Ophelia, the Innocent Tragic Heroine
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is a well known tragedy of the 19th century. This play has several examples of tragic heroes, tragic flaws, and other elements in a tragedy. A tragic play was one that had at least on tragic hero with a tragic flaw that ended in an inevitable catastrophe, which was usually the death of the tragic hero. This describes Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark perfectly.
As mentioned earlier, there were several tragic heroes. A few of these were Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes, and Ophelia. Ophelia was a very prominent hero, second only to Hamlet. She showed that loyalty to three different men was not always possible, no matter how much she truly loved each of them. Although most tragic heroes were guilty to some degree, Ophelia was totally innocent. It is because of her innocence that she is considered a tragic hero.
Ophelia was torn between the love of three different men. She eventually realized she could love them all, but could not be loyal to them all. This drove her to the point of insanity. The three men she deeply loved were Polonius (her father), Laertes (her brother) and Hamlet (her lover).
Her tragedy began with her brother. Laertes knew of Ophelia’s love relationship with Hamlet; however, he also knew that she was only the daughter or a courtier and Hamlet was a prince. In those days, princes were not allowed to marry inferior women. When Laertes was getting ready to leave on his trip to Paris, he advised Ophelia to “Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood: A violet in the youth of primy nature, forward, not permanent, sweet, and not lasting; the perfume and suppliance of a minute; no more.” (Hamlet) In other words, Laertes told his sister to con...
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...ly loved her. Ophelia is driven to the point of insanity and ends up drowning herself in a pond.
This shows once again the elements of a tragic play. You can also see the innocence of Ophelia throughout the play. She tried to remain loyal to each of the three men she loved, and it ended up costing her life. However, her “suicide” was not really considered suicide back in the day, so she was still allowed to have a “Christian” burial. It was not considered suicide because she is not the one who caused her grief. Suicide was only considered suicide back then if you killed yourself for something you had done, for example, if you had murdered someone.
As you can see, Ophelia is a great example of a tragic hero. Her loyalty to three men caused her final destruction, death. Also, her death caused the final destruction of the death of her brother and Hamlet as well.
Ophelia’s mental strength quickly dissipates due to multiple happenings in the play. The man that she once thought she was in love with kills her father, driving her into the dark abyss of grief. She begins to fall into madness, “...speaks things in doubt /That carry but half sense /Her speech is nothing” (3.3.7-8). She begins to jabber on about nonsense. She loses her ability to think, “...poor Ophelia /Divided from herself and her fair judgment” (4.5.91-92). Others see her as an emotional wreck, falling farther and farther into insanity. She finally can’t take it anymore, so she ends her own life, “As we have warranty. Her death was doubtful” (5.1.234). Others saw Ophelia in a dark light, saying that she took her own life, and that she did not deserve a nobel burial. Ophelia was driven into mania by a combination of negative things, that in the end, lead to her taking her own
In Ophelia’s last scene, she walks around singing bizarre songs and handing out flowers. This scene is essentially Ophelia’s last cry for help as she is pregnant and alone without parents. In addition, her brother, Laertes, would disapprove as he warned her about Hamlet and Hamlet is responsible for killing their father. Furthermore, she sings: “Quoth she “Before you tumbled me,/You promised me to wed./So would I ha’ done, by yonder sun,/An thou hadst not come to my bed” (Shakespeare 4.5.106). Ophelia sings about
...She had lost her father and her lover while her brother was away for school, and she was no longer useful as a puppet in a greater scheme. Ophelia was displaced, an Elizabethan woman without the men on whom she had been taught to depend. Therein lies the problem - she lacked independence so much that she could not continue living without Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet. Ophelia's aloneness led to her insanity and death. The form of her death was the only fitting end for her - she drowned in a nearby river, falling beneath the gentle waters. She finally found peace in her mad world. That is how Ophelia is so useful as a classic feminist study - she evokes imagery of the fragile beauty women are expected to become, but shows what happens to women when they submit as such.
When reading the text, one can comprehend that Ophelia is caught in the middle between two opposite sides. Her family (father and brother) believe that Hamlet is a womanizer rather then the philosopher that he is. They also believe that he will use her in order to achieve his own purposes, and that he would take her precious virginity only to discard it because he would never be her husband. But, Ophelia's heart mesmerized by Hamlets cunning linguistics is set on the fact that Hamlet truly loves her or loved her, even though he swears he never did. In the eye of her father and brother, she will always be a pure, wholesome girl, an eternal virgin in a sense, (due to a parents nature to always see their offspring as a child) they want her to ascend into her stereotypical role in life as a vessel of morality whose sole purpose of existence is to be a obedient wife and a committed mother. However, to Hamlet she is simply an object used to satisfy and fulfill his sexual needs. He also seems to hold her at a distant which suggests that he may...
