Social Role In Ophelia

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia has a limited social role because she is a woman in a man’s world. In other words, she is a powerless young woman whose actions are determined by the men around her. Ophelia has no female alliances to protect her when these men subjugate her chastity. This presents a problem because the men around her are driven by the misguided assumption that her chastity will allow them to reap benefits for themselves. Her lack of individual decision-making and selfhood thus provide the foundation for her emotional unraveling. By underestimating Ophelia’s capability to make decisions for herself, the characters in the play place emotional strains on her, causing her to contemplate where her loyalties lie—to her family or

Polonius and Laertes’ underlying assumption that Ophelia is a virgin cause them to make demands that present consequences down the line. It can even be argued that Ophelia eventually goes mad because of all the patriarchal oppression presented by her father and brother. Ophelia has no choice but to comply because she is in some sense at the hands of her father and brother’s decisions until she is married. Additionally, because her virginity is so significant to her family, once her father is slain by Hamlet, she begins to feel guilty. As she processes this guilt, it possibly transforms into the episode presented in Act

Both Ophelia and Hamlet face madness due to grief after the death of their fathers. Downfall as a result of madness is handled differently by the two lovers. Ophelia handles her instability completely because of her suicide, whereas Hamlet’s instability comes and goes. When Hamlet says, “To be, or not to be: that is the question,” he wonders whether he should commit suicide or not—there is a lack of action here. Additionally, Ophelia copes with her self-destruction privately, while Hamlet acts out and leads everyone to suspect he is crazy. Ophelia also has no coping mechanism to turn to while Hamlet uses revenge to deter his suicidal thoughts. These differentiations allow for Ophelia’s sanity to be impaired and for Hamlet’s to remain somewhat