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John William Waterhouse's painting Ophelia (1894)
John William Waterhouse's painting Ophelia (1894)

Ophelia is a fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. John William Waterhouse ( April 6, 1849 &ndash February 10, 1917) was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter most Hamlet is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 William Shakespeare ( baptised She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, Polonius' daughter, Laertes' sister, and Prince Hamlet's sweetheart. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Polonius is a character from William Shakespeare 's Hamlet. The character is best known for uttering the immortal words "To thine own self be true" Laertes is a character in William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet. Prince Hamlet is the protagonist in Shakespeare 's tragedy Hamlet.

Contents

Origins

A possible historical source for Ophelia is Katherine Hamlet, a young woman who fell into the Avon river and died in December 1579. Though it was eventually concluded that she had overbalanced while carrying some heavy pails, rumors that she was suffering from a broken heart were considered plausible enough for an inquest to be conducted into whether her death was a suicide. It is possible that Shakespeare - sixteen at the time of the death - recalled the romantic tragedy in his creation of the character of Ophelia. [1]

Plot

In Ophelia's first speaking appearance in the play,[2] we see her with her brother, Laertes, who is leaving for France. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Laertes lectures Ophelia against getting involved with Hamlet. He warns her that Hamlet does not have his free will as he is the heir of Denmark so does not have freedom to marry whomever he wants. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Ophelia's father, Polonius, enters while Laertes is leaving, and Polonius also admonishes Ophelia against Hamlet, because he fears Hamlet is not earnest about her. Polonius concludes by forbidding Ophelia to have any further communication with Hamlet. She agrees to obey her father and to avoid Hamlet entirely.

In Ophelia's next appearance,[3] she tells Polonius that Hamlet rushed into her room with his clothing askew, and with a 'hellish' expression on his face, and only stared at her, without speaking to her. Based on what Ophelia tells him, about Hamlet acting in such a "mad" way, Polonius concludes that he was wrong to forbid Ophelia to see Hamlet, and that Hamlet must be mad because of lovesickness for Ophelia. Polonius immediately decides to go to Claudius (the new King of Denmark, and also Hamlet's uncle and stepfather) about the situation. We later[4] see Polonius suggest to Claudius that they can hide behind an arras to overhear Hamlet speaking to Ophelia, when Hamlet thinks the conversation is private. Since Polonius is now sure Hamlet is lovesick for Ophelia, he thinks Hamlet will express love for Ophelia. Claudius agrees to try the eavesdropping plan later. The plan leads to what is commonly called the 'Nunnery Scene'. An abbey (from Latin abbatia derived from Syriac abba "father" is a Christian Monastery or [5]

In the 'Nunnery Scene' Polonius instructs Ophelia to stand in the lobby of the castle, while he and Claudius hide behind. Hamlet enters the room, in a different world from the others, and recites his "To be, or not to be" soliloquy. The phrase " to be or not to be " comes from William Shakespeare 's ''Hamlet Prince of Denmark'' (written about 1600 act three scene one Hamlet approaches Ophelia and talks to her. He famously tells her "get thee to a nunnery. " Hamlet becomes angry, realizes he's gone too far, and says "I say there will be no more marriage", and exits. Ophelia is lef- t bewildered, scared, and heartbroken, sure that Hamlet is crazy. After Hamlet storms out, Ophelia makes her "O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown" soliloquy.

Ophelia by John Everett Millais (1852) is part of the Tate Gallery collection. His painting influenced the image in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet
Ophelia by John Everett Millais (1852) is part of the Tate Gallery collection. Ophelia is a painting by British Artist Sir John Everett Millais, completed in 1852 Sir John Everett Millais 1st Baronet, PRA ( June 8, 1829 &ndash August 13, 1896) was an English painter Tate is the United Kingdom 's national museum of British and Modern Art and is a network of four art galleries in England: Tate Britain (opened in His painting influenced the image in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet

The next time Ophelia appears is at the 'Mousetrap Play'[6] which Hamlet has arranged to try to prove that Claudius killed King Hamlet. Kenneth Charles Branagh (born 10 December 1960) is an Emmy Award -winning Academy Award -nominated Northern Irish Actor Hamlet sits with Ophelia and makes sexually suggestive remarks, also saying that woman's love is brief.

