What kills Ophelia?

In Act 4 Scene 7, Queen Gertrude reports that Ophelia had climbed into a willow tree (There is a willow grows aslant the brook), and that the branch had broken and dropped Ophelia into the brook, where she drowned.

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How did Ophelia actually die?

Even in harnessing her womanhood, she cannot escape it, for no one can see past it. After realizing that her voice does not matter to those around her, Ophelia's suicide becomes her ultimate act of obedience to her oppressors by permanently silencing herself through drowning.

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Why did Ophelia fake her death?

Ophelia later learns Mechtild is not only Gertrude's twin sister but also Claudius' former lover. He ruined her by accusing her of witchcraft when she miscarried their son. She escaped persecution by faking her own death with a special poison.

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Does Ophelia get pregnant in Hamlet?

By this point, Ophelia would be well aware of her pregnancy, and well aware that she would soon begin to show outward signs of it.

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Was Ophelia's death accidental?

Some see Ophelia's death as an accident; others see it as a suicide resulting from the accumulation of a series of unfortunate events: her rejection by her boyfriend, her father's murder, and her possible pregnancy.

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What Killed Ophelia? Drowning

44 related questions found

What is Ophelia's syndrome?

Background: Ophelia's syndrome is the association of Hodgkin's Lymphoma and memory loss, coined by Dr. Carr in 1982, while it's most remembered for the eponym in reminiscence of Shakespeare's character, Dr.

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Why did Hamlet reject Ophelia?

Why is Hamlet so cruel to Ophelia? Hamlet is cruel to Ophelia because he has transferred his anger at Gertrude's marriage to Claudius onto Ophelia. In fact, Hamlet's words suggest that he transfers his rage and disgust for his mother onto all women.

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Does Hamlet secretly marry Ophelia?

Hamlet is distraught and suspicious. He professes his undying love to Ophelia, and they are secretly married. Soon afterward, he tells Ophelia that he plans to murder Claudius.

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Was Hamlet supposed to marry Ophelia?

Ophelia is the princess that Hamlet is in love with and supposed to marry. However, Hamlet's behavior turns her mad, and she finally drowns because of that.

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Did Hamlet truly love Ophelia?

By the way he acted around Ophelia when he was alone with her, he showed that his feelings for her were true. Hamlet's actions throughout the play show that he was really in love with Ophelia. The audience can see that Hamlet really did love Ophelia when he told her, “I did love you” (Shakespeare III 125).

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Who was the father of Ophelia's child?

He has recently died but visits Hamlet as a ghost during the play. Polonius is a counsellor to the new king and queen. He is Ophelia and Laertes' father. Laertes is the only son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia.

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Was Ophelia mentally ill?

For the Elizabethans, Hamlet was the prototype of melancholy male madness, associated with intellectual and imaginative genius; but Ophelia's affliction was erotomania, or love-madness.

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Did Ophelia know Hamlet killed her father?

We can assume so yes.

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Was Ophelia pregnant when she died?

And, indeed, shortly thereafter, Ophelia drowns herself. The conventional interpretation is that Hamlet has broken her heart and killed her father. But the play seems to suggest strongly that Hamlet has seduced her, and to hint that she is pregnant as well.

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Why Ophelia drowns herself?

Ophelia kills herself because the fate of Denmark is placed on her shoulders when she is asked to more or less spy on Hamlet, her father has been murdered (by her former lover no less), from the confusion created by her father and brother with regard to the meaning of love, and her suicide is even an act of revenge.

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How did Ophelia lose her child?

Ophelia Nichols' 18-year-old son Randon Lee died by gun violence on June 24.

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When did Hamlet tell Ophelia he didn't love her?

In this part of Act 3 Scene 1, Ophelia goes to return the gifts Hamlet gave to her in the past. He confuses her with mixed messages. One moment he says 'I did love you once', the next 'I loved you not'. He goes on to insult Ophelia and tells her to go to a nunnery.

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Does Hamlet marry his mother?

Gertrude is Hamlet's mother and Queen of Denmark. She was married to the murdered King Hamlet (represented by the Ghost in the play) and has subsequently wed Claudius, his brother. Her close relationships to the central male characters mean that she is a key figure within the narrative.

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Why does Hamlet curse himself?

Hamlet curses himself for his failure to pursue revenge against Claudius, when in reality his murder of Polonius was a decisive act of revenge, so Hamlet should instead curse fate for placing the wrong man behind the arras.

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Who was Hamlet in love with?

Ophelia is Polonius' daughter and Laertes' sister. Hamlet has been in love with her for a while before the play starts and has given her several gifts during their courtship until her father warns her away from him and tells her not to see him anymore.

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Does Ophelia lose her virginity to Hamlet?

Analyzes how ophelia's confession that she has lost her virginity comes in her state of madness. she is talking about the promises hamlet made to her before she had sex with him. Analyzes how ophelia's father, polonius, claudius, and gertrude question her character. hamlet knows the truth and speaks of it bluntly.

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Who is the child at the end of Ophelia?

Naomi Watts plays Gertrude and Mechtild, and the two characters are sisters. Mechtild was considered a witch because she had a miscarriage. The death of her baby was thought to be the work of the devil, and so she was to be burned at the stake. Interestingly, the child was Claudius'.

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Is Horatio in love with Hamlet?

And two, he's already in a relationship with Ophelia and despite him being an a-hole sometimes, the two are still in love with eachother. Furthermore, Horatio is gay and in love with Hamlet but can't pursue any relationship with him, due to the reasons above.

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Why does Hamlet repeatedly say to Ophelia get thee to a nunnery?

He tells her that the only way she will be able to protect herself from her female nature – the fickleness and betrayal that he attributes to women – would be to lock herself away in a nunnery where she will not have any contact with men and therefore be unable to betray them.

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What does Hamlet mean when he tells Ophelia to go to a nunnery?

A “nunnery” is another word for a convent. In Hamlet, the title character uses the quote “Get thee to a nunnery” as a way of telling Ophelia, a woman he had a relationship with, that she should never marry or have children.

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