Hamlet Essay On Ophelia

Insane or traumatized, that’s what a lot of people may be asking themselves. When we think about Ophelia’s character throughout the play we can’t ignore her outlandish behavior. Is she really crazy or does she have a mental illness. William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” supports us with many reasons why we may believe Ophelia is suffering from a mental health condition such as, post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is caused by a terrifying event that threatens your safety and/or makes you feel helpless. Many people who experience tragic events have a difficult time coping and adjusting to the problem but go back to normal with time and by taking proper care of themselves. It is completely normal to be shaken up after a traumatic experience but when you begin to feel trapped with a constant sense of danger and painful memories from that day you may be suffering the effects of PTSD. ("Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).") Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder are depression, hopelessness, shame, self-blame, feelings of betrayal, mistrust, etc.. If your symptoms worsen and begin to intervene with your daily life, that’s when it becomes a problem and you should look into treatments for your illness.

Ophelia’s development

throughout the play is a major red flag in the diagnosis of her mental disorder. In the beginning of the play, Ophelia is portrayed as very innocent and is even seen as naive because of her poor judgement on life. She was so trusting that she didn’t expect Hamlet would bring her any pain even though she was warned many times. Ophelia was so sheltered by her brother Laertes and father Polonius, that it was very unexpected when she ignored her brother’s warning of Hamlet. “LAERTES: For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favor, / Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, / A violet in the youth of primy nature, / Forward not permanent, sweet, not lasting, / The perfume and suppliance of a minute, / No more.” (1.3.5-10). Ophelia was being warned that Hamlet may hurt her and that he may not be as trustworthy as she thinks he is. Unfortunately she had to learn the hard way and see for herself when he betrayed her. “HAMLET: You should not have believed me, for virtue / cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish or it. I loved you not.” (3.1.117-119). In this statement, Hamlet is telling Ophelia that he never loved her and that she shouldn’t have believed him because Laertes was right.

The death of her father Polonius, Hamlet’s rejection towards her, and the unresolvable conflict between the two may be the reason for Ophelia’s madness (Shapiro, Daniel). “With her brother in France, and her lover banished to England for the murder of her father, the voices stop.” When she was confronted with such an extreme silence, she became mad. (Dane, Gabrielle) She tried to escape the pain she felt from both losses and when they became too much she drove herself into insanity. We start to see how she uses her madness in an attempt to cope with the grief she experiences from both of her losses.

“Ophelia: How should I your true love know / From another one? / By his cockle hat and staff, / And his sandal shoon. / He is dead and gone, lady, / He is dead and gone, / At his head a grass-green turf, / At his heels a stone. / White his shroud as the mountain snow, / Larded with sweet flowers / Which bewept to the grave did not go / With true-love showers.” (4.5.23-40)

This song is mainly about death and it indicates that Ophelia is preoccupied with her father’s death which is very common in people who are dealing with PTSD. (Dane, Gabrielle) Her songs, distrait attitude, and eventual suicide all lead to the fact that she had a hard time coping with it. She didn’t believe her life was worth living without those two people and thought it would be best to commit suicide.

The eyewitness that reports Ophelia’s suicide makes it clear to us that Ophelia did indeed change from the beginning of the play to the end of the play.

The eyewitness reports: “Her clothes spread wide, / And mermaid-like awhile they bore her up, / Which time she chanted snatches of old lauds, / As one incapable of her own distress, / Or like a creature native and indued / Unto that element. But long it could not be/ Till that her melodious lay/ To muddy death.” (4.7.164-181). This picture shows that Ophelia started as a sheltered and innocent young girl but then when she suffered the losses, she became a mad-women and she now lays in the water, drowned by the grief that drove her

there.
Although Ophelia took her life, people with post-traumatic stress disorder can be treated. Seeking treatment, getting support and learning how to cope with the disorder will help you overcome it so you can move past it. A lot of times when you get treatment it is to completely diminish the disorder altogether, however, that is not the case with post-traumatic stress disorder. The main treatment for PTSD is therapy, you are taught how to deal with the traumatic event rather than avoiding it. The treatment helps you regain control and reduces the stress the trauma has on you. When being treated you begin to address the problems the situation has caused with relationships and learn how to control your memories of that time. The only way to treat this disorder is by letting everything out that’s been bottled up so you can reduce the hold it has on you. Sometimes medications like Prozac, and Zoloft are prescribed to people struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder but they don’t treat it; they only help you feel a little more at ease by reducing feelings of worry and depression. ("Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).") Ophelia wasn’t able to treat her PTSD because she didn’t have anyone to talk to, she used to be full of trust before her father died but then she lost that when Hamlet rejected her. I believe that in today’s time, Ophelia would have been able to overcome her disorder but because of the time period her illness resulted in suicide. Although there was no true diagnosis of Ophelia’s mental health, there are several details throughout the play in which you can conclude she struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder.