Feminist Depiction Of Ophelia In Shakespeare's Hamlet

These are the words spoken by Hamlet which have gone on to define the role and the disposition of female characters within Hamlet and, through extension, the majority of female characters portrayed within the collected works of Shakespeare. It is often argued that the women within these plays are drawn in fainter lines than their male counterparts. Critics of this work are therefore urged to sharpen their analysis through speculation. When examined critically, Hamlet contains some impressive feminist issues when it comes to the representation of Ophelia. She plays a very small part in the action of the play and is almost exclusively defined by her relationship to the men in her life. Despite this, however, her actions and death actually

These are the individuals with the most power over her and the people who are most directly able to dictate her decisions for her. Ophelia’s debut is with Laertes, who bids her farewell by solidifying her role as an object and by suppressing any effort on her part for mutual perspective and discourse. Polonius and Laertes both treat her like a child who lacks intelligent and independent thought. At Ophelia’s entrance in Hamlet, Laertes accompanies Ophelia and gives her advice on her relationship with Hamlet. From the beginning Laertes and Polonius treat Ophelia’s private matters as if they were issues faced by the whole family; both men take upon themselves the role of explicitly telling Ophelia how she should behave. “For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor, / Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, / … The perfume and suppliance of a minute, No more,” instructs Laertes to his sister (1.3.6-10). His speech surpasses advice by telling Ophelia how to act rather than suggesting how she should conduct

With no identity to draw upon other than her role as a puppet to males, Ophelia’s identity disappears along with the appearance of male dominance. She does not assert herself as a last-minute feminist hero of the play; instead, she represents the opposite, demonstrating the consequences of allowing a female be entirely defined by her male counterparts as she is unable to recognize herself as an independent human being in their absence. The context of her disease, like that of hysteria later, is sexual frustration, social helplessness, and enforced control over women’s bodies. The representation of Ophelia implicitly introduces conventions for reading madness as gender-inflicted. Thus, Ophelia’s gender does not liberate her, but causes her to decline into madness as she is continually characterized as a “helpless” and “controlled”