to be because Ophelia is entirely likely to be pregnant, owing to the either lack or complete absence of contraception during Shakespearean times. Nunneries would take in pregnant girls from rich families back then, and so would have taken her in, looked after her during her pregnancy, and then converted her to a nun after the birth. Previous to this, there is further evidence, even before Ophelia's singing, that he has spurned her.
HAMLET : You should not have believed me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not.
OPHELIA: I was the more deceived.
HAMLET : You should not have believed me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not.
OPHELIA: I was the more deceived.
This implies that there was something Hamlet told Ophelia something that she shouldn't have believed, to do with her virtue and Hamlet's family (“our old stock”). This, if applied to the theory that Hamlet and Ophelia fornicated, then this could be Hamlet telling Ophelia that he never loved her because, whilst virginity won't continue the royal line, it's something relished upon and desired in a wife. Ophelia's answer shows her realising that she was used purely for sex, and she didn't really mean anything to Hamlet whatsoever.
It is not only Hamlet, however, who uses her as a tool. Her own father also does as much, with King Claudius going along with the idea. When they are trying to figure out whether or not Hamlet has truly gone mad, they plant Ophelia as bait in a hall, and secret themselves behind curtains so that they can spy on the events taking place. This application of Ophelia as general dogsbody shows that Polonius and Claudius have little concern for what may happen to her. Considering the fact that Hamlet has already been physical with her, grabbing her wrist in a moment described in Act Two, the fact that Ophelia's father doesn't seem to worry for her safety as she is left alone portrays her as someone considered more of an object than a person, strengthening the point that Ophelia is included in the play possibly just for the use of others.
It is possible that with these scenes, Shakespeare intended to make the audience feel affection and sympathy for her, as she is bashed about from abusive relationship to abusive relationship, be it between she and Hamlet or she and Polonius. On the other hand, Shakespeare may himself only be using Ophelia as a tool. Without her occasional input, the plot falls apart and the final scene may never have come about. For example, if we consider the fact that it is only declaring love for the departed Ophelia at her funeral that reveals Hamlet to Laertes et al, allowing Laertes to challenge Hamlet to the duel that ends in the death of the entire Danish royal family.
He might also be using her to portray another side of Hamlet. If we are to believe what Ophelia sings in Act Four, Hamlet promises her marriage if she goes to bed with him, then tells her he cannot marry her because she is no longer a virgin. Shakespeare could here be showing us that Hamlet is already two-faced and possibly scared of committing. This might then indicate that the reason Hamlet decided to fake madness after learning of the murder of his father, rather than doing what would then have been considered just, which would have been killing Claudius.
Shakespeare could be using her to heighten the tragedy as well. The main moments that influence how she ends are not shown within the acting, simply spoken about later. This increases the tragedy because Ophelia is simply being overlooked by the playwright at times when she is frightened, or her character is being developed the most. To extend this her perhaps most defining moment, that in which she and Hamlet make love to each other, can be missed out entirely by watching audiences because the language in which she describes it is ambiguous and can be put purely on the ravings of a madwoman.
Another role for Ophelia in the play is that of a whole tragedy unto herself. Evidence of this is displayed throughout. We begin when she seems to be at her prime, a beautiful young woman with a prince as a boyfriend. This swiftly goes downhill, when said boyfriend begins to display signs of madness, and playing her on. For example, in the beginning of act three, she is cast aside by Hamlet, who tells her to “get thee to a nunnery” and that he never loved her. Later on, within the same act, he has his head in her lap, making innuendo and flirtation. This already is making her life distinctly harder, but when Hamlet mercilessly slaughters through a curtain in the same day, it appears that she is sent utterly insane with this as the final nail in the coffin of her sanity. Possibly even the final nail in her own coffin, as not long later she is drowned without any way to tell if it was accidental or suicide. This way of going, long and drawn out, could be considered something of a prolonged tragic scream. This particular scream stretches over several acts until it is silenced.
She also has a role in that she adds to Hamlet's tragedy. By spurning her ("get thee to a nunnery" act three, and also the apparent earlier spurning as made apparent in Ophelia's madness songs), he is getting rid of the one woman he loves, as he does love her, which we find out when he discovers her dead and leaps into her grave in Act Five. This adds to his tragedy as well as her own because, if he was really in love with her, Hamlet may have thought that it was possible to redeem himself in her eyes after he has killed his uncle in revenge. He may even have wanted to marry her, as he says “Be buried quick with her, and so will I” indicating that he doesn't want to continue living without her, and would much rather be buried along with her.
In conclusion, Ophelia's role in tragedy could seem to an outsider one that is basic and even a side story to the main plot. When looked at with hindsight, she can be seen as a major role with many levels. Saying this, it is my belief that her main role is one of a tool for the use of others, as this is how she appears most frequently. In fact, she only really appears of her own accord, and not at the direction of a family member, once she has lost all her inhibitions and madness has become her master.
