The Rebecca West Say That Ophelia Is Not A Chaste Young Women

Rebecca West argues in her criticism “The Court and the Castle” that Ophelia was “not a chaste young woman” and that her relations with Hamlet weren’t innocent. West defends her statements by mentioning Ophelia’s tolerance to Hamlet’s obscene conversations and remarks to her. She claims that Ophelia was cursed for a scandalous reputation by her father’s secretive, meddling actions throughout the play. While West makes some strong points, there are many disputable areas in her argument.

When West claims that Ophelia never felt passion or affection for Hamlet, this can be directly disproved by Ophelia’s obvious emotional pain when Hamlet claims to not love her in Act 3 scene 1, line 115. Ophelia then goes on to say, “And I, of ladies most deject and wretched”. Ophelia is clearly upset at Hamlet’s emotionless claims and sexually degrading remarks. If she never felt any passion or affection for him, she would not feel hurt due to what he’s saying about

her now.

Polonius’s presence in Ophelia’s life does nothing but prove how innocent and respectable Ophelia is.

When Polonius advises Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet in Act scene 4, she does exactly that. She also obeys her father when he tells her to act in his scheme to spy on Hamlet in Act 3 scene 1 by doing exactly what she’s told. Her father’s behavior did not affect Ophelia’s behavior as much as it explains her tolerance to Hamlet’s behavior. In the time period Ophelia lived in, she was expected to be passive and obedient. Since she was not married, she lived under her father’s rules and essentially did not have the right to make any personal decisions regarding her own life and relationships. Hamlet is not the only man in Ophelia’s life to mention some insulting aspects of her sexuality. In Act 1, her brother Laertes gives Ophelia a speech about how she should fear getting intimate with Hamlet and takes an Elizabethan perspective on female sexuality, convincing her that a “deflowered” woman is undesirable and

inadmissible.

Although West makes many controversial claims, one point is certain. Ophelia was destroyed by society and the misogynistic men in her life. When she sings a song after she learns about her father’s death in Act 4 scene 5, the song is about a young woman who is tricked into losing her virginity with a false promise of marriage. This is part of the reason why so many literary critics view Ophelia's madness and tragic end as a result of patriarchal pressure and emotional neglect. Queen Gertrude describes Ophelia’s death as passive. Rather than committing suicide, she accidentally falls in the water and simply neglects to stop herself from drowning. Ophelia's clothing “pulls” her down, as if they had more control over her than her own body did. This could be a metaphor for the way Ophelia lived her life: doing what her father, brother, and Hamlet told her to do instead of making decisions for herself.