In accordance with the above post, Ophelia's naive, pure character acts as a foil to the corrupt characters of Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstein, and others of the Danish court. It is no mere venomous refrain that Hamlet issues Ophelia when he charges her to "get thee to a nunnery. Why would thou be a breeder of sinners?" (III,i,119). She is not like his mother, whom Hamlet perceives as having both betrayed his father and incestuous in her lust.
It is also no coincidence that Hamlet's lashing remarks in Act III follow his famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy in which he has wrestled with morality and the expediency of avenging his father's death. After his "perusal of [Ophelia's] face"(II,i,89), and his raising a sigh so "piteous and profound," (II,i,93) the contrast of the purity of Ophelia reminds Hamlet so much of the degenerate behavior of others, that he orders her away having recognized her vulnerability.
Three adjectives and a noun to describe Ophelia: ingenuous, naive, guillible, and a foil to the other characters.
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