Ophelia's Song Analysis in Hamlet Essay Example

Behind every smile, every laugh, and every act of innocence, Ophelia is unable to express heavy feelings.  In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia expresses her feeling of thought through song rather than conversation, as seen in the quote above, and this encompasses the context of the play. This passage embraces the story because of the development of Ophelia's characters' conflict. As well as the quote, has a significant impact on the play's theme, and the passage and the play share rhetorical devices that make the play whole. These are the reasons Ophelia's melody has such an impact on the entire play. 

The main purpose of this passage demonstrates the development of Ophelia's personality and the way that the sufferings she endures lead to her conflict. Many scenes in this play deal with madness, and because Ophelia is unable to express herself verbally, she does so through song. Ophelia is a strong woman. She is constantly trying to please the people who mean the most to her, but she is constantly being told what to do by the men in her life. Ophelia's song perhaps explains why she feels so tied to Hamlet's absence because he "promised his love" to her earlier in the play and later rejected, which made her even more heartbroken with the death of her father. The lines, “Young men will do ‘t … By Cock, they are to blame”, indicates a possible hidden reference to a perhaps impulsive or unfaithful man who makes promises but fails to keep them. (4.5.65-66). Hamlet says, "You should not have believed me, … I loved you not" he is explaining how he never loved her and that she should have never believed him (3.1.27-29). It is now clear that she is unhappy because the lines of her song express her frustration, but she also appears to have lost all sanity. 

Furthermore, the play contains many themes, but the ones that stand out the most in this passage are women, madness, and betrayal. This passage discusses Ophelia's dissatisfaction with how men have treated her. In her song, she says, "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.” (4.5.67-68) A man promises to marry a woman and then abandons her after sleeping with her. Ophelia appears to be singing this out of madness because her brother had warned her that if she gave up her virginity to Hamlet, she would lose her honor, and now she feels betrayed by Hamlet after giving him her everything and him disregarding it and proceeding to call her names. Finally, women are known in society to show more emotion and appear weaker than men. The theme of women is important in Hamlet. Through their actions, women are portrayed as weak, foolish, easily manipulated, and dependent on men.  It is clear from Ophelia's song that she allows her emotions to control her behavior. 

In addition, Rhetorical devices are what makes this play whole. In this passage, there are two rhetorical devices that stand out the most and can be related to the play. Ophelia has gone through so much, Hamlet being the main cause of her madness because of how he used her. All the suffering she endured, led to her killing herself. Gertrude explains Ophelia's death, describing how she fell in the brook while weaving flower garlands; the willow tree branch on which she was sitting broke, causing her to fall into the water. That is how imagery was used in relation to her death. Ophelia expresses her grief over the betrayal by presenting and explaining the flowers. Both her father's murder and Hamlet's disrespect have left an impression on her. As a result, the flowers symbolize both her inner pain and her faithfulness. Rhetorical devices such as symbolism and imagery aid in understanding how a particular meaning and words are more than just sayings but implies something. 

Given these points, this passage helps demonstrate its impact towards the play and how it serves it. Because Ophelia's character's personality and the way she expresses her feelings in the song helped relate to the play. Additionally, both the play and the passage's theme were significant, and rhetorical devices contributed to the play's coherence. Showing feelings through song made Ophelia's character more appealing and assisted in understanding the play through her emotions.