Final answer:
In Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', Laertes is the character who tells Ophelia about her father's death, which contributes to her mental unraveling.
Step-by-step explanation:
The character who informs Ophelia about the death of her father, Polonius, in Shakespeare's Hamlet is Laertes. He returns to Elsinore enraged at his father's death and is the one to reveal the tragic news to Ophelia, contributing to her further descent into madness.
Ophelia's character has been a subject of much analysis, often being viewed as a tragic figure that is emblematic of the limited agency afforded to women during the play's era. Yet in art and literature, she has often been romanticized, especially during the Victorian period as a figure of conflict and stress, and in recent times has even been portrayed as a feminist heroine.