Later that night, after the play, Hamlet kills Polonius [7] - thinking Polonius is Claudius ("Is it the King?")- during a private meeting between Hamlet and his mother, Queen Gertrude. In William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet, Gertrude is Hamlet 's mother and Queen of Denmark. At Ophelia's next appearance,[8] after her father's death, she has gone mad, due to what the other characters interpret as grief over her father. She sings some "mad" and bawdy songs about death and a maiden losing her virginity. After bidding everyone a "good night", she exits.

The final time Ophelia in the play is after Laertes comes to the castle to challenge Claudius over the death of his father, Polonius. Ophelia sings more songs and hands out flowers, citing their symbolic meanings although interpretations of the meanings differ. After blessing everyone she exits for the last time.

Ophelia by Alexandre Cabanel
Ophelia by Alexandre Cabanel

In Act 4 Scene 7, Queen Gertrude, in a famous monologue (There is a willow grows aslant the brook), reports that Ophelia had climbed into a willow tree, and then a branch broke and dropped Ophelia into the brook, where she drowned. Alexandre Cabanel ( 28 September 1823 &ndash 23 January 1889) was a French painter. A monologue is an extended uninterrupted speech or poem by a single person Gertrude says that Ophelia appeared "incapable of her own distress" like a mad person would be. Gertrude's announcement of Ophelia's death is one of the most poetic death announcements in literature. [9]

We later see a sexton at the graveyard insisting Ophelia must have killed herself,[10] however, although the sexton attempts to argue the point logically and legally, he never says how he would know it as a fact. The cleric who presides at Ophelia's funeral later asserts that she should have been buried in unsanctified ground as a suicide, but he doesn't say how he knows facts about it, either. Laertes is outraged by what the cleric says, and replies that Ophelia will be an angel in heaven when the cleric "liest howling" (with the fiends in hell). The remarks by the sexton and the cleric have naturally led to a great deal of discussion of whether Ophelia committed suicide. Between Gertrude's report of an accident, and the later talk of suicide, the suicide issue is left unclear in the play, so that even after four centuries since the play was written, the issue is still a topic of debate.

At Ophelia's funeral, Queen Gertrude sprinkles flowers on Ophelia's grave ("sweets to the sweet,") and says she wished Ophelia could have been Hamlet's wife. Laertes then jumps into Ophelia's grave excavation, asking for the burial to wait until he has held her in his arms one last time, and proclaims how much he loved her. Hamlet, nearby, then challenges Laertes, and claims that he loved Ophelia more than "forty thousand" brothers could. After her funeral scene, there is no further mention of Ophelia.

Critical analysis

Ophelia by Arthur Hughes
Ophelia by Arthur Hughes

Some critics argue that Hamlet's angry behavior toward Ophelia in the 'Nunnery Scene' is due to Hamlet's resentment of womankind, when Hamlet realizes Ophelia is cooperating in her father's scheme to spy on him. Arthur Hughes ( 27 January 1831 &ndash 23 December 1915) was an English painter and illustrator associated with the Pre-Raphaelite [11] This interpretation casts Ophelia as a scapegoat, a victim of Hamlet's anger with his mother and with women as a whole.

In this heartbreaking scene, it's hard to tell how much of what Hamlet says is sincere, and how much an act. The critics have never ceased arguing this question. We do know that his mother's recent remarriage has intensified Hamlet's sexual revulsion—he's recently likened the sexual act to tumbling in a sty.

Here, the prince denies ever having loved Ophelia, right after claiming that he did love her once. This may be just a game Hamlet is playing, but perhaps he means that what seemed like love to him once now seems false and repulsive. Using a horticultural metaphor, he casts doubt on his own motives: the "old stock" (original nature) of man is so corrupt that the grafting of virtue can never wholly eradicate the "relish" (taste) of corruption. In his famous line "Get thee to a nunn'ry," he exhorts Ophelia to put herself away so that she may never breed sinners like Hamlet.

