Ophelia is young and beautiful. She is the daughter of Polonius, the sister of Laertes, and the love interest of Hamlet. In the play, Ophelia is trapped between obedience to her father and her love for Hamlet. All the pressure put upon her is what leads to her breakdown and suicide.
Act I, Scene 3, Lines 602-623
Polonius: Ay, springes to catch woodcocks! I do know,
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the tongue vows. These blazes, daughter,
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both
Even in their promise, as it is a-making,
You must not take for fire. From this time
Be something scanter of your maiden presence.
Set your entreatments at a higher rate
Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet,
Believe so much in him, that he is young,
And with a larger tether may he walk
Than may be given you. In few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers,
Not of that dye which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,
The better to beguile. This is for all:
I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth
Have you so slander any moment leisure
As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet.
Look to't, I charge you. Come your ways.
Ophelia: I shall obey, my lord.
Polonius tells his daughter that Hamlet is a young man, which means he can be more free with his love than Ophelia can be. He continues on by saying that Hamlet's vows of love are simply traps to snare and beguile Ophelia. Like most fathers, his advice to Ophelia is to stay away from boys, especially Hamlet, so she can stay out of trouble.
Ophelia is the classic good girl role of that time period. All young women were expected to be obedient to their fathers, and once they were married, obedient to their husbands. When her father orders her to quit seeing Hamlet, her only response is "I shall obey, my lord." She complies to her father's wishes without the smallest bit of rebelliousness. She knows that it is her role to live by her father's rules. Ophelia has no control over her body, her relationships, or her choices; this feeling of a lack of control on one's own life is one of the major causes leading up to someone deciding to take their own life. Ophelia is a good girl who is forced into submissiveness.
Act 3, Scene 1, Lines 1715-1746
Claudius: Sweet Gertrude, leave us too;
For we have closely sent for Hamlet hither,
That he, as 'twere by accident, may here
Affront Ophelia.
Her father and myself (lawful espials)
Will so bestow ourselves that, seeing unseen,
We may of their encounter frankly judge
And gather by him, as he is behav'd,
If't be th' aflliction of his love, or no,
That thus he suffers for.
Gertrude: I shall obey you;
And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish
That your good beauties be the happy cause
Of Hamlet's wildness. So shall I hope your virtues
Will bring him to his wonted way again,
To both your honours.
Ophelia: Madam, I wish it may.
[Exit Queen.]
Polonius: Ophelia, walk you here.- Gracious, so please you,
We will bestow ourselves.- [To Ophelia] Read on this book,
That show of such an exercise may colour
Your loneliness.- We are oft to blame in this,
'Tis too much prov'd, that with devotion's visage
And pious action we do sugar o'er
The Devil himself.
Claudius. [aside] O, 'tis too true!
How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience!
The harlot's cheek, beautied with plast'ring art,
Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it
Than is my deed to my most painted word.
O heavy burthen!
Polonius: I hear him coming. Let's withdraw, my lord.
[Exeunt King and Polonius.]
[Enter Hamlet.]
Polonius and Claudius use Ophelia as bait to spy on Hamlet. Ophelia once again, as Polonius's daughter, must do as she is told. Claudius explains that they have summoned Hamlet so that he and Ophelia will have a confrontation, and Polonius and Claudius can witness it, in order to judge Hamlet's intentions and behavior. Gertrude hopes that Hamlet's behavior is caused by his love for Ophelia; we know that Polonius and Claudius are not of the same good intentions. Ophelia's life has so many players trying to control it, that she appears as a pawn. Many men of this time period treated women as possessions, as pawns in the game of life. Ophelia did choose to submit to her father's orders, but it is from a man's world that she was taught her role of submissiveness. She simply chose to play the role she was given.
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