Hamlet and Laertes share a different but deep love and concern for Ophelia. Laertes advises her to retain from seeing and being involved with Hamlet because of his social status. He didn’t want her to get her heart broken by Hamlet, since he believed that his marriage would be arranged to someone of his social status, and that he would only use and hurt Ophelia. Hamlet on the other hand, was madly in love with Ophelia but it languishes after she rejects him. Ophelia’s death caused distress in both Hamlet and Laertes and it also made Laertes more hostile towards Hamlet.
It is widely believed that “Living life without honor is a tragedy bigger than death itself” and this holds true for Hamlet’s Ophelia. Ophelia’s death symbolizes a life spent passively tolerating Hamlet’s manipulations and the restrictions imposed by those around her, while struggling to maintain the last shred of her dignity. Ophelia’s apathetic reaction to her drowning suggests that she never had control of her own life, as she was expected to comply with the expectations of others. Allowing the water to consume her without a fight alludes to Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia as merely a device in his personal agenda. Her apparent suicide denotes a desire to take control of her life for once. Ophelia’s death is, arguably, an honorable one, characterized by her willingness to let go of her submissive, earth-bound self and leave the world no longer a victim.
Throughout many literary works we are met with characters who appear briefly throughout that work. In the literary work Hamlet (Shakespeare, 1603), we are introduced to the character Ophelia. Ophelia can either been seen as driven for her mad love towards Hamlet, or seen just as a victim to society for the outrageous expectations she has for being a woman. Ophelia appears briefly throughout Hamlet, but when she appears she is caught between the her father and brother’s instructions, and Hamlet’s overwhelming demands.
The name Ophelia has been most commonly associated with William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, where she is referred to as the title character's mad lover. She is believed to have killed herself out of madness by drowning herself in a river. Interpretations about Ophelia's character have ranged from being a woman who lost her sanity upon her father, Polonius' death to being the object of hatred by Hamlet. However, despite her supporting character in the play, her personality has roused numerous criticisms and interpretations from philosophers and critics. This is probably due to the fact that her role in the play is more of a descriptive character rather than a speaking one. There are also various symbolisms towards the current society such as gender issues which her character represents. The character of Ophelia portrays relevant symbolisms to the feminine history which is continuously open to different interpretations from the sixteenth century up to this present day. Ophelia's character embodies the intrinsic sexual struggle that women in her time have commonly encountered.
Going into the story of Hamlet, suicide is something that has been thought about coming from the mind of Hamlet, but we also see it happen with Ophelia. Hamlet was a man who had some serious problems going on within the family, most importantly
Due to Ophelia’s close relationship with Hamlet, his madness spread to her as well. Hamlet’s love letters and then confessing that he no longer loves her confuses the young Ophelia and urges her insanity. Ophelia’s brother was sent to France to study, she does not have a mother, and her father was recently
..., to show her the kindness she was denied, her very life fell forfeit to fate. Ophelia was a young woman who died due to a broken heart and eroded self-esteem.
...that Hamlet has put her under so much stress, she didn’t mind dying. All in all, Hamlet is responsible for Ophelia’s death because he was the one who killed her father and put her through so much stress.
Evidence shows that she committed suicide. However, her death was a result of Hamlet. Therefore he is responsible for the indirect murder of Ophelia. She had experienced much stress from Hamlet’s verbal abuse. He scolded her, confessed that he did not love her, and commanded her to go to a nunnery.
Ophelia's insanity is driven by the fact that she has basically been cut out of Hamlet's life. " Like sweet bells jangled, out of time and harsh,/ That unmatched form and feature of blown youth/ Blasted with ecstasy" (III.i. 158-160).Her role as an "innocent lady" is to complete the picture of faithfulness and obedience. Without Hamlet, it is difficult for Ophelia to fulfill her role. Ophelia is completely pushed over the edge whe...
Another significant female character is Ophelia, Hamlet's love. Hamlet's quest for revenge interferes with his relationship with Ophelia. There is much evidence to show that Hamlet loved her a great deal, but his pretense of madness drove her to her death. Ophelia drowned not knowing what was happening to her. This can be deduced by the fact that she flowed down the river singing and happy when in truth she was heartbroken. Ophelia was very much afraid when she saw Hamlet "with his doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle" (Act #. Scene #. Line #). She described him as being "loosed out of hell" (Act #. Scene #. Line #). In addition to that he scared her when he left the room with his eyes still fixed on her. She is especially hurt when Hamlet tells her that he no longer loves her and that he is opposed to marriage. He advises her to go to a nunnery and avoid marriage if she can.