Act 1 Scene 3

In this scene, Laertes is about to leave but he stops to give his sister, Ophelia, some advice about her supposed relationship with Hamlet. He tells her not to trust Hamlet, and that he won't be able to choose his own wife when the time comes. He'll have to marry what is best for the state. Laertes also mentions that because Ophelia is a woman, she faces the danger of being taken advantage of. Ophelia tells Laertes to take his own advice. Polonius then shows up and gives parting wisdom to Laertes. After Laertes leaves, Ophelia tells her father of her relationship with Hamlet and defends its true intentions. Polonius warns Ophelia that she is disillusioned and that Hamlet only has one thing on his mind. He then forbids her from seeing him, and Ophelia agrees.

It seems that Laertes and Ophelia have a good relationship with each other. Laertes seems to be the older brother, as he gives advice to Ophelia. However, Ophelia must know Laertes well enough to tell him to take his own advice. This cheekiness from Ophelia lends to the idea that the two get along relatively well - or else I'm not sure if she'd rebuke him like that. It could easily be played the other way around, however, and the two may not be able to stand each other. Shakespeare leaves room for many different possibilities.

Ophelia interests me. I'm not 100% sure if I like her or not. If I were to play Ophelia on stage, I'd make her comfortable and confident around her brother, but a bit sheepish around her father. I imagine Ophelia to be "Daddy's Little Girl," and that Hamlet is probably the first boy who has ever paid attention to her. She is unexperienced with relationships, so she probably wouldn't know if Hamlet was using her or not. She decides to obey her father though...for now.