The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia being as unclear as it is, there are two points where there is no doubt:
1.Hamlet did at some time love Ophelia sincerely.
2.When at her grave he cries:
I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers
Could not with all their quantity of love,
Make up my sum,
He must have spoken sincerely. Furthermore we may take for granted that he uses past tense because she is dead and not because he no longer loves her.
This brings us to the most popular view of their relationship. …