Specialists in Shakespeare's bawdy language are fond of noting that "nunnery" was common Elizabethan slang for "brothel," and that therefore Hamlet's command is ironic and even more despairing than it seems. The pun would accord with the paradoxical nature of the prince's speech, but there is little evidence elsewhere in the scene that Hamlet intends a double entendre. It is also known that in Shakespear's time nunnery actually meant a convent and it was only centurys after that nunnery was used facetiously to mean brothel.

The 1996 Kenneth Branagh film makes Ophelia and Hamlet sexual lovers, but this is not stated in the original play, in which there are several references to her claimed virginity. Kenneth Charles Branagh (born 10 December 1960) is an Emmy Award -winning Academy Award -nominated Northern Irish Actor Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare 's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh During her madness, however, Ophelia makes many sexual comments and sings a bawdy Valentine song[12] that includes the line, "quoth she, before you tumbled [had sex with] me, you promised me to wed".

In an essay on the representation of Ophelia, Elaine Showalter offers a survey of feminist approaches to the questions that the character and her history in performance and criticism raise. Elaine Showalter (born January 21, 1941) is an American literary critic, Feminist, and writer on cultural and social issues Feminist literary criticism is Literary criticism informed by Feminist theory, or by the politics of Feminism more broadly She organizes them into three broad strands: the first offers to advocate for Ophelia by telling her story; the second, under the influence of French feminist theory, reads Ophelia's story as a cipher of female sexuality that exists as a horrific "nothing" in patriarchal discourse and representation; the third reads her story as the repressed subtext of Hamlet's tragedy, insofar as it acts as a cathexis for all the strong emotions and qualities that the men wish to deny. Advocacy Advocacy is the pursuit of influencing outcomes –including public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political economic and social systems Feminism is a discourse that involves various movements theories, and Philosophies which are concerned with the issue of Gender difference, advocate This article is about the issues and phenomena pertaining to sexual function and behavior of Human Females Human female sexuality encompasses See also Patriarchy Patriarchy is an important Concept in Feminism. Discourse (L discursus, "running to and from" means either "written or spoken communication or debate" or "a formal discussion Representation describes the signs that stand in for and take the place of something else Psychological repression, or simply repression, is the psychological act of excluding desires and Impulses (wishes Fantasies or feelings Subtext is content of a book play musical work film video game or television series which is not announced explicitly by the characters (or author but is implicit or becomes This page describes the general psychological term For the Star Trek Voyager episode of the same name see Cathexis (Voyager episode. Denial (also called abnegation) is a Defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to [13]

As an alternative to these three strands, Showalter proposes to narrate the history of Ophelia's representations; "the representation of Ophelia changes independently of theories of the meaning of the play or the Prince," she argues, "for it depends on attitudes towards women and madness. "[14] Noting a contrast between the paucity of commentary on Ophelia within the history of criticism and an abundance of representations of her in the wider cultural history, she argues that it is necessary to pursue an "interdisciplinary contextualization" of "the complexity of attitudes towards the feminine" in order to expose the ideologies that have shaped the specific representations of Ophelia on the stage, in criticism and in the culture at large (its paintings, novels, fashions). An ideology is a set of beliefs aims and Ideas especially in politics [15] There is "no 'true' Ophelia" of whom a feminist critic might speak, she argues, only "a Cubist Ophelia of multiple perspectives". Cubism was a 20th century Avant-garde Art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European [16]

Portrayal

While it is known that Richard Burbage played Hamlet in Shakespeare's time, there is no evidence of who played Ophelia; since there were no professional actresses on the public stage in Elizabethan England, however, we may be certain that she was played by a boy. Richard Burbage ( January 7, 1568 &ndash March 13 1619) was an Actor and theatre owner Romance and reality The Victorian era and the early twentieth century idealised the Elizabethan era [17]

