Gertrude's Ophelia Essay

The frequent portrayal of women as inferior beings throughout the history of literature has sparked much heated debate, especially among feminist literary critics. Despite the prevailing view of Shakespeare’s character Ophelia as a fragile, subservient character, she possesses inherent emotional and intellectual complexity that has been suppressed by familial and societal obligations. A victim of patriarchal oppression and rejection, Ophelia is, in truth, a multi-dimensional figure displaying the intellectual and emotional intricacies of womanhood when confronted with the burdens of society.
It seems on the surface that Ophelia is a simple-minded, easily dominated girl. Upon cursory examination, like other women in Shakespearean literature,
Ophelia is portrayed as submissive and “puppet-like” (Dreher). This portrayal merits an explanation: Ophelia, though she is able to think and feel independently, must suppress her emotions at the commands of others, such as her father, Gertrude, Laertes, and Hamlet. Throughout the play, she must continuously obey her father and brother, both of whom emphasize her chastity as paramount to her respectability. Polonius’ obsession with the state of her honor is evident when he demands, referring to Hamlet, “What is between you? Give me up the truth” (Ham. 1.3.107). Because societal expectations take precedent, Ophelia’s personal thoughts and feelings become of subordinate value. Ophelia’s reactions to male characters often reveal her uncertainty, as in “I do not know, my lord, what I should think” (Ham. 1.3.113). Her dependence on others is a reflection of her entire character as portrayed in Hamlet. Uncertain of herself, she suffers an identity crisis and is unable to cross the bridge between childhood and adulthood. This self-doubt, along with Hamlet’s rejection and the recurring patriarchal oppression she experiences, drive young Ophelia to madness. Ophelia’s drowning scene, in which she is compared to a mermaid, suggests that the burdens of society become too much to bear and thus pull her under: “Her clothes spread wide, and mermaid-like a while they bore her up; which time she chanted snatches of old tunes, as one incapable of her own distress, or like a creature native and endued unto that element” (Ham. 4.7.174-9). Without analyzing the emotional implications of Shakespeare’s comparison of Ophelia, one may conclude that she committed suicide by the ailment of a faint heart.
However, underneath the layers of societal oppression, Ophelia is intelligent in nature and capable of experiencing strong emotions. She is capable of passion (Cohen) and reason (Dreher). Shakespeare’s comparison of Ophelia to a mermaid is significant on many levels. She is uncertain of whether to return to land and risk further rejection or to surrender to the safety of the water. She arguably has no choice but to flee the life of rejection and suppression she knows. Ophelia’s emotional complexity is revealed through her inner mental turmoil caused by her circumstances. After Hamlet’s heartbreaking insults and condemnations, she laments, “And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, that suck'd the honey of his music vows, now see that noble and most sovereign reason, like sweet bells jungled, out of time and harsh; that unmatch'd form and feature of his blown youth, blasted with ecstacy: O, woe is me, t'have seen what I have seen, see what I see!” (Ham. 3.1.163-69). Her greatest desires-to become Hamlet’s lover and wife-are crushed upon his suspicion and rejection of her (Cohen). As Gertrude mourns her death, "I thought thy bride-bed to have decked, sweet maid/Not to have strewed thy grave" (Ham. 5.1.229-30), she reveals that she would have approved of Ophelia filling the role of Hamlet’s wife. Denied her wish, Ophelia is left hopeless and alone, consumed by emotions of confusion, disillusionment, and indignation. Left with no other option, she chooses to succumb to the calm of the waters, symbolically “becoming one” with the water, as mermaids in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales would when betrayed by their lovers. Hans Christian Andersen, like many other writers throughout the centuries, drew elements from Shakespearean literature. Ophelia’s mermaid-like acquiescence to the water expands the dimensions of her character. Thus, having reached her emotional breaking point, Ophelia demonstrates her capacity to experience intense and complex emotional states.
Ophelia is not only emotionally multifaceted, but also intellectually.
Underneath the constraints of her father’s control, she is able to think independently and reasonably; she exhibits this cognitive potential through the flowers which she distributes during her madness. “Rosemary for remembrance, pansies for thought...fennel for memory, columbine for folly, rue for mortality, the daisy for her innocence, and the withered violets for her modesty now transformed to shame” (Mancoff). Ophelia’s knowledge of these symbolic meanings exposes her reflective and intelligent nature. Interestingly, she gives both Gertrude and herself rue, symbolic of sorrow and repentance; she also gives Gertrude a daisy, representing innocence. Thus she acknowledges Gertrude’s adultery as regretful but sees her ultimately as innocent. Ophelia assigns rosemary to Hamlet, emblematic of remembrance, because of her undying love for him. She gives pansies to Laertes, representing thought; this gesture is reflective of his previous thoughts on Hamlet’s love for her. Giving Claudius fennel and columbine, Ophelia implies her opinion on his adultery and faithlessness; by the meanings of these flowers (memory and folly) she conveys her disapproving view of his infidelity. Whether the distribution of flowers occurred purely in Ophelia’s imagination or in actuality, her designations of symbolic flowers to various characters reveal her mental intricacy as well as
emotional.
By creating a multi-dimensional characterization of Ophelia, Shakespeare exposes the truth of women’s role as intricate and fully emotionally and intellectually conscious members of society. Beneath the preconceived and unwarranted view that women are inferior and faint-hearted lies the justifiable truth that women are essential to society; they provide the balance between reason and passion not always found within the faculties of men. By sculpting this three-dimensional woman figure of depth and developed qualities, Shakespeare sets the precedent for women of all generations thereafter to value the complex nature of the female mind and heart, individually and within the realms of society at large.