 She was completely head-over-heels in love with Hamlet,‭ ‬but was pulled away from him by Polonius,‭ ‬among others. From this point on she becomes a pawn of yet another scheme against Hamlet. Polonius uses her to find out if Hamlet is mad as a result of his love for her or not. He decides that she will talk to him while he hides,‭ ‬listening in on the whole interaction. The fact that he finds himself in a place to make a decision like this for her shows just how much control he can exert over her. However,‭ ‬the power he has over her is different from the power Claudius had over Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The power Polonius had over Ophelia was a parental control,‭ ‬and its potency was rather evident in that it led to her death. Polonius told Ophelia to distance herself from Hamlet,‭ ‬and subsequently their relationship fell apart. Her eventual suicide was a side effect of this,‭ ‬and were it not for Polonius,‭ ‬probably would not have happened. However,‭ ‬this is not the only parental relationship that was influenced by one side of the relationship being more dominant.

‎	‏Gertrude is a character very much torn between two parties. She is of course loyal to her son,‭ ‬but she also owes some allegiance to her new husband,‭ ‬her brother-in-law Claudius. Hamlet tells Gertrude that she needs to remain loyal to him,‭ ‬and not to tell people that his‭ “‬madness‭” ‬was a mere act. He makes her feel guilty,‭ ‬telling her not to lay‭ “‬that flattering unction to‭ [‬her‭] ‬soul/That your trespass but my madness speaks‭” (‬III.iv.146-7‭)‬. He tries to pull her away from Claudius,‭ ‬but at the same time,‭ ‬her need for stability calls her back towards him. She chooses to trust him,‭ ‬and to keep an eye on Hamlet. This trust ultimately becomes her downfall,‭ ‬and she finds herself getting hit in the proverbial crossfire during the swordfight. She drinks the wine that was poisoned for Hamlet by Claudius,‭ ‬because she trusted that he wouldn’t do anything to harm them. So,‭ ‬as a result of getting caught between the two battling family members,‭ ‬she is the first to pay the price of death.
‎	‏Manipulation is without a doubt one of the largest overlying themes in Hamlet,‭ ‬and several characters meet their maker as a result of it. They either allow themselves to fall to influence,‭ ‬or find themselves at the hands of a slightly misaligned familial relationship. In either case,‭ ‬the result is the same,‭ ‬and Shakespeare makes sure that his reader takes note of it. Ultimately,‭ ‬Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,‭ ‬Ophelia,‭ ‬and Gertrude all die at the hands of their own lack of control,‭ ‬and make themselves icons for how powerful the art of manipulation can be.
‎	‏American culture has many facets,‭ ‬but none so famed and revered as the American dream. Since the signing of the Declaration of Independence,‭ ‬people have traveled to the United States in search of a better life,‭ ‬because that has always been the promise here.