Hamlet Act Four
It hurts when someone you love, doesn’t love you back. During the entire play, Ophelia has been in love with Hamlet this entire time. However unfortunately, Hamlet never had a thing for her this whole time. Due to Hamlet, who did told her that she should go to a nunnery because that is the best thing for her rather than getting married, she was honestly hurt by such harshly said words. Ophelia reminds me of when in the past two years, I would develop such crushes on guys that I KNEW WOULD NEVER LIKE ME BACK, but be very enthusiastic and positive at the same time about it. But when Hamlet screamed at the top of his lungs to her, I get why he was yelling at her, since he has lost trust to everyone in Denmark throughout plays and dislikes unfaithful women like Gertrude, so he believes that all women are unfaithful. If I was Ophelia, I would cry in my room all day as I wished my crush would like me back and wanted things to work out in life, yet it’s sad how not everyone is going to like one another in a romantic way. I would want to feel worthy to someone that I would want to appreciate me, care for me, and give love daily. As I cried over EVERY SINGLE guy that admitted that they do not like me back more than a friend, I’ve realized that myself as a high schooler has more important things to do rather than focus on boys. It is even worse for poor Ophelia.
Even though she loved Hamlet so much, he had killed her father ! I can’t even imagine the pain she is going through. Having to realize that not only does your crush does not love you back, he unashamedly insults you, kills your father, and had also looked like he was going to rape you while dressed half naked, is indeed overwhelmingly emotional. When Ophelia started singing nonsense, she used singing as a way to express what she truly feels about everything afterwards. I believe that music is one of the greatest depressants to help overcome an issue, or like Ophelia did, expressed her emotions. It is amazing how powerful music can be. Many artists last year that ended up committing suicide, like for example Mac Miller, used lyrics in certain songs to describe the hardships and personal issues they’ve once or currently going through. Mac Miller talked about how he didn’t know how to take in all of the fame he had received at such a young age. When I go through things that are overwhelming for my plate, I listen to hymn/praise music to help me calm down and meditate on the lyrics for which, I end up feeling better. Deep down in my heart, I truly feel sorry for her. She was such a goody two-shoes and a sweetheart to everyone that was around her. She should not have to be told what her worth is from a man who is going insane. I can’t believe she ended up drowning herself over a guy, but also her own father had died as well. Ophelia was honestly my favorite and the sweetest character out of Hamlet. It made my heart feel good that she was so obedient even though her father was controlling and prideful of himself as a political elite. As said before, she deserves better and unfortunately ended her own life while being emotionally unstable. The more stories I hear about people ending their life, makes me worry more for those I know facing hardships and trying to not give up. I pray that those who go through such a tough, messy, and complicated relationships/terms doesn’t want to give up on life and keep fighting.
