In the story of Hamlet, Ophelia is an innocent, nave little girl that put too much trust in the men in her life. She is a very young teenager who lost her mother, possibly at birth. She has a father Polonius and a brother Laertes who have gone to great measures to shelter her from the harsh realities of life. She starts off with great potential, having the prince Hamlet as a boyfriend and the hopes of possibly becoming the queen one day. Tragically, the opinions and desires of Polonius and Laertes easily mold this beautiful and simple-minded woman. The willingness to obey her father and brother overrides her love for Hamlet. This causes her to be deceitful, infuriating Hamlet because she put her sense of love and duty for another man above her sense of love and duty for him. This proves to Hamlet that deceit is the true nature of a woman. Now, Ophelia is broken hearted and later learning that her father was murdered by the one she loves, was just enough to steer Ophelia into complete insanity. The only thing she can do now is ramble incoherently as she watches all of her hopes and dreams crumble right before her eyes. .
Ophelia plays a very interesting and important character in the plot. She is a way for Hamlet to vent his anger for the Queen, his mother, before he can confront her about marring his father's murderer. Hamlet, while observing his mother in action comes to the conclusion that deceitfulness is a woman's true nature. So he decided to test Ophelia's loyalty. Ophelia, who truly does love Hamlet, but at the same time loves and wants to obey her father and brother, is having an emotional conflict between the men in her life. Ophelia in a sense wants to have her cake and eat it to and this is exactly what she thinks she is getting when her father Polonius asks for her help with Hamlet's madness. Polonius convinces his nave little girl that deceiving Hamlet would help the King cure him of his madness.
