My opinion on Ophelia

After watching the final scene of Ophelia in Hamlet, the scene with her tragic death, I have come to the conclusion that one main purpose of Ophelia's character is simply to add more 'love' tragedy to the play. All though there is much tradegy already through out the play I think that Ophelia's is one of the greatest out of them all.
People may disagree and opinions may vary, but I personally don't think that Ophelia is an extremely important character to the plot. As she is not an Extremely important character, although that is not saying that she has no relevance, it is almost as if her purpose in the play is simply for her tragic love loss and death. This may be why the scene in general has quite an extreme impact on the viewer.
I felt very sorry for Ophelia during the play as she never really had a chance to decide her own path in life. It seemed to me as though her father, Polonius, wanted to control her every move, especially when it concerned Hamlet. Although she loved Hamlet madly, she was forced to not only ignore his letters but to help her father and the king eeves drop on him. She has no control over this or what happens to Hamlet. He is taken away to England when she is seemingly unaware and then previously to have not known that her love murdered her father. It is no surprise to me that after all her turmoil she mentally takes a turn for the worse.

Hamlet acts One and Two

By the end of act two Hamlets character has changed exponentially considering how he was at the beginning of act 1. From the calm, collected yet slightly depressed man, he gradually changed into a self loathing, weary man, morbidly dominated by anger.
In act one, Hamlet is depressed over his father's death, or more so that his father has died and is all too soon replaced not just by anyone but buy his own brother. After seeing the ghost of his father and once he hears the tale of how his father died he seems relatively happy to be given the oppertunity to avenge him. However his glee soon changes into obsession for revenge and Hamlet is soon consumed by it.
Hamlet is conserned at first as to whether or not he has actualy seen his fathers ghost or the 'devil in disguise'. He makes a plan to not only act insane but to create a play symbolising his fathers poisoning so that he may see if the new king shows any sign of guilty recollection.
Once the king does flinch at the sight of the play, Hamlet is assured that the gost is real and the king is gilty. The whole essence of this act is a very tragic one indeed, the themes of love, death, hate and guilt are all very strong points that make the play tragic for Hamlet.

In act 2 Hamlet seems to be feeling happier about his secret plot for revenge. However, I feel that Hamlet has become so involved with his plan that he doesn't realise how crazy he is behaving with out meaning to seem insane. Hamlet is so obssesed with his revenge that he is even willing to sacrifice his relationship with Ophelia, he proves this when he denys his actions towards her and tells her to 'go to a nunnery' as he is aware that the king and Polonius are listening in on the conversation. Ophelia has betrayed him unwillingly and although he is clearly upset, as his eyes well-up, he is still intent on the king thinking that he is mad. He also proves he has unwillingly gone mad as he murders Polonius whilst thinking and hopeing it were the king.

Chapter 9

Narrative Style:

This is the last chapter of the Novel. The chapter after Gatsby's death. The first part of this chapter is about Nick trying to arrange the funeral for Gatsby, thus still showing that Nick was genuinely a true friend of his. To connote with this, the first line of the chapter is 'After two years I remember the rest of that day, and that night and the next day...' it is almost as if Nick is recollecting at the very moment we are reading it, like we are actually sat with the character in a room and he is telling us his story or rather Gatsby's.


Characters/Characterisation:

We find out that Tom and Daisy have left town 'She and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them.' It's bad enough that Gatsby has died but now it's almost as if Fitzgerald is trying to erase everything about him including his past; not only Fitzgerald, but it seems his characters are aswell. No one came to Gatsby's funeral even people that where meant to be his friend. It's almost as if they want to forget about him quickly, this being why they did not attend his funeral.

We find more out about the sad truth about Jay Gatsby's past or rather 'James Gatz' as that was his real name. It turns that that although Gatsby seemed to have a real lonely and miserable life he actually did have a family that loved him dearly and were greatly effected by his death.

I believe Fitzgerald tries to get a point across that money cannot buy happiness. It seems that everybody who has wealth is either lonely or miserable. Even Gatsby's friends couldn't get 'mixed up in it' meaning Gatsby's death so he didn't attend his funeral. It is sad that these people would rather make sure that their name and reputation is safe rather than be respectfull and go to the funeral. 'The hair in his nostrils quivered slightly, and as he shook his head his eyes filled with tears.' His friend, Meyer Wolfshiem, is clearly upset about the whole ordeal yet still refuses the invite.

Themes:

• Sorrow
• Lonelyness
• Guilt
• Death

Settings:

Gatsby's house is one of the area's that the chapter is set. The giant empty halls of Gatsby's home only echo the true emptyness of Gatsby's life. Now that all the party guest's have left and the music has ended, much like Gatsby's life has, it is only now that Nick realises it for what it is. Although Gatsby was surrounded by the joy and life of his parties he still constantly felt alone. This could, once again, be what Fitzgerald wants to get across that not only money can't buy happyness but apparently it cannot buy you real friendship or loyalty either.

Chapter 8

Narratie Style:

As usual the chapter is shown from Nick's point of view. This is fairly strange as a segment of the chapter is telling us about how Gatsby first met daisy. Even though it is Gatsby's memory, it is still Nick telling us about it, or rather Nick informing us about what Gatsby had previously told him. I think that Fitzgerald wrote the chapter in this way so that we would still be conscious of the fact the Gatsby and Nick are friends and there for do speak to each other other than the times we hear about in the novel. I believe it is just a way for Fitzgerald to remind us that they have become quite close and are genuine friends.

