Ophelia as a Sexual Woman in Shakespeare's Hamlet

Ophelia as a Sexual Woman in Shakespeare's Hamlet

In Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, it is possible for the audience or reader to come to

view Ophelia as an innocent victim trapped in the most tragic circumstances. She was an

obedient and loving daughter to her father Polonius. Ophelia obeyed him, when he

ordered her to stop seeing Hamlet, her love, and even when she was asked to betray her

love, acting as a decoy to allow the King and Polonius to discover the source of Hamlet's

grief. Her naive nature is evident in this love that she has for Hamlet, even though he

promised to marry her, took her virginity, mistreated her, and finally left her. Her young

age and motherless upbringing left Ophelia completely unprepared for a crisis like the

death of her father and the insanity of Hamlet.

However, it is possible to interpret Ophelia's eventual insanity as a result of her

guilt and involvement in her own sexual rebellion. In the 1996 movie version of Hamlet,

directed by Kenneth Branagh, Ophelia, played by Kate Winslet, is not portrayed as the

entirely innocent girl one expects. During the course of the movie, the viewer can watch

Ophelia evolve from the young innocent girl to a sexual woman, and then, finally, a

woman stricken with grief and insanity.

The most poignant example of this metamorphosis appears in Act IV, Scene V of

Shakespeare's Hamlet. It takes place long after Ophelia is set up by the King and

Polonius to act as a pawn in their attempt to discover the reason for Hamlet's insanity.

Also prior to Act IV, Scene V, Hamlet gives the famous "Get thee to a nunnery" speech,

leaving a frightened Ophelia. This scene is also the first time we see Ophelia after the

accidental murder of her father by Hamle...

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...eath. Finally, Ophelia exits into a padded room to stare at the wall, alone.

The new interpretation of Ophelia provided by Kate Winslet's performance allows

the viewer to perceive her in a new light. The flowers she gives actually come to almost

symbolize her deflowered maidenhead. She is deflowering herself in a sense, because she

can not give anymore of herself to anyone. This lack of purity and innocence eventually

leads Ophelia to commit suicide. She fell into remorse because, she had lost her virginity

by her own actions, her love, and her father. She could not live with these feelings of

regret and guilt. Thus, she committed suicide to end the pain and grief, brought on by her

own actions. Ophelia is not an innocent victim. Her sexual desires involved her in the life

of Hamlet and lead her down a road, not to a nunnery, but to her eventual demise.