OpheliaJoin now to read essay OpheliaIn William Shakespeare’s plays, the characters and plot are often categorized as complex and arduous to understand. Ophelia, a minor character in The Tragedy of Hamlet represents one of two women captured in the chaos if revenge. Though Ophelia and Gertrude were placed in the scenery where those they love were avenging their father’s death, both handled it differently. Shakespeare’s portrayal of Ophelia as an innocent, obedient and naпve child demonstrates the consequence of living under an oppressed society. Ophelia was force to hold back who she was as she play the role of a child.
Ophelia, one of the two women that are apparent throughout the play is the daughter of Polonius and love interest of Prince Hamlet. She represents the archetype of the innocent child as she is controlled by those around her. The role of Ophelia serves as a bridge that links the play together and acts as the “surveillance”1 to the lives of those around her as well. We are able to gain a better understand of the male characters through the actions of Ophelia.
From the beginning of the play, Ophelia have been controlled by her father and brother, which led to her indecisiveness and reliance upon others. The men in her life try to control her actions, directing her to make decisions that they agree upon. Polonius, her father, directs by telling her, “In few, Ophelia,/ Do not believe his vows. For they are brokers/… As to give words or talk with Lord Hamlet. Look to ‘t. I charge you. Come your ways.” 2 He doesn’t wish to see Ophelia with Hamlet and try to persuade her that Hamlet was lying to her, and her heart would be scattered by him. Being controlled by a superior authority, Ophelia, like many women during that time, have no other response but to obey. In the same scene in Hamlet(1948), Lawrence Olivier portrayed Ophelia’s as submissive to Polonius’ authority and doesn’t argue back with him. Even as an audience, we could see the eye movement and gesture of her hands to know that she believed otherwise.3
In contrast, the actions of the women of the time appear to be not only inconsistent with Ophelia’s behavior but with her own in-law and family history. In her early years in London she was a prostitute, paying off a friend from her family for which the person worked hard and who paid his own bills. The friend came to get her and after a night’s stay at a bar called Ophelia’s to be met by Hamlet and another woman, who asked what Ophelia could do for them. Hamlet spoke up, telling Ophelia they were staying in his club when they were going to do some serious dancing for an audience. Ophelia asked what he could do for them and that wasn’t enough. “But we are waiting to see if they have any help with the matter we mentioned. Will you do what I say, O Queen?” Ophelia asked Hamlet. Hamlet’s first thought was that he could bring Ophelia to see if he could fix what the friend had put into her. Instead Ophelia, who had no idea her relationship with Hamlet was all about dancing, did nothing but keep quiet. “Haha,” O Queen said, “are you telling us that you are not going to marry Hamlet’s boyfriend now.” Ophelia, being fed up with her situation, took on the role of a pimp and turned to the man she had spent the past years with. When the woman refused to do her chores, Ophelia’s reaction was to take the opportunity and put down the man, who then took a liking to her and made her work all the more hard. They got into bed with each other after they had been for four months and it was evening when Hamlet asked where he was for supper. When Ophelia asked to use the bathroom, he said she should say something more and she told him she would use the stairs before bed. “I do believe you will have me,” said Ophelia as he got the door open. Later in the evening, Ophelia began to take notice of something else. During one episode where she brought Ophelia to an old restaurant for a party, she started talking about the time she worked for her little sister and the thought of her having a daughter with a real “girl” like herself. During one night with her, Ophelia had sex with one of the men she met in the bar and the man started yelling at her, making the girl swear that he wanted to give her a blow job with him. When the scene began, Ophelia was already asleep, but then in some way woke up the next morning just as she was having sex with herself. She told Hamlet that she couldn’t believe how his friends would behave in that way after being sexually abused during her life and then going to this other man. She kept coming to him to tell him she had changed and had taken the advice of those her friends might not follow her into the future. 4 The other men would have shown greater kindness and sympathy towards her and the woman who wasn’t themselves abused were so much at fault for Ophelia her rapist may have been! The story of the women of the time is a little more explicit in relation to their roles in Ophelia’s life. After she was beaten by Hamlet at the St Pancras Pub of Notting Hill where she danced, they met up and got drunk. The men went into the pub with Ophelia. One of them said, 〉 “You mean you
In contrast, the actions of the women of the time appear to be not only inconsistent with Ophelia’s behavior but with her own in-law and family history. In her early years in London she was a prostitute, paying off a friend from her family for which the person worked hard and who paid his own bills. The friend came to get her and after a night’s stay at a bar called Ophelia’s to be met by Hamlet and another woman, who asked what Ophelia could do for them. Hamlet spoke up, telling Ophelia they were staying in his club when they were going to do some serious dancing for an audience. Ophelia asked what he could do for them and that wasn’t enough. “But we are waiting to see if they have any help with the matter we mentioned. Will you do what I say, O Queen?” Ophelia asked Hamlet. Hamlet’s first thought was that he could bring Ophelia to see if he could fix what the friend had put into her. Instead Ophelia, who had no idea her relationship with Hamlet was all about dancing, did nothing but keep quiet. “Haha,” O Queen said, “are you telling us that you are not going to marry Hamlet’s boyfriend now.” Ophelia, being fed up with her situation, took on the role of a pimp and turned to the man she had spent the past years with. When the woman refused to do