Activity 1.2

The major family units in the Shakespearean play Hamlet are those of Hamlet and Ophelia.
Hamlet's Family:
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is son of the late King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude. After King Hamlet passes away, Queen Gertrude marries King Claudius, brother to the late King Hamlet.
Crisis: Within this family, the obvious crisis is the murder of King Hamlet, and the betrayal within that act. King Claudius, uncle to Prince Hamlet, murders old Hamlet and marries his widow, Gertrude. It is through this act of betrayal that Hamlet attempts to avenge his father, harming all around him in the process.
Coping method(s): Prince Hamlet copes with the betrayal by plotting out revenge on Claudius, and attempting to follow through (in the end succeeding).
Ophelia's Family:
Polonius, councilor to King Claudius, is the father of Ophelia, Prince Hamlet's love, and Laertes, her brother. (Note that Polonius is the only known parent of Ophelia and Laertes, and is therefore the only one presented in the family tree.)
Crisis: What is considered a crisis within Ophelia's family is that she is in love with Hamlet. This does not fare well with her father Polonius, who aided Claudius in murdering old Hamlet. It is the forbidding of their love that drives Ophelia to madness (and eventually suicide), and the rest of the family to disruption and eventual death.
Coping method(s): Ophelia commits suicide (or so it is expected), so she does not show signs of coping. Polonius is murdered and displays no means of coping. Laertes, however, copes with his family's disruption by plotting revenge on Prince Hamlet.
A nuclear family, simply put, is a family with a mother, a father, and one or more children. Before King Hamlet dies, their family is nuclear, having all the parts associated with a family. When King Hamlet dies and Gertrude marries Claudius, the image of a nuclear family dissolves into a almost incestuous relationship. In terms of Ophelia's family, I would not quite consider it nuclear, because Ophelia and Laertes lack a mother figure. If a mother was present, Ophelia's family would represent a nuclear family quite vividly, having a mother, father, daughter, and son.