William Shakespeare's writings have left many readers pondering what the actual meanings of his plays are, and why the characters act in a certain manner. In Hamlet, a great deal of scholarly detective work has been done to unravel the unique complexity of his text, such as, why Ophelia became mad. There were many factors that could have led to Ophelia's insanity. Carroll Camden believed that Ophelia's madness was induced by the death of her …showed first 75 words of 897 total…

…showed last 75 words of 897 total…the tragic incident of his death. A love within her madness is when she speaks about the events on "Valentine's day."(Act IV, Sc.5,48) When Ophelia speaks about Valentines day she is referring to the events of romance that she was denied. Ophelia's madness is brought on by her lack of being able to demonstrate any maturity in trying to cope with her losses and in return can only inflict her madness on the court.