The Death and Madness of Ophelia
Jonathan Robinson
English Comp II
Mark Barnes
April 19, 2013
“The Madness & Death of Ophelia”
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark:
By; William Shakespeare
In Hamlet, Shakespeare makes it clear that Prince Hamlet is insane or at least on the verge of “madness.” However, Ophelia (daughter of Polonius, King of Denmark) begins to go mad, as well, after Hamlet kills her father, and the other numerous tragedies that plague her like a black cloud hovering about until her untimely death.
In this literary analysis I will ask, and attempt to explain the symbolism behind the riddles, mad songs, rhymes, and death of Ophelia. Also, Queen Gertrude’s announcement of Ophelia's death has been seen as one of the most influentially poetic death announcements in literature. Whether Ophelia killed herself, was victim of a tragic plot, or was just another tragic death may never be known. However, the symbolism of Queen Gertrude’s monologue announcement concerning the tragically departed Ophelia, and Ophelia’s own madness that ended with her death is worthy of analysis.
Was it the abuse suffered by the hands of Hamlet, himself, or was it the death of her father, also at the hands of her lover, the leading factor of her maddening? Or, was it that Ophelia had no control over her body, her relationships, or her choices the catalyst? Her father, Polonius, forbade any union between Ophelia and Hamlet. However, he later uses Ophelia to spy on Hamlet for King Claudius, and because of the times in which she lived Ophelia has to be the obedient daughter, a role demanded of all young women in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. "Her whole character is that of simple unselfish affection" (Bradley 130). Was this the point in which the seams of sanity start to fray?
Ophelia’s whole world is shattered after her father dies, because of her conflicting loyalties to her father (who had never approved of Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia), and Hamlet now having killed him. After her
English Comp II
Mark Barnes
April 19, 2013
“The Madness & Death of Ophelia”
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark:
By; William Shakespeare
In Hamlet, Shakespeare makes it clear that Prince Hamlet is insane or at least on the verge of “madness.” However, Ophelia (daughter of Polonius, King of Denmark) begins to go mad, as well, after Hamlet kills her father, and the other numerous tragedies that plague her like a black cloud hovering about until her untimely death.
In this literary analysis I will ask, and attempt to explain the symbolism behind the riddles, mad songs, rhymes, and death of Ophelia. Also, Queen Gertrude’s announcement of Ophelia's death has been seen as one of the most influentially poetic death announcements in literature. Whether Ophelia killed herself, was victim of a tragic plot, or was just another tragic death may never be known. However, the symbolism of Queen Gertrude’s monologue announcement concerning the tragically departed Ophelia, and Ophelia’s own madness that ended with her death is worthy of analysis.
Was it the abuse suffered by the hands of Hamlet, himself, or was it the death of her father, also at the hands of her lover, the leading factor of her maddening? Or, was it that Ophelia had no control over her body, her relationships, or her choices the catalyst? Her father, Polonius, forbade any union between Ophelia and Hamlet. However, he later uses Ophelia to spy on Hamlet for King Claudius, and because of the times in which she lived Ophelia has to be the obedient daughter, a role demanded of all young women in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. "Her whole character is that of simple unselfish affection" (Bradley 130). Was this the point in which the seams of sanity start to fray?
Ophelia’s whole world is shattered after her father dies, because of her conflicting loyalties to her father (who had never approved of Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia), and Hamlet now having killed him. After her
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