One of the key ideas in the play is that children pay the price of the wrongs committed by the previous generation. The conflict between Ophelia and Hamlet highlights this idea. Because Gertrude so readily showed the brevity of woman's love, Hamlet finds it difficult to trust women, including Ophelia. Because Polonius is concerned about his own political status, he is willing to sacrifice the well-being of his daughter. He forbids Ophelia to see Hamlet and orders her to give him all correspondence she has had with Hamlet. And lastly, because Claudius murdered Hamlet's father, Hamlet is saddled with a mission of revenge that totally disrupts his life. He is not allowed to return to Wittenburg; he must break off his relationship with Ophelia; he must commit an act that is against his conscience.
Indeed, what hope do the young ones have when the older ones have not only made messes of their lives but those of their children as well?
In her beautiful soliloquy, Ophelia recognizes the former potential of Hamlet:
O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword,
Te expectancy and rose of the fair state . . .
And, she realizes that her destiny is tied to his:
And I of ladies most deject and wretched,
That sucked the honey of his music vows . . .
With Ophelia having to engage in a set-up to spy on Hamlet and Hamlet having to fulfill his father's command to avenge his murder, the possibility for their relationship to develop is nil. What we see between the two are expressions of hopelessness and pain.
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