As certainly one of most effective woman characters in Hamlet it appears surprising that Ophelia is supplied as unsubstantial and completely passive. She is polarized by means of her love for Hamlet and sense of duty to her father, and these feeling bind her absolutely. She neither questions her father’s needs and commands nor queries Hamlet’s meant madness, as each attempt to use her for their own advantage. bound by obligation to the men in her existence, to her father and brother she is the eternal virgin – the vessel of morality even as to Hamlet she is a sexual item, she is unable to realize these contradictory expectations. The dilemmas those relationships motive pressure Ophelia to mirror at the irreconcilable contradictory selves that her men call for and this ultimately forces her into insanity. through an exploration her relationships with her brother and father, of her descent into insanity and her demise, it becomes clean Ophelia is used to destructively further divide the Danish courtroom and augment the sense of systemic corruption. It appears natural initially Ophelia’s dating along with her father, Polonius. Polonius instantly asserts his dominance over Ophelia through declaring “i would not…have you…provide phrases or have talk with the Lord Hamlet” – he right now attempts to dam Ophelia’s burgeoning romance and in doing so destroys any sense of autonomy and freedom she might also have. This sense of Ophelia’s subjugation and passivity is augmented by means of her response, “I shall obey, my lord” which instantly affords her as totally submissive and without problems manipulated. This second foreshadows the way Ophelia is pawned by means of Polonius to set up the validity of Hamlet’s insanity in Act 3 scene 1, evidence that Ophelia is used by the male protagonists to similarly divide the Danish courtroom and so augment the sense of systemic corruption. furthermore, most significantly perhaps are the expectations Laertes and Polonius have of Ophelia. Laertes tells Ophelia to be wary of Hamlet’s “unmastered importunity” and that to open her “chaste treasure” to him could be a “loss [of] honour”. the use of “treasure” right here without delay offers woman virginity as a token of honour and purity. The significance of virginity is augmented via “The canker galls the infants of the spring”. the use of “canker”, which means most cancers, straight away offers Hamlet as some thing corrupt and unfavourable and right here Laertes appears to try to manipulate and modify Ophelia’s view of her could be lover. The clever use of “galls” is again suggestive of venality and whilst implemented to virginity Laertes shows that with out it Ophelia would be impure and infected. Shakespeare’s steady use of natural snap shots being corrupted, visible here within the “gall[ing of the] spring”, appears symbolic of the systemic corruption seen in “the kingdom of Denamark”. This presentation of virginity and the values discussed would be shared by means of Shakespeare’s target audience. For the Elizabethans a girls’s virginity became visible as a sign of purity and innocence, values fantastically important in sixteenth century Britain. The importance with which Laertes discusses Ophelia’s virginity and his demand for Ophelia to …>