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Women in shakespearean play
Ophelia shakespeare character
Ophelia as a character in hamlet
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Hamlet’s Gentle Ophelia
William Shakespeare created a gentle little creature in the character of Ophelia in the tragedy Hamlet. Her strange misfortunes, as well as other circumstances, make her life an interesting one to explore in this essay.
Ward and Trent in The Cambridge History of English and American Literature maintain that Ophelia is interesting in herself, aside from her relationship with the hero:
Of Ophelia, and Polonius, and the queen and all the rest, not to mention Hamlet himself (in whose soul it would be absurd to attempt to discover new points here), after this we need not say anything. But it is observable that they are not, as in the case of Coriolanus, interesting merely or mainly for their connection with the hero, but in themselves. (vol.5, pt.1, ch.8, sec.16, no.55)
Helena Faucit (Lady Martin) in On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters reveals the misunderstood character of Ophelia:
My views of Shakespeare's women have been wont to take their shape in the living portraiture of the stage, and not in words. I have, in imagination, lived their lives from the very beginning to the end; and Ophelia, as I have pictured her
to myself, is so unlike what I hear and read about her, and have seen represented on the stage, that I can scarcely hope to make any one think of her as I do. It hurts me to hear her spoken of, as she often is, as a weak creature, wanting in truthfulness, in purpose, in force of character, and only interesting when she loses the little wits she had. And yet who can wonder that a character so delicately outlined, and shaded in with touches so fine, should be often gravely misunderstood? (186)
Ophelia enters the play with her ...
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...s 6.1 (May, 2000): 2.1-24 <URL: http://purl.oclc.org/emls/06-1/lehmhaml.htm>.
Pennington, Michael. “Ophelia: Madness Her Only Safe Haven.” Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. of “Hamlet”: A User’s Guide. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996.
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint of Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.
Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 http://www.bartleby.com/215/0816.html
that Olivia has emotional power of nobleman Orsino when in Act I Scene I he declares, "O, she
Riverside Shakespeare, 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1997. 366-398. Neely, Carol Thomas. “Shakespeare’s Women: Historical Facts and Dramatic Representations.”
Ophelia is portrayed as a sensitive, fragile woman. Easily overpowered and controlled by her brother and father, Ophelia is destined to be weak. Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, warns and pushes Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet and is further supported by their father Polonius. “Polonius enters and adds his warning to those of Laertes. He orders Ophelia not to spend time with Hamlet or even talk to him. Ophelia promises to obey” (“Hamlet” 95). Ophelia’s obedience to her father’s directions prove the side she
On Hamlet. 2nd ed. of the book. London: Frank Cass & Co., Ltd., 1964. p. 14-16.
Fischer, Sandra K. "Hearing Ophelia: Gender and Tragic Discourse in Hamlet." Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme 26.1 (2009): 1-10. 5 Feb. 2014.
Findlay, Alison. "Hamlet: A Document in Madness." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 189-205.
Moulton, Charles Wells. Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors through the Beginning of the Twentieth Century: Volume 1. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1966. Print.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of his most influential plays, and his character, Ophelia, is arguably the most iconic female in all of his plays. As the daughter of the King’s advisor, Ophelia is obedient and loyal to her father, Polonius, however after his murder, she descends into an insane, helpless woman. She eventually commits suicide by falling off a willow tree and drowning, and her death and events leading up to continue to be revolutionary. Lilly E. Romestant argues in her 2015 essay “Ophelia and the Feminine Construct” that Ophelia and her death is a significant influence to our society’s pop culture. She says, “Ophelia is immortalized through her own tragic circumstances,” which includes her decision to commit suicide and dependence
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia is the most static character in the play. Instead of changing through the course of the play, she remains suffering in the misfortunes perpetrated upon her. She falls into insanity and dies a tragic death. Ophelia has issues surviving without a male influence, and her downfall is when all the men in her life abandon her. Hamlet’s Ophelia, is a tragic, insane character that cannot exist on her own.
Her attraction for Cesario comes from his gentlemanlike and submissive behavior that she immediately recognizes. Though Orsino is not portrayed as necessarily “masculine” throughout the play, it is the overall declared gender roles in her society that make her feel that she would be dominated in the relationship. The time period of the play also may be a factor in her decisions throughout the play. Many may argue that, after Cesario admits that she is a woman, Olivia’s feelings for Cesario diminish because she is only attracted to men. However, after finding that Cesario is, indeed, a woman, Olivia immediately refrains from showing much emotion and, therefore, never responds in a way to deny her love for Cesario. This reluctant silence is due to the fact that in her society the idea of her being in love with a woman is something that is generally left as unspoken, since it is considered unnatural. According to Bruce R. Smith, a common editor and Shakespeare lecturer, during the Renaissance period, there was no definition to identify a man or woman that was attracted to the same sex (Smith 11-12). Therefore, Olivia has no way of describing or understanding her personal situation, because this issue had never been raised in her society. This, not the lack of attraction to women, is what keeps Olivia from pursuing Viola. Certain aspects of Olivia’s emotions after the discovery of
Ophelia’s betrayal ends up putting Hamlet over the edge, motivating him in his quest for revenge. Ophelia is one of the two women in the play. As the daughter of Polonius, she only speaks in the company of several men, or directly to her brother or father. Since we never see her interactions with women, she suppresses her own thoughts in order to please her superiors. Yet, however weak and dependent her character is on the surface, Ophelia is a cornerstone to the play’s progression.
Elaine Showalter defines Ophelia in many typical ways in her essay "Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism." She discusses her significance in reference to how she reveals Hamlet's characteristics. Showalter touches upon the idea that Ophelia's character is one that is symbolic of the psychiatric theories of Freud. Showalter also attributes the characterization of Ophelia to not only the audience, but also to the actress that plays the part. Never does she suggest that Ophelia could be just that, "Ophelia." Her entire article is devoted to individual interpretation of the play in its entirety, focusing primarily on Ophelia. Showalter presents her own ideas by bringing together the ideas of many others such as Jacques Lacan, Susan Mountfort, Ellen Terry, and more. Showalter provides suffice evidence in addressing each argument, but in doing so, she never takes into account the possibilities of Shakespeare's reasoning.
Do you not see how our future would be if we let love have its way with us? Do you not see how many fortunes, we would have all together only if you said yes, YES I ACCEPT. ( Orsino singing) “If music be the food of love,play.” Oh Lady Olivia why are you so stubborn through the skull? when are you going to realize I want to start something great with you?I hope Cesario has been successful with the message from me to Olivia. I know for sure having Olivia by my side we can rule the whole earth and have many sons,daughters. I don’t blame Olivia for playing hard to get, I mean she’s very beautiful with an hour glass body.What man on earth wouldn’t want to have her as theirs? I remember that kiss we shared,very lovely.“O, she that hath a heart of that fine frame, her sweet perfection with one self
Situational irony and the love triangle give big laughs to the viewers. The audience becomes engrossed as they observe Violas transformation into Cesario, the Duke’s servant. Suspense is built as Viola begins to realize that she is falling in love with Duke Orisno, but in order for her to survive; she has to keep pretending to be a man and is unable to reveal her love. The irony settles in when Orisno, asks his close servant Cesario to go to Olivia and make her understand how deeply he loves her. Shakespeare shows her helplessness in this situation because she has to help her love, try to woo someone else. The irony builds into a love triangle as Olivia begins to fall in love with Cesario as “he” loved Orisno. Olivia’s love is confirmed when she says “Yet come again, for thou perhaps mayst move that heart, which now abhors, to like his love” (III.i.153).
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