Sketch the character of Ophelia

Ophelia is a very important character in the tragedy, Hamlet. She is the daughter of Polonius. She is Laertes' sister. She is in love with Hamlet. She has been called a 'Rose of May'. Her father calls her by it. She is remarkable for her childlike innocence. She is an innocent creature like Desdemona. Her only fault is that she is too much docile.

Ophelia is a girl without a will of her own. Hamlet dominates the play and overshadows nearly all the characters in it, especially the woman he professes to love. She has been brought up in complete submission to her father, and is always ready to obey him without questioning. For wit, common sense and homely nobility, she cannot complete with Shakespeare's great heroines; but she was not intended to do so.

Ophelia's submissiveness becomes evident when she first appears in the play. Her brother Laertes tells her that Hamlet's apparent love for her is merely lust and that she should be on her guard against it. She readily agrees to do so. He has gone and her father speaks to her on the same subject. Then she puts up a feeble resistance which collapses in an instant. Her father excessively forbids her to see Hamlet again. Then she yields without any struggle. Her great dramatic moment is her appearance in disordered garments with garlands of flowers about her. She has gone crazy. She certainly loved Hamlet. She looked to him as a support to herself in married life. Frustrated in her love, her state of mind is aggravated by the murder of her father. She is young and inexperienced. 

Ophelia's great dramatic moment is her appearance in disordered garments with garlands of flowers about her. She has gone crazy. She certainly loved Hamlet. She looked to him as a support to herself in married life. Frustrated in her love, her state of mind is aggravated by the murder of her father. She is young and inexperienced. She lost her mother and has only a father and a brother to take care of her. Everyone in the drama who has any heart is drawn to her. At her burial, Laertes says that violets will spring from her flesh. Her love for her father is deep, though mingled with fear. Ophelia is the sensitive, impressionable, innocent, graceful, commonplace young girl whom Hamlet has wooed and perhaps loved.

To sum up, we may say that Hamlet's treatment of Ophelia's character is fully uncommon, unusual cruelty, and bitter cynicism. Ophelia is portrayed with great care. She is important in the development of the action of the play.