When we read Hamlet we begin to realize that Ophelia also has a certain hamartia. Her hamartia might be her love for Hamlet. In the scene when Hamlet tells Ophelia to get herself to a nunnery, she is obviously distraught. She can't imagine life without Hamlet and almost immediately goes mad. She was so in love with Hamlet she began to think of him as her crutch. She relied too much on Hamlet and was devastated when he left her. This hamartia is so detrimental to her character because it makes her seem weak. It is almost as she cannot live without him. Opposite to the independant woman mentality of our generation she is unable to continue her life without Hamlet and chooses to kill herself.
I think Shakespeare might have put her in this play to portray female's weaknesses in the love game. Ophelia makes women in general seem pretty fragile and she seems like she has lost not only Hamlet but her own identity in the relationship that her and Hamlet had. Females such as Ophelia depend on men and this portrays women in general very poorly.
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