The Madness of Ophelia The volume of works that Shakespeare wrote in his lifetime was large. In that volume there are stories that influenced many stories written later, stories that influenced those who define things like love. Romeo and Juliet is perhaps his best-known work and has defined Western civilization's concept of love for generations. Although slightly less known, Hamlet has had much the same degree of impact. This revenge tragedy truly defines the genre and opens up the dialogue to many things, such as madness. Hamlet's madness is often explored, but in the end Ophelia also went mad. Although his father's murder at the hands of Hamlet undeniably contributed to his suicide, it was not the only cause. Ophelia was driven to suicide by the way the men in her life treated her. The causes of Ophelia's descent into madness begin long before she raved and sang vulgar songs. It is a madness brought on by mistreatment; an abuse that began with his father. Upon first hearing of Hamlet's affection for her, Polonius is very disdainful of it. As a result he even tells her not to waste her time with him "I would not, to put it plainly, henceforth slander so much in any free moment as to give words or talk to the Lord Hamlet." (Shakespeare & Bevington, 2009, pp. P1105 L133-135) This is given as an order, which Ophelia says she will obey. The previous exchange is quite dismissive of the affection between Ophelia and Hamlet, despite her defending it in terms of Hamlet demonstrating that love through both words and gifts and her defense of him courting her honorably. Polonius is again quick to dismiss his daughter's worldview by saying, "Affection? Pooh! you speak like a green... middle of paper... gton, 2009, pp. P1139 L190,191) Clearly, this is of short-lived as only a few scenes later, he kills Hamlet in a fencing match with a poisoned blade as previously predicted (Shakespeare & Bevington, 2009, pp. P1146-1148 It is impossible to get around the murder of Polonius is a factor). trigger for Ophelia's descent into madness However, upon closer examination, it is not only this trigger that is the cause of her madness and it is certainly not only this that leads to her eventual suicide, which in part meant following the men's orders in the her life. On top of that pressure and cruelty is the added cruelty of how often those men change their minds about her and what she should do. After the murder of her father by her lover, it's no wonder that she fell into madness that ended in her death.