Representation Of Ophelia In Hamlet

Analyses of Ophelia in Hamlet Adaptations and Related Works

One of Shakespeare's most well known and extensively reviewed works is Hamlet. Hamlet tells the story of a young prince who attempts to avenge his father’s murder. This story features a variety of characters, one of the most well known being Ophelia. The love interest of Hamlet and daughter of Polonius. She is a young innocent woman who is driven to madness. This character has been examined and written about multiple times. Three of these pieces include Cameron Hunt comparing Ophelia to the biblical character, Kaara Peterson’s analysis of depiction of Ophelia in artworks, and Gulsen Sayin Teker and her study of various depictions of Ophelia in film adaptations of Hamlet. The articles

show that Ophelia and her storyline have been portrayed and studied in a variety of ways after the original release of Hamlet.

Cameron Hunt writes an article in which she draws comparisons between the relationship between Polonius and Ophelia in Hamlet and that of two characters in a biblical story, Jephthah and his daughter. The story of Jephthah states that he was a man who led Israelites in a battle against Ammon. He defeated the Ammonites and and says he will sacrifice whatever comes out from the doors of his house to meet him when he returns home to the lord, this ends up being his daughter. This comparison is first actually made by Hamlet when he says to Polonius, “O Jephthah, judge of Israel, what treasure hadst thou!” (Act 2 Scene 2). The comparison comes from how both Ophelia and Jephthah’s daughter are seen as tragic sacrifices, and both and young and virginal. Hunt believes Ophelia was treated as an object by Polonius in his scheme to see if Hamlet is truly mad. Therefore he is sacrificing his daughter to his plan and in the end it leads her to insanity. Hunt shows that the comment Hamlet made to Polonius was certainly intentional and has evidence to back it up.

The article written by Kaara Peterson shifts focus to the death Ophelia, more so how her death is depicted in art in later centuries. Peterson starts off her piece by pointing out how in society there seems to be an obsession with the death of beautiful woman. She cites that when Gertrude arrives to deliver the news of Ophelia’s death she explains the scenario in pretty detail. Se explains how the flowers looked near the river she drowned in. Peterson also discusses how, even though we never see Ophelia’s death it has been painted and portrayed in movies numerous times. She references the painting done by Arthur Hughes in the 1850’s showing the moments before her drowning. Another painting that is referenced is that of John Everett Millais which shows Ophelia’s body floating in the river. Peterson notes that many people see her body as merely an object in this painting and how that was probably the artist’s intention. Her main point is that while these paintings depict Ophelia in one moment we lose the complexity and depth of her character and her story.

In Gulsen Sayin Tucker’s article the depiction of Ophelia in stage a film is assessed.

More specifically the depiction of the character in the films of Kozintsev, Zeffirelli, and Branagh. Before the era of film most stage productions of Hamlet depicted Ophelia in a similar manner. She was portrayed as stereotypically weak and feminine, and her madness was contributed to her weak will and mind. This depiction was not challenged until the mid 1960’s when she was shown to have more depth in Kozintsev’s 1964 version of Hamlet. She is shown feeling a range of emotions from love, to sadness, and to anger. Ophelia was portrayed even differently in the 1990 version of Hamlet directed by Zeffirelli where Ophelia is shown to be a woman who is very young, but also very mature. The author believes that Zeffirelli is trying to convey the notion that Ophelia went mad because she was living in a male dominated world,and it wasn’t due to the fact she was weak minded. The last portrayal she examens is the one in the 1996 version of Hamlet directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. In this more recent version Ophelia is more mature and both emotionally and physically stronger. The author states that this version of Ophelia is less “pretty” and more realistic, especially when she is going mad. Once again her madness is associated with her treatment and not her frail mind. The author concludes the article by saying that Ophelia’s growth comes from the feminist criticism in the mid twentieth century and her madness stems from her oppression in the

story.

All of these articles have a central theme, the character of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the themes surrounding her character. Whether it’s Tucker comparing the numerous film portrayals of Ophelia, or Peterson examining how Ophelia’s death scene has been viewed and depicted or if it’s Hunt and her comparison of Ophelia to a biblical character. Despite the fact they each take a different approach to the subject they all note Ophelia’s submissive behavior and role as an object in the story. These articles all show how complex of a character that Ophelia is, and how there is so much more to her then what we simply read in Hamlet.