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Ophelia is of course, devastated by Hamlet's denunciation. She cries to the King, "And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, / That suck'd the honey of his music vows, / Now see that noble and most sovereign reason, / Like sweet bells jangled, out of time and harsh" (III. i. 147-150). Hamlet is a tragic hero in this drama, but Ophelia is equally tragic because her love denounces her, and in her melancholy, she drowns herself. Her fate is tied to Hamlet's, even though he denies his love, and that helps make her a sad and tragic heroine. In today's world, Ophelia is even more tragic, because it is impossible for her to make up her own mind. She listens to the men in her life - her brother, the King, her father, and Hamlet, and really seems to have no ideas or thoughts of her own. She even says in the first act, "I do not know, my lord, what I should think" (I. Iii. 104). Thus, she allows others to make up her mind for her, and tell her who she should love. This makes her life even more tragic and unfulfilled. Today, Ophelia's life seems even more tragic, because she allows herself...
What is even more tragic is her reaction to Hamlet's denunciation. She cannot deal with his rejection, and rather than go on with her life, she ends it, without fulfillment, without love, and with no future.
In conclusion, Hamlet did love Ophelia at one time, but both characters have such tragic flaws that they were doomed from the start. Hamlet kills himself in the end, and Ophelia does as well. Neither of them can deal with reality or their own problems, and as a couple, they would only have fed on each other's weaknesses. Ophelia is so out of touch with reality she believes Hamlet is dead. She says, "No, no he is dead: / Go to thy death-bed: / He never will come again" (IV. v. 185-187). Thus, both lovers cared for each other, and might have had a life together, but they were both too tragically flawed to ever really become a couple or maintain their love.
References
Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyer, ed. Seventh Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. 1407-1558.
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