Ophelia is in love with Hamlet but she rejects him when she is ordered to ignore his romantic advances by her father in Act 1 Scene 3. Polonius is not the only person to be worried that Hamlet's intentions for Ophelia are dishonourable - she also receives advice from her brother, Laertes. Both Polonius and Laertes disapprove of the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia. To her father and brother, Ophelia’s purpose is to be a dutiful wife and steadfast mother but they believe that she could never be Hamlet’s wife.
Before Laertes leaves for Paris he warns her that Hamlet is merely using her and she is not worthy of his true affections. Furthermore, he reminds her that Hamlet’s love is unlikely to last and that, since Hamlet is a prince, the King will dictate his choice of a wife anyway:
‘Perhaps he loves you now,
And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch
The virtue of his will; but you must fear,
His greatness weigh’d, his will is not his own.’ (1:3:14-7)
At the beginning of the conversation between the two siblings it seems as though Laertes is trying to protect Ophelia from disappointment. However, as the conversation continues, it becomes apparent that he is more worried about the loss of Ophelia’s ‘honour’ which would damage the family name. Despite this, Ophelia promises to take her brother’s advice and bids him farewell.
When Polonius asks Ophelia what her relationship with Hamlet is and whether he has made advances to her, she answers that Hamlet has told her he loves her and that she believes him. Polonius calls her a ‘green girl’, accusing her of being too inexperienced to judge Hamlet’s honesty. He orders her not to spend any more time with Hamlet and, as a loyal daughter, Ophelia obeys.
Regardless of the fact that Ophelia does as her father asked, In Act 2 Scene 1 Hamlet pays her a strange visit. Ophelia is much ‘affrighted’ and rushes to tell her father immediately. Hamlet’s appearance and behaviour was very bizarre; his clothes were dishevelled and his knees were knocking. Ophelia describes his look as:
‘so piteous in purport
As if he had been loosed out of hell
To speak of horrors’ (2:1:82-4)
He left the room with a ‘piteous and profound’ sigh but without saying anything. When he hears, Polonius is certain that Ophelia is responsible, having made Hamlet lovesick. Polonius believes that Hamlet's madness is the result of Ophelia rejecting him and hurries to tell the King:
‘I will go seek the King.
This is the very ecstasy of love,
Whose violent property fordoes itself
And leads the will to desperate undertakings’ (2:1:101-4)
In Act 2 Scene 2 Claudius and Polonius, eager to find the reason for Hamlet’s odd behaviour, contrive a plan to listen in on an arranged meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia. They are sure that it has something to do with the young couple’s relationship but Gertrude also believes that the cause of her son’s ‘distemper’ is his father’s death and her ‘o’er-hasty marriage’.
Though loved by Hamlet, Ophelia ultimately betrays him by spying on him for King Claudius in Act 3 Scene 1. Hamlet’s immediate reaction to seeing Ophelia again suggests that he is glad to see her:
‘The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons’ (3:1:89)
However, when Ophelia gives him back the ‘remembrances’, he begins to doubt her honesty and behaves in an intimidating manner. Hamlet asks where Polonius is and knows that Ophelia is lying when she answers feebly, ‘At home, my lord’. All of Hamlet’s feelings of anger and disgust at his mother are directed at Ophelia. He sees Ophelia as a whore and becomes convinced that all women are whores. He thinks that even women who seem pure are actually corrupted inside. He accuses Ophelia of trying to pretend that she does not know what she is up to:
‘You jig and amble, and you lisp, you nick-
name God’s creatures, and make you wantonness
your ignorance’ (3:1:146-8)
Hamlet seems to be enraged because Ophelia has put her sense of love and duty for another man above her sense of love and duty to him, just as Gertrude does for her new husband above her old. He parts from Ophelia with the words ‘To a nunnery, go’, leaving her to express her despair to the audience.
In Act 3 Scene 2 ‘The Mousetrap’ is performed in order to test the truth of the Ghost’s story. When Hamlet asks Gertrude’s opinion of the play she attempts to justify her own actions in remarrying so quickly:
‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks’ (3:2:225)
After the performance is over, Hamlet is summoned to Gertrude’s room and in Act 3 Scene 4 he goes to see her. Unbeknown to Hamlet, Polonius hides behind an arras and prepares to eavesdrop on their conversation. Gertrude attempts to scold her son but Hamlet answers by questioning her about her own behaviour:
Queen: ‘Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended’
Hamlet: ‘Mother, you have my father much offended’
Queen: ‘Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue’
Hamlet: ‘Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue’ (3:4:8-11)
Gertrude is frightened by Hamlet’s contemptuous manner and calls for help. But on hearing Polonius, Hamlet stabs him, believing him to be the King. Gertrude accuses Hamlet of a ‘bloody deed’ but, as he did in their earlier dialogue, he throws it back at her:
‘A bloody deed. Almost as bad, good mother,
As kill a king and marry with his brother’ (3:4:28-9)
Gertrude’s shocked echo ‘As kill a king’ shows her horror in discovering that Claudius murdered her first husband. When Hamlet makes her see the ghastly error of her choice his cruelly-chosen words force her to feel guilty. Clearly loving of Hamlet, she realises her wrong. He begs her not to sleep with Claudius again, but although she promises not to tell anyone what he has said, she avoids giving a direct answer:
‘Be thou assur’d, if words be made of breath,
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe
What thou hast said to me’ (3:4:199-201)
It may be that Gertrude is attempting a sensible compromise: she wants to calm Hamlet but cannot bring herself to swear to something she will not be able to do.
After Polonius is murdered Ophelia goes mad. In Act 4 Scene 5 she sings confusedly about death and betrayal in love. Laertes describes his sister’s madness as one of ‘prettiness’. Soon thereafter Ophelia commits suicide by drowning herself.
In the final scene of the play, Act 5 Scene 2, Gertrude drinks from a poisoned cup, prepared by the King for Hamlet. When Claudius poisons the wine Gertrude displays her maternal affection for her son by drinking to him despite Claudius’s attempts to stop her. The poison works quickly on Gertrude and before long Gertrude proclaims the truth:
‘No, no, the drink, the drink! O my dear Hamlet!
The drink, the drink! I am poison’d’ (5:2:315-6)
Gertrude and Ophelia are followers, easily led by the men they love, both are loyal to their families but now torn and both are confused and bothered by this whole affair. However, Ophelia is a lot more innocent and naive than Gertrude and is much more of a victim because unlike Gertrude, she is really completely free from purposeful wrongdoing throughout the play. Any harm she causes is completely un-intentional and staged by her father and the King without her knowledge.
To conclude, Gertrude helps drive the action of the play as she is a character that sits in the middle of the conflict, and seems intent in resolving it at every turn. She is both mother and peacemaker in a family that has come into an unstable way of life. Gertrude is thoughtful and sensitive in her attempts to intervene. She is not simply an ignorant victim of her situation. Ophelia’s also has an important role in driving the action of the play as madness and suicide has a huge affect on the other main characters. She has a major influence on Hamlet, and his return to sanity. Her madness influences the Queen - upon learning of Ophelia's death, Gertrude seems to be in a state of confusion over the loss of this innocent girl. She also influences Laertes - his grief at her death leads to his alliance with King Claudius to kill Hamlet and avenge Polonius's death.