The early modern stage in England had an established set of emblematic conventions for the representation of female madness: disheveled hair worn down, dressed in white, bedecked with wild flowers, Ophelia's state of mind would have been immediately 'readable' to her first audiences. The early modern period is a term initially used by historians to refer mainly to the period roughly from 1500 to 1800 in Western Europe ( Early modern Europe) An emblem is a pictorial Image, abstract or representational that epitomizes a Concept — e Dramatic Conventions are the specific actions or techniques the actor writer or director has employed to create a desired dramatic effect/style [18] "Colour was a major source of stage symbolism", Andrew Gurr explains, so the contrast between Hamlet's "nighted colour" (1. 2. 68) and "customary suits of solemn black" (1. 2. 78) and Ophelia's "virginal and vacant white" would have conveyed specific and gendered associations. [19] Her action of offering wild flowers to the court suggests, Showalter argues, a symbolic deflowering, while even the manner of her 'doubtful death', by drowning, carries associations with the feminine (Laertes refers to his tears on hearing the news as "the woman"). In Greek mythology, Laërtes (Λαέρτης was the son of Arcesius and Chalcomedusa.

Mary Catherine Bolton (afterwards Lady Thurlow) (1790-1830) as Ophelia in 1813, opposite John Philip Kemble's Hamlet
Mary Catherine Bolton (afterwards Lady Thurlow) (1790-1830) as Ophelia in 1813, opposite John Philip Kemble's Hamlet

Gender structured, too, the early modern understanding of the distinction between Hamlet's madness and Ophelia's: melancholy was understood as a male disease of the intellect, while Ophelia would have been understood as suffering from erotomania, a malady conceived in biological and emotional terms. John Philip Kemble ( February 1, 1757 &ndash February 26, 1823) was an English Actor. Erotomania is a rare disorder whereby a person holds a Delusional belief that another person usually of a higher Social status, is in Love with [20] This discourse of female madness impacted on Ophelia's representation on stage from the 1660s, when the appearance of actresses in the English theatres first began to introduce "new meanings and subversive tensions" into the role: "the most celebrated of the actresses who played Ophelia were those whom rumor credited with disappointments in love. Discourse (L discursus, "running to and from" means either "written or spoken communication or debate" or "a formal discussion "[21] Showalter relates a theatrical anecdote that vividly captures this sense of overlap between a performer's identity and the role she plays:

The greatest triumph was reserved for Susan Mountfort, a former actress at Lincoln's Inn Fields who had gone mad after her lover's betrayal. One night in 1720 she escaped from her keeper, rushed to the theater, and just as the Ophelia of the evening was to enter for her mad scene, "sprang forward in her place . Year 1720 ( MDCCXX) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting . . with wild eyes and wavering motion. " As a contemporary reported, "she was in truth Ophelia herself, to the amazement of the performers as well as of the audience—nature having made this last effort, her vital powers failed her and she died soon after. "[22]

During the 18th century, the conventions of Augustan drama encouraged far less intense, more sentimentalized and decorous depictions of Ophelia's madness and sexuality. Augustan drama can refer to the Dramas of Ancient Rome during the reign of Caesar Augustus, but it most commonly refers to the plays Decorum (from the Latin: "proper fit becoming" was a principle of classical Rhetoric, poetry and theatrical theory From Mrs Lessingham in 1772 to Mary Bolton, playing opposite John Kemble in 1813, the familiar iconography of the role replaced its passionate embodiment. Sarah Siddons played Ophelia's madness with "stately and classical dignity" in 1785. Sarah Siddons ( 5 July 1755 &ndash 8 June 1831) was a British actress, the best-known Tragedienne of the [23]

Since that time, Ophelia has been a frequent subject in artwork, often in a Romantic or Classical style, as the images on this page show. Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the For the works or study of works from classical antiquity see Classics Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to

Many great actresses have played Ophelia on stage over the years. In the 19th century she was portrayed by Helen Faucit, Dora Jordan, Frances Abington, and Peg Woffington, who won her first real fame by playing the role. Dorothy Jordan ( November 21, 1761 – July 5, 1816) was a British actress, Courtesan and the mistress and famous Frances "Fanny" Abington (1737 &ndash March 4, 1815) was a British actress. Margaret "Peg" Woffington (c 1720 - 26 March 1760) was an Irish actress, the toast of Georgian London. [24]

