Ophelia's situation in Shakespeare's Hamlet not only arouses pity in the reader, but also provides an example of the nature of men and women and accentuates tragic flaws of Hamlet. Shakespeare so beautifully connects woman to liquid, madness and fragility through this character that we often fail to realize the underlying message he intended for us. The mistreatment inflicted on Ophélie by the various men in her life led her to madness, and ultimately to her symbolic death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay At first, Ophelia had low self-esteem. When Laertes confronts her about her relationship with Prince Hamlet, she simply obeys. He's not trying to be sensitive when he tells Ophelia that Hamlet's love is "a fashion and a plaything in the blood, a violet in...nature, direct, not permanent, gentle, [and] unsustainable” (1.3.7-9). . Laertes, however, is the least of the harmful influences that the male sex exerts on Ophelia. Ophelia's father, Polonius, is incredibly mean, insensitive, and disrespectful to his daughter. Polonius does not grant Ophelia enough common sense to be able to judge anything for herself. He cruelly twists her words and tells her that she should think of herself as a baby. The mistreatment inflicted on her daughter permanently forges an emotional barrier between Ophélie and the male sex. Ophelia's fragility makes her vulnerable to exploitation, for her father's deception and for Hamlet's lust. In what literary scholars call the “convent scene,” Polonius uses Ophelia to spy on Hamlet in order to discover the reason for his “madness.” Hamlet tests Ophelia's loyalty when he asks her, "Where is your father?" (3.1.141). When Ophélie flat out lies to him, he loses his temper. Hamlet tells Ophelia that he never loved her, probably to try to make her forget it because he knows that they can never have a relationship while he still has this revenge to carry out. Of course, Ophelia doesn't see this, so she is hurt silently but effectively. When he tells her to "take you to a convent" (3.1.148-149), he could be referring to a convent, or he could be making the first of many cruel manipulations of words and referring to a brothel. Hamlet notices certain feminine characteristics in himself that he does not like, such as his excessive mourning for his father and his hesitation to kill Claudius. As critic Showalter puts it, "Hamlet's disgust at female passivity in himself is expressed in a violent revulsion toward women and in his brutal behavior toward Ophelia." Showalter also eloquently notes that "water is the deep, organic symbol of the liquid woman whose eyes are so easily drowned in tears." Ophélie cries because she really thinks that her lover has gone crazy. This situation is reminiscent of that of Gertrude when Hamlet confronts her about her hasty remarriage. Hamlet warns Gertrude not to flatter herself: “Do not impose on your soul that anointing which speaks not of your offense but of my folly” (3.4.166-167). Gertrude attempts to comfort herself and justify her sin by attributing the accusations to her madness, just as Ophelia attempts to excuse Hamlet's cruelty. Ophelia's effort is a little nobler than Gertrude's, but this scene is symbolic of the general nature of a woman who shifts blame. Hamlet seems much happier and more tolerant later in the play when things start to go his way. As he sits and watches the "play within a room" with Ophelia, he makes.