Hamlet - Ophelia's Identity

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Hamlet - Ophelia's Identity

There are volumes of critical analyses devoted to William Shakespeare's Hamlet. As the title indicates, Hamlet is the main character of the play, but there are other characters who are also important to the plot. So much attention has been given to Hamlet's antics that characters such as Ophelia remain relatively unexamined. Ophelia is a key figure in the play, and to understand her reactions to the patriarchal society in which she lives through her relationships with the men in her life adds more depth to the play. Ophelia's character is revealed through her relationships with her father, Polonius, her brother, Laertes, and her lover, Hamlet, and their characters in turn are revealed through their relationships to her.

The first opportunity to gain insight into tOphelia's behavior comes early in the play when her brother, Laertes, advises her to steer clear of Hamlet. He tells her that even though her body is grown her mind and emotions are not yet mature. Ophelia replies, "I shall the effect of this good lesson keep, / As watchman to my heart" but she later proves that she does not intend to follow Laertes' advice because she is still willing to be with Hamlet (1.3.47-48). In fact it is Hamlet's rejection of her that keeps her from him, not Laertes' advice. She further states, "Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, / Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, / Whilst, like a puffed and reckless libertine, / Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads / And recks not his own rede" (1.3.49-53). Ophelia means that her brother should hold himself to the same standards he imposes on her. She also equates sexual abstinence with "the steep and thorny way" and sexual participation with...

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...ed her manner of behavior. Along these same lines Hamlet has been responsible for her feelings. If he loves her, she is happy, and if he loves her not, she is not. It is through these relationships that she knows how to live, and in the absence of this knowledge and direction she commits suicide.

Works Cited

Berman, Allison. "We Only Find Ourselves." Hamlet reaction papers. Wynnewood: FCS, 2000.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. 1600? Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: Signet Classic, 1998.

Showalter, Elaine. "Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism." Hamlet. Ed. Susanne L. Wofford. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1994. 220-238.

Wofford, Susanne L., ed. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism, William Shakespeare: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1994.

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