I do feel sorry for her. She is surrounded by men who use her to further their own agendas, a common plight for the time, of course.

But she is maybe the weakest of Shakespeare's female characters. As a rule, he wrote strong, assertive, wily women. Ophelia is just buffeted by circumstance, one horrible thing after another happening to her. She doesn't act, she reacts - and she did have opportunity to act. Whether she didn't due to fear or timidity or just plain dumbness, I don't know. I think this is why many people, myself included, feel sorry for her but cannot like her.