She died because of her virtues, while others perished because of their faults. She did nothing wrong, but so many wrongs were dealt to her. Therefore, it was these factors, especially the loss of her father, which caused her to become mad and seen as a tragic figure.
One can imagine Hamlet's story without Ophelia, but Ophelia has no story without Hamlet, which demonstrates the powerlessness of women in the play. In William Shakespeare's “Hamlet,' Ophelia's life seems tragic, but for her death to truly be tragic, she had to realize her powerlessness without the men in her life.
Ophelia's Death
Perhaps the most tragic death in "Hamlet" is one the audience doesn't witness. Ophelia's death is reported by Gertrude: Hamlet's would-be bride falls from a tree and drowns in a brook. Whether or not her death was a suicide is the subject of much debate among Shakespearean scholars.
Ophelia is a character in Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. She is driven mad when her father, Polonius, is murdered by her lover, Hamlet. She dies while still very young, suffering from grief and madness. The events shown in Millais's Ophelia are not actually seen on stage.
A young, beautiful noblewoman who comes oh-so-close close to marrying her prince, but madness and obsession on his part lead to his cruel rejection of her, ultimately leading to her drowning after a branch breaks on the willow tree on which she is reclining.
Ophelia's drowning is the consummate representation of an eternal retreat into the feminine, trading an individual voice for eternal silence in union with feminine essence. In turn, her death expresses the danger of reducing an individual to his or her gender and disregarding the voice of the marginalized.
Ophelia likely went mad because of the death of her father. There are other reasons in the play, like Hamlet's anger and her brother's absence. But, Hamlet murdering her father, Polonius, is most likely where she breaks down.
The Tragedy of Ophelia in Hamlet Sweet and innocent, faithful and obedient, Ophelia is the truly tragic figure in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. "Her nature invites us to pity her misfortune caused not by any of her own self-initiated deeds or strategies"(Lidz 138).
While it is evident that Ophelia is grieving over the death of her father, Polonius, as Horatio says of her “She speaks much of her father, says she hears / There's tricks in the world, and hems, and beats her heart” (4.5.
Why does Ophelia go mad? Ophelia goes mad because her father, Polonius, whom she deeply loved, has been killed by Hamlet. In addition, Hamlet, whom she also loved, has cruelly rejected her.
Grief-stricken and outraged, Hamlet bursts upon the company, declaring in agonized fury his own love for Ophelia. He leaps into the grave and fights with Laertes, saying that “forty thousand brothers / Could not, with all their quantity of love, / make up my sum” (V.i.254–256).
Another reason why Ophelia can be seen as a tragic figure is because her father, Polonius was killed by Hamlet accidentally. Ophelia becomes mad with grief. Her father has been murdered by the man she is in love with. Ophelia was never actually told the real truth of how her father died.
SARAH: Ophelia made a wreath of flowers and attempted to hang it on the branches of the willow. While doing so, she slipped and fell into the brook. RALPH: Gertrude describes how her clothing spread out over the surface of the water, keeping her afloat for a moment, while she sang songs of praise, or perhaps hymns.
Her death is "doubtful" (V. L227) because she is as bereft of motivation as she dies as is the infant being baptized. Whatever "intention" leads to her drowning, the church seems to rule that she has "Too much of water" (IV. vii.
By this point, Ophelia would be well aware of her pregnancy, and well aware that she would soon begin to show outward signs of it.
For the Elizabethans, Hamlet was the prototype of melancholy male madness, associated with intellectual and imaginative genius; but Ophelia's affliction was erotomania, or love-madness.
Ophelia's final words are addressed to either Hamlet, or her father, or even herself and her lost innocence: “And will a not come again? / No, no, he is dead, / Go to thy death-bed, / He never will come again. / … / God a mercy on his soul. And of all Christian souls. God buy you.” Next, she drowns herself.
The cause of Ophelia's suicide was mainly from Hamlet's madness. Hamlet's madness came first from seeing the ghost of his father.
Ophelia is used by two men in the play – her father and Hamlet – as a pawn for them to enact their deceptions. Polonius uses Ophelia to try to determine what the cause of Hamlet's madness is (although Polonius, arrogantly, already assumes he knows that Hamlet is 'mad for [her] love').
Claudius uses Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, and Polonius's daughter Ophelia to spy on the young prince. This caused Hamlet to lose his trust in his lover, Ophelia, and pretends to be insane to throw the spies off his plan to murder his uncle and the new king.
Tragic flaw: Ophelia has no control over her mind, body, and relationships, she doesn't think for herself.
After Polonius' death, Ophelia finds herself lacking a strong accessible support network. She has an excellent relationship with her brother and could thus go to him, but he has unfortunately already left to study in France. This separation becomes a risk factor for PTSD.
Bidding his sister, Ophelia, farewell, he cautions her against falling in love with Hamlet, who is, according to Laertes, too far above her by birth to be able to love her honorably. Since Hamlet is responsible not only for his own feelings but for his position in the state, it may be impossible for him to marry her.
Ophelia's death is important because it is the final loss of a loved one that Hamlet sees. He finally comes to peace with these losses and accepts the reality of life.
Ophelia's death symbolizes a life spent passively tolerating Hamlet's manipulations and the restrictions imposed by those around her, while struggling to maintain the last shred of her dignity.