Characters/Characterisation:

This chapter is, once again, mostly about Gatsby's infatuation with Daisy. However, it is the first time that we read about how they met and what they felt as if it were happening at the present time. We know that Gatsby has a very very strong attraction towards Daisy and it is now that we finally see where it all began. From the first moment Gatsby meets Daisy he thinks she is 'extroadinary' he 'didn't realise how extroadinary a 'nice' girl could be.' This just shows that Gatsby's feelings towards Daisy are not only real but apparently eternal. Nothing will ever stop Gatsby from loving her. This may be an important factor as it could symbolise the danger that is to come, Gatsby's profound feelings for Daisy will inevitably get him into trouble; even more so than the damage that has already been done, that being Myrtles death.

We find out about when and why Daisy left Gatsby for Tom and how Gatsby was determined to belive that she never loved Tom. ' I dont think she ever loved him'.
I feel that this chapter is kind of a way to sum-up Gatsby's life. Fitzgerald informs us about all of Gatsby's past, I think he does this so that we can finally settle our quarelles about how we feel about Gatsby. Throughout the novel we are constantly challenging ourselves as to whether or not Gatsby is a good or bad character and I think that after reading this chapter the readers would have determind that he was a good yet sad character and will feel sorry for him. I know that by the end of this chapter I felt very sympathetic for Gatsby.


Themes:

• Love
• Sadness
• Death

Settings: At first the novel is placed in Gatsby's house until later following Gatsby's death. The time of year seems to be autumn as there are quite a few leaves around and in Gatsby's pool. the fact that it is autumn could be to symbolise the fact that Gatsby's end is near. Gatsby will fall just as the leaves do. Autumn is also usually a cold time of the year when everything is coming to an end. This also suggest's that something bad is sure to happen.

Chapters 6-7

Chapter 6

Narrative style:

In this chapter, after alot of eager anticipation, we find out alot about Gatbsy's past. By telling us more about Gatsbys past, it makes him seem more human to the reader. He isn't some kind of 'god like' character anymore he is just a somtimes fortunate person with a rough past.
Nick is reflecting on his past memories of Gatsby. Since he remembers an awfull lot about Gatsby and since he refers to him rather fondly it is clear that Gastby made quit an impression on Nick. It also shows that Nick did really like Gatsby, enough so to remember alot about him.



Characters/Characterisation:

We see how Nick is caught in the conflict between Gatsby and Tom. They are both silently quarreling over Daisy. Tom is suspicious of Gatsbys connection and relationship with her and Gatsby seems to be biting his tongue and fighting the urge to blurt out his affair with Daisy.

"'I know your wife,' continued Gatsby, almost aggressively.
'That so?'"
This shows how even though they are acting politely towards each other it is very obvious it is just a front, proberly in order so as not to risk 'hurting' their reputation by being rude.

We are also introduced to two new characters, Mr Sloane and a 'pretty woman' with him. The fact that the woman isn't given a name shows that she is not a necessary nor important character. Her only purpose is to remind us of how popular Gatsby's is especially with woman.
Mr Sloane's character also doesn't really have any real importance as he doesnt play a very big role. He seems very lazy and laid back, the only time he seems to do anything is when the oman he is with takes an intrest in Gatsby. The fact that he doesn't really do anything up until that point makes the situation seem to excel greatly when he finally does become more active. Fitzgerald may have done this to show how worried and panicked the man became as soon as Gatsby started to become a problem; as he becomes so worried it lets us know how easy it seems for Gatsby to 'steal' woman away from other men.
We also find out more about Gatsby and Daisy's past relationship and how Gatsby became infatuated with her so.

Themes:

• Love
• Hate
• Anguish
• Friendship

Settings:

The chapter takes place at Toms house and at a dance. The fact that it is held at Toms house gives the reader a feeling of slight suffocation. Gatsby is getting dangerously close to Tom's woman and is also in Toms 'Terratory', his home. It's almost as if Fitzgerald wants the reader to get the feeling that Gatsby is replacing Tom.

Chapter 7

Narrative style:

As usual the chapter is told from Nick's point of view. This makes sense as Nick is really the only character that has an insight to all of the other characters. Also, it once again allows us to see how Nick really feels about Gatsby and his fondness of him.

Charcters and Characterisation:

Gatsby seems to be acting strange in this chapter as he hasn't been seen in a while and had 'dismissed every servant in his house'.

We finally see the truth behind how Tom and Gatsby feel about each other and which one of them Daisy cares more about. It's important that we feel the tension between all of the characters as it inevitably leads up to the scene when Daisy knocks over and kills the woman Tom is having an affair with. It is also when we see how bad Gatsby's morbid attraction towards Daisy had gotten considering he waited outside Daisy's house gazing into her window. 'I want to wait here till Daisy goes to bed. Good night,old sport.'

We also see another side of Tom as he becomes upset bordering distraught when he finds out that Myrtle has been killed.

'The god damned coward!' he whimpered. 'He didn't even stop his car.'

This shows that even though Tom always seems to be an arrogant pig, he is still only human and does feel for his companions.

Nick also seems to be growing weary of all of the other characters. 'I'd be damned If I'd go in; I'd had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too.' Nicks relationship with Jordan is beginning to see cracks, and now after this one chapter it seems that the whole novel is taking a turn for the worst and each character's life seems to be tumbling down.

Themes:

• Infatuation
• Love
• Hate
• Death
• Fear
• Grief
• Sadness

Settings:

The weather is really hot showing that maybe the story itself has gotten to 'boiling point'. The conflict between Gatsby and Tom finally explodes and everything is laid out. It's as if the weather is symbolising all of the characters emotions.