Ophelia has been portrayed in movies since the days of early silent films. Dorothy Foster played Ophelia opposite Charles Raymond's Hamlet in 1912. The following is a list of minor characters that first appeared in the BBC Soap opera EastEnders in 1992, by order of first appearance Jean Simmons played Ophelia opposite Lawrence Olivier's oscar-winning Hamlet performance in 1948; Simmons was also nominated for an oscar as best supporting actress, but didn't win. Jean Merilyn Simmons OBE (born January 31 1929 is an Oscar -nominated English actress Laurence Kerr Olivier Baron Hamlet is a British film adaptation of William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet, directed by and starring Sir Laurence Olivier. More recently, Ophelia has been portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter (1990), Kate Winslet (1996), and Julia Stiles (2000). Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966 is an Oscar and Golden Globe -nominated English actress. Hamlet is a 1990 Film based on the Shakespearean play of the same name. Kate Elizabeth Winslet (born 5 October 1975 is a five-time Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -nominated Emmy Award -nominated Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare 's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh Julia O'Hara Stiles (born March 28 1981 is an American stage and screen actress. Hamlet, also referred to as Hamlet 2000, is an American Film by Michael Almereyda, released in 2000, set in contemporary Themes associated with Ophelia have led to movies such as Ophelia Learns to Swim (2000), and Dying Like Ophelia (2002). Ophelia Learns to Swim is the debut feature of Jürgen Vsych, aka The Woman Director, who is also the writer-director-producer Dying Like Ophelia is a 2002 award winning six-minute drama directed by Ed Gass-Donnelly, produced by Veni Vidi Vici Motion Pictures and based on [25]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Stopes, C. C. "Katherine Hamlet and 'Ophelia'. " Times Literary Supplement (24 March 1927): 215
  2. ^ Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3
  3. ^ Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 1
  4. ^ Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2
  5. ^ Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1
  6. ^ Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2
  7. ^ Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4
  8. ^ Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5
  9. ^ For one example of praise see "The Works of Shakespeare," in 11 volumes (Hamlet in volume 10,) edited by Henry N. Hudson, published by James Munroe and Company, 1856: “This exquisite passage is deservedly celebrated. Nothing could better illustrate the Poet’s power to make the description of a thing better than the thing itself, by giving us his eyes to see it with. ”
  10. ^ Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 1
  11. ^ Charney (2000, 77).
  12. ^ Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5
  13. ^ Showalter (1985, 77-79).
  14. ^ Showalter (1985, 91-92).
  15. ^ Showalter (1985, 78, 91).
  16. ^ Showalter (1985, 92).
  17. ^ Taylor (2002, 4); Banham (1998, 141); Hattaway asserts that "Richard Burbage [. . . ] played Hieronimo and also Richard III but then was the first Hamlet, Lear, and Othello" (1982, 91); Peter Thomson argues that the identity of Hamlet as Burbage is built into the dramaturgy of several moments of the play: "we will profoundly misjudge the position if we do not recognize that, whilst this is Hamlet talking about the groundlings, it is also Burbage talking to the groundlings" (1983, 24); see also Thomson (1983, 110) on the first player's beard. A researcher at the British Library feels able to assert only that Burbage "probably" played Hamlet; see its page on Hamlet. The British Library ( BL) is the National library of the United Kingdom.
  18. ^ Showalter (1985, 80-81). In Shakespeare's King John (1595/6), the action of act three, scene four turns on the semiotic values of hair worn up or down and disheveled: Constance enters "distracted, with her hair about her ears" (17); "Lady, you utter madness, and not sorrow", Pandolf rebukes her (43), yet she insists that "I am not mad; this hair I tear is mine" (45); she is repeatedly bid to "bind up your hairs"; she obeys, then subsequently unbinds it again, insisting "I will not keep this form upon my head / When there is such disorder in my wit" (101-102). The Life and Death of King John, a history play by William Shakespeare, dramatizes the reign of King John of England (ruled 1199&ndash1216 (
  19. ^ Gurr (1992, 193) and Showalter (1985, 80-81).
  20. ^ Showalter (1985, 80-81).
  21. ^ Showalter (1985, 80, 81).
  22. ^ Showalter (1985, 81-82).
  23. ^ Showalter (1985, 82).
  24. ^ William Cullen Bryant & Evert A. Duyckinck (eds. ), The Complete Works of Shakespeare, 1888
  25. ^ Internet Movie Database, imdb. com

References

See also

Ophelia is often referred to in literature and the arts often in connection to Suicide, love, and/or mental instability.
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