Ophelias madness

Also, Aphelia cannot express herself the way the men around her can, reserving he r to a alone of emotions, which, in addition to being left stranded after the men in her life essentially disappear, bursts into her ultimate insanity. Every person with influence in Aphelion's life are men: Polonium, her father, Hamlet, her lover, and Alerter, her brother. These are the people who most o f the time dictate her decisions for her. In the first scene of the play involving Aphelia, h err lines are not many in number or lengthy by any means.

This is because Polonium an d Alerter spend the bulk of the scene instructing her. Both men discourage her from try gusting Hamlet's love. Alerter says, "His greatness weighed, his will is not his own. For he himself is subject to his birth. " (1. 3. 1718) Alerter is saying that Hamlet cannot be devoted to her because his focus has to be on Denmark as the heir to the thro one. He also tells her to protect her virginity, which is a very authoritative statement a ND possibly an uncomfortable command to receive from your brother.

Polonium in the as me scene after Alerter leaves forbids Aphelia from seeing Hamlet again, telling her Ha melt may walk with a "larger tether"(125) than she, meaning her standards are stricter t Han his ND that she cannot partake in his lifestyle. It is now impossible for Aphelia to remain obedient to her father and be true to her love, Hamlet. In act 3, Aphelia prove s this by lying to Hamlet about her fathers whereabouts in a spy trap Claudia and POI onus set up with her. Hamlet recognizes he is under surveillance and ultimately tells O aphelia he is cutting her off.

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Aphelia loses her lover Hamlet because of the decision to b e obedient to Polonium, which ironically, is a similar obedience Hamlet has for his own fat her. Being a woman, Aphelia is held to a different standard than the men around err which doesn't allow her to express herself the way they can based on emotion n. Hamlet plays insanity in a tactic to eventually get revenge, while Alerter storms the ca steel on motives to avenge his fathers death. Aphelia, however, must remain relatively passive.

The rejection of her lover and murder of her father causes insurmountable fee lings of anger, stress, and frustration, and with no avenue for these feelings to escape , she must keep them boiling inside. Eventually, she starts taking these inner fruits actions and sorrows out on herself. Upon ACTA, both Hamlet and Aphelia are fatherless FRR ruder, but these similar circumstances do not call for similar reactions. It woo old be absurd for Aphelia to seek revenge as Hamlet has for the his father. This is La rater's role as he declares, "only I'll be revenged most thoroughly for my father. (4. 5. 135136). Being a man, avenging his father is expected, while Aphelion's expectations ARQ Eire her to remain static on the case even though her feelings for her father are just a s intense as her brother. At this point with the return of Alerter, Aphelia has already boiled over into insanity. Being habituated to the non independent lifestyle subject to the com ands of he men around her, she is at a loss when that authority has essentially Addis appeared. Her father is dead, her brother is away at school, and Hamlet is being export d to England for killing Polonium.

Hijacked of this independence, Aphelia inevitably is led to her own destruction with no turning back. Up to this point Aphelia was reserve deed, only speaking few lines, and mainly those lines were in response to a man. After being instructed to stay away from Hamlet in act 1, she simply responds to end the scene, "I shall obey, my lord . 4. 136). After her madness ensued, she almost seems lie berated from her reserves, and leads the stage. In Act 4, she is the focus of the stage I n scene 5. She sings without embarrassment, says what she is thinking and feels, and everyone listens to her. Unfortunately, though everyone is listening, they are not under standing what she is expressing, only associating her songs and words with her madden Additionally, Aphelion's madness can be last traced, but not limited to, the dead h of her father. Most of her songs of madness refer to her father, like in act 4, s cone 5, " Sings. Larded with sweet flowers, which between to the grave did go with truelove meaning she has been crying over the death Of her father . In one Eng Aphelia refers to Hamlet saying, "Quota she, before you tumbled me, you promised me to wed. Meaning Hamlet promised to marry her if she came to bed with him, but the following few lines, "So would I ha' done, by yonder sun, an thou heads not come to my bed. "(4. 5. 6265) show Hamlets deceitful double standard where he says he would've married her if she wouldn't have come to his bed. Accustomed to the precept that she must be fully obedient to her father polo anus, Aphelia is torn when he commands her to stay away from her lover, Hamlet. This inner strife erodes her mind because she cannot express these conflicting emotion to anyone.

Instead, because of the differences between an honorable lady and a upstanding man of this time period, Aphelia is expected to remain neutral on the events in her life, even after her father is murdered by Hamlet, whom she once loved . Being habituated to the men in her life commanding most of her decisions, Aphelia IS non path of ruin when these men essentially disappear (Polonium her father is dead d, Alerter her brother is overseas, and Hamlet is on his way to England). Accordingly, the e bottled feelings inside her having no reserve any longer, release out all at once, cause Eng her omelet fundamental change and obvious insanity.

Had Aphelia disobeyed her father and given herself to her lover Hamlet, her fathers death may have never coco red, for Hamlet was driven into blinding anger when he was betrayed by her, losing the e last person he had to trust. Though a minor character, Aphelion's impact is a pope rueful one. Her madness was inevitable and reflective of the situation women of her time were often in, being subject to the male dominance which prevailed. Equality amongst m en and women is important, for a double standard is an impossible one to operate WI thin whilst maintaining a healthy sanity.

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