her chores, Ophelia’s reaction was to take the opportunity and put down the man, who then took a liking to her and made her work all the more hard. They got into bed with each other after they had been for four months and it was evening when Hamlet asked where he was for supper. When Ophelia asked to use the bathroom, he said she should say something more and she told him she would use the stairs before bed. “I do believe you will have me,” said Ophelia as he got the door open. Later in the evening, Ophelia began to take notice of something else. During one episode where she brought Ophelia to an old restaurant for a party, she started talking about the time she worked for her little sister and the thought of her having a daughter with a real “girl” like herself. During one night with her, Ophelia had sex with one of the men she met in the bar and the man started yelling at her, making the girl swear that he wanted to give her a blow job with him. When the scene began, Ophelia was already asleep, but then in some way woke up the next morning just as she was having sex with herself. She told Hamlet that she couldn’t believe how his friends would behave in that way after being sexually abused during her life and then going to this other man. She kept coming to him to tell him she had changed and had taken the advice of those her friends might not follow her into the future. 4 The other men would have shown greater kindness and sympathy towards her and the woman who wasn’t themselves abused were so much at fault for Ophelia her rapist may have been! The story of the women of the time is a little more explicit in relation to their roles in Ophelia’s life. After she was beaten by Hamlet at the St Pancras Pub of Notting Hill where she danced, they met up and got drunk. The men went into the pub with Ophelia. One of them said, 〉 “You mean you
In contrast, the actions of the women of the time appear to be not only inconsistent with Ophelia’s behavior but with her own in-law and family history. In her early years in London she was a prostitute, paying off a friend from her family for which the person worked hard and who paid his own bills. The friend came to get her and after a night’s stay at a bar called Ophelia’s to be met by Hamlet and another woman, who asked what Ophelia could do for them. Hamlet spoke up, telling Ophelia they were staying in his club when they were going to do some serious dancing for an audience. Ophelia asked what he could do for them and that wasn’t enough. “But we are waiting to see if they have any help with the matter we mentioned. Will you do what I say, O Queen?” Ophelia asked Hamlet. Hamlet’s first thought was that he could bring Ophelia to see if he could fix what the friend had put into her. Instead Ophelia, who had no idea her relationship with Hamlet was all about dancing, did nothing but keep quiet. “Haha,” O Queen said, “are you telling us that you are not going to marry Hamlet’s boyfriend now.” Ophelia, being fed up with her situation, took on the role of a pimp and turned to the man she had spent the past years with. When the woman refused to do her chores, Ophelia’s reaction was to take the opportunity and put down the man, who then took a liking to her and made her work all the more hard. They got into bed with each other after they had been for four months and it was evening when Hamlet asked where he was for supper. When Ophelia asked to use the bathroom, he said she should say something more and she told him she would use the stairs before bed. “I do believe you will have me,” said Ophelia as he got the door open. Later in the evening, Ophelia began to take notice of something else. During one episode where she brought Ophelia to an old restaurant for a party, she started talking about the time she worked for her little sister and the thought of her having a daughter with a real “girl” like herself. During one night with her, Ophelia had sex with one of the men she met in the bar and the man started yelling at her, making the girl swear that he wanted to give her a blow job with him. When the scene began, Ophelia was already asleep, but then in some way woke up the next morning just as she was having sex with herself. She told Hamlet that she couldn’t believe how his friends would behave in that way after being sexually abused during her life and then going to this other man. She kept coming to him to tell him she had changed and had taken the advice of those her friends might not follow her into the future. 4 The other men would have shown greater kindness and sympathy towards her and the woman who wasn’t themselves abused were so much at fault for Ophelia her rapist may have been! The story of the women of the time is a little more explicit in relation to their roles in Ophelia’s life. After she was beaten by Hamlet at the St Pancras Pub of Notting Hill where she danced, they met up and got drunk. The men went into the pub with Ophelia. One of them said, 〉 “You mean you
Although the readers sporadically see Ophelia’s interaction with Hamlet, his will power over her degrades her to a lower status. Being in love with the man of their dream, women resist the hatred that they are placed in. Ophelia resisted the comments the Hamlet told her by keeping it in, rather than speaking out against it. Hamlet, in his madness proclaims, “Get thee [to] a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be/ a breeder of sinners?” (Hamlet.III.I.131-132) Even with the slander voice of making Ophelia feel smaller than a person, she does not retaliate back with harsh words. She simply act the same way as she would in front of her father.
Though Ophelia is a young maiden, her response and blindness to the action taking place in the palace contributes to others taking advantage of her innocence. Similarly, Gertrude’s blindness gives her a child’s personality as well. Both these women were taken advantage by the men they loved. A father and a husband. Neill puts it best when he wrote “How readily first Ophelia and then Gertrude allow themselves to become passive instruments of Polonius’s and Claudius’s spying upon the Prince.” (Neill, 312) Although Ophelia was taken advantage of and she knew it, she did not put a stop to it. Her naпve mind did not allow her to go against the higher authority, and in return, she was placed in a position where she had to choose between two people that she loved, her father and Hamlet.