The Importance Of Honor And Its Predominance In The Relationship Between Hamlet And Ofelia.

The importance of honor and its predominance in the relationship between Hamlet and Ofelia.

Introduction

Hamlet, the disturbing tragedy of a young dreamer, who overwhelmed, succumbs to the misfortune of the circumstances, was written by William Shakespeare, an important poet, playwright and English actor, unique in his writing both in the United Kingdom and in universal literature, recognized for capturing, through comedies and tragedies, effervescent social issues in the Elizabethan era in the English community, among them, the importance of preserving the virginity of women to marriage and honor;What can be evidenced in this theatrical composition, one of his great works, Hamlet. 

In this tragic literary composition, the story of Prince Hamlet is shown, who in search of revenge against his uncle Claudio, for the murder of his father the former king of Denmark;He chooses to put aside all his ideals and even his own tranquility, to the love he feels for the beautiful young ofelia, daughter of Polonium. In addition, the need to preserve the honor of the family, by the brother and father of Ofelia, manages to become one of the obstacles that lead to that love relationship, is frustrated.

Developing

Hamlet is an idealist, romantic and philosopher, in addition to being deeply interested in the young ofelia;Who knowing the conditions in which his father died and, above all, knowing who was the one who took his life, is overwhelmed by what changes his attitude with everyone, becoming a frivolous, distant and personanalyzer;However, he would continue to demonstrate her affection to Ofelia, writing poems and visiting him hidden.

However, given this need for revenge, to recover the honor of his family and his father, he looks more on the need to focus more on doing this duty, leaving aside all his distractions, including the love he feels towards Ofelia.

Ofelia is presented by Shakespeare as a beautiful shy, submissive and relegated young woman. She is pleased with the attention provided by the prince, especially because she also feels some love towards him. However, this deep feeling he possesses for that young man, has been repressed before the orders of his father and brother, who ask him not to accept any detail that he gives him, in addition to putting an end to casual visits, making anside This humble feeling, just because of conserving family honor, since they consider that the prince, considering it as a person outside his mental faculties, could make a displacement, thus damaging the family honor.

Honor can be cataloged as the appreciation of a person’s dignity, it is like an individual thinks of himself and how to perform his actions. Personal honor can be attacked by the actions of another individual;This is why this issue has great relevance in this play, since, in addition to revenge, it is a central axis of the course of the facts in the work, because the characters develop their actions in order to protect theirHonor and that of his family or, either, recover that of a close relative;as with Hamlet and his eagerness to recover the honor of his father, and that of Polonium and Laertes to conserve the honor his family possesses.

The love that exists between Hamlet and Ofelia is ephemeral, but sincere;This relationship, which flourishes from before the beginning of the dramatic action, is frustrated by the constant prohibitions by Polidio to his daughter or telling him that his Hamlet Highness is a prince, and is out of your star, that cannotBeing, seen that, he takes too much into account that both young people are from different social classes, and consequent, her chastity, and then flee, leaving her with her pride and her shattered family. Ofelia, accepting what her father and brother orders him, taking him as the only truth, he decides to move away from the prince, in order to give way to distrust and fear.

In addition, the dilemma of being or not being involves these young people in a serious debate with their internal self, which consistently becomes another obstacle to this relationship;Since, Ofelia is between accepting and doing what her brother orders, which would mean for her all her illusions with the prince, or accept the opinion of her heart, regardless of what the society offers in which she offers the society in whichHe lives, that is, without being affected by what people think of her, especially Polonio and Laertes, in order to be released before the yoke imposed by her relatives;Also the Prince Hamlet, is also sunk in this dilemma, thanks to which he doubts only the revenge against his father’s murderer, putting aside all his ideals and feelings, to focus exclusively on the fulfillment of the duty in charge of theghost of his father, or between following his ideals, including love. However, in the development of the work, both characters decide to fulfill the ordinance of society and the mind, respectively. 

However, they succumb, in a way, to this yoke when madness wraps its being;In the case of Ofelia, after the death of her father, she under dementia, is seen in the freedom to say what she considers, regardless of that there is coherence in her ideas;For his part Hamlet, who has always been enslaved to his dilemma but not to the thought of society, by demonstrating an alleged dementia he looks more repressed than released, since, more than his reason for existence in the world and his insistencefor fulfilling that revenge.

The scene one of the third act is crucial for this tragic love relationship;Since, in this one puts an end to the love relationship of these young people, since, Ofelia, following the orders of her father to preserve her honor, she decides to return to Prince all those present and poems he granted to him;Thus causing a certain anger to the prince, who asks him to go to a convent to ensure her as a woman, since, in the society in which they all live are sinners, even himself. This causes great misfortune in Ophelia, so that the words of his father consider certain, of never having joined that young man, who only caused him pain today.

The first scene, of the fifth act, is very important for the final destination of this love, which, because of death, one of the lovers is afflicted in the face of the loss of their love, Hamlet before everyone’s uncertainty, declareswith honor and sadness in the death bed of Ofelia that he “loved Ofelia;Forty thousand brothers could not, with all their love together, to exceed mine … thus making it clear that the love he professed to Ofelia was real and no whim that puts into play the honor of that woman, to which hewanted.

conclusion

In conclusion, Hamlet is a tragedy, in which William Shakespeare frames social issues of the Elizabethan era, such as the honor of oneself and the importance of the conservation of women’s chastity;managing to frame him in the sincere and fleeting love of Hamlet and Ofelia, which is frustrated by the oppressions of Polonium and Laertes, not to put the family honor at risk, since they consider that the prince only has a whim towards the young woman. Shakespeare, also enhances the dilemma in which the characters are presented, if or not, before the judgment of society and its internal self;thus demonstrating that a person’s actions can succumb to the fatality of circumstances.