Innocence of Ophelia and Gertrude

The Innocence of Gertrude and Ophelia “Pretty Ophelia,” as Claudius calls her, is the most innocent victim of Hamlet’s revenge in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Hamlet has fallen in love with Ophelia after the death of his father. Ophelia “sucked the honey of his music vows” and returned Hamlet’s affection. But when her father had challenged Hamlet’s true intentions, Ophelia could only say: “I do not know, my lord, what I should …

…After Gertrude feels the effects of the poison, she finally realizes her thoughts of happiness were delusional and realizes she is just as guilty as Claudius is. Gertrude’s guiltiness and Ophelia’s innocence are two items that help to make this play such a tragedy. Both women were similar because they both were shaped easily by other’s ideas and almost seemed to be the same character, just in different stages of their lives.