Ophelia in William Shakespeare's HamletShakespeare's Hamlet is a story of deadly revenge, lost souls, love, infidelity and murder in the royal family. Hamlet, his father having recently died, mourns his mother's marriage to his uncle. When his father's ghost appears to him and tells him that he must avenge the former king's spirit so that he can pass into heaven, he decides to take on an "old-fashioned disposition" so that no one knows what he is thinking. As time passes, he is unable to move to enact his revenge and is tormented by his indecisiveness and ineptitude. In all this, what is the role of Ophelia, the young girl and daughter of the king's advisor, Hamlet's ex-girlfriend? She seems to appear out of nowhere and the show could have easily worked without her. Or could it? Ophelia brings a depth to the play that no other character could. He serves as an opposing character for Hamlet and Gertrude, supporting the themes of the play, as well as serving as a sympathetic and/or tragic character, giving the play greater emotion. When Hamlet devises his plan for revenge, he takes on an "old-fashioned disposition" to evade any suspicion of what he is doing. However, as the play continues, Hamlet never fully realizes his goal due to procrastination and indecision. He is slow to act because of all the confusion, pain and melancholy in his head. Ophelia and her brother Laertes serve as foils for Hamlet because they do almost the exact opposite of him when faced with the same difficulties as him. Hamlet kills Laertes and Ophelia's father Polonius while in the throes of passion. Laertes challenges Hamlet to a duel at the first opportunity he gets to restore his family's honor. This is in clear content... half of the document... 300 critical evaluations of selected novels and plays. Salam Press. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 1976. Nelson-Cave, Wendy. Who's who in Shakespeare. Book Sales Inc. Edison, NJ. 1995.Quennell, Peter and Johnson, Hamish. Who's who in Shakespeare. William Morrow & Co., Inc. NY. 1973. Wright, William Aldis (ed. Four Great Tragedies of William Shakespeare. Washington Square Press. NY. (date unknown). Littauer, Joel Sommer. Excerpt from The Cracked Mirror: The Minor Characters. Retrieved from: http:/ /boingyboingy .com/jump/ophelia_crackedmirror.html. 2000. Author unknown “The Meaning of Plants.” http://www.geobop.com/Symbols/Plants/meanings/ that was my senior year of high school, college grades are a little steeper so don't count on getting an A. and don't copy word for word, that's a BAD idea.