Ophelia and Laertes have a different relation to Hamlet however find themselves in some way trapped in the same circumstances as Hamlet. Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius who is the King's trusted councilo and is later killed in the play and he forbids his daughter to see Hamlet because of the possibility that he beseech her name and her virginity. She truly loves Hamlet and is devastated when he shuns her and pretends to be mad. Laertes is a mirror to Hamlet. Shakespeare has made them similar in many aspects to provide a greater base for comparison when avenging their respective father's deaths. Hamlet and Laertes love Ophelia. Hamlet wishes Ophelia to be his wife, Laertes loves Ophelia as a sister. Hamlet is a scholar at Wittenberg, and Laertes at France. Both are admired for their swordsmanship. Both men loved and respected their fathers, and display deviousness when plotting to avenge their father's deaths.
The first time we see Ophelia in the play is in scene III, when she is
saying good-bye to her brother who has been granted passage back to Paris.
She is warned, by her brother, that she should beware of Hamlet's love,
for, it is not the love of a regular man. Prince's go about choosing their wives
at random. She is said to be careful to protect her good name, and her virginity.
In this scene, Ophelia's love still has no definition towards Hamlet.
She seems indifferent when her brother is talking to her, but, when her father
talks to her, and she tells him about the strong love in between them, Polonius
ridicules the possibility of such love. He orders Ophelia to end the friendship,
and, like the obedient daughter she is, she does.
After some time in the play passes, Ophelia is suddenly strongly
frightened by an act by Prince Hamlet. He comes into her room, half naked (which was very uncommon at the time),his doublet unbuttoned and his stockings hung loose around his ankles. He didn't say what was wrong but he was terribly upset. He left...