Essay
Ophelia-Bedelia
by
Kelly Davenport
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 "the primrose path of dalliance," and in this
statement it is clear that she prefers one course of action to
the other.
In the exchange between Laertes
and Ophelia, one learns a great deal about Hamlet, as well. Laertes
explains to his sister that she must consider Hamlet's rank and
position and know that he is not free to choose a bride for himself
(1.3.19-26). He also cautions her not put any faith in "Hamlet,
and the trifling of his favor / [and to] Hold it a fashion and
a toy in blood, / A violet in the youth of primy nature"
(1.3.5-7). He means that Hamlet follows a passing whim where
she is concerned, and that he does not truly love her. In other
words, Laertes impresses upon Ophelia that Hamlet merely feels
toward her the passion that is present in the springtime of youth.
It is clear that Laertes believes he is telling his sister the
truth about her situation with Hamlet because if he thought Hamlet
would marry her Laertes would most likely encourage a relationship
between them. Hamlet and Laertes are friends and if Hamlet married
Laertes' sister he would at some point enjoy the advantages of
a brother-in-law of the King.
While Laertes and Ophelia are talking,
their father, Polonius, enters the room, and after some words
of advice to his son, not the least of which is to be true to
himself, Polonius bids him farewell. Polonius then turns to Ophelia
and asks what it is that Laertes has said to her (1.3.57-89).
Ophelia tells her father that Laertes has spoken to her of Hamlet,
and Polonius responds that he has been informed of the time she
spends with Hamlet. He also tells her that "[she] do[es]
not understand [her]self so clearly" and he asks what there
is between herself and Hamlet (1.3.91-99). She replies that Hamlet
has "of late made many tenders of his affection to [her]"
(1.3.100-101). Polonius tells his daughter that she acts like
an immature girl and that she must "tender [her]self more
dearly" or she will "tender [him] a fool" (1.3.108,
110). He also tells her "Set your entreatments at a higher
rate / Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet, / Believe so
much in him, that he is young, / And with a larger tether may
he walk / Than may be given to you" (1.3.123-127). Polonius
means that Ophelia must protect her heart and chastity much the
same way that one protects a castle. She should not enter immediately
into negotiations when summoned to a "parley" or a
discussion between opponents. Interestingly, here, Polonius sets
up the relationship between Ophelia and Hamlet as that of opponents,
with Hamlet a person against whom Ophelia must protect herself.
Polonius does not advise Ophelia to be true to herself as he
has advised Laertes, and he points out that Hamlet has the freedom
to do as he wishes whereas she does not. Again, she is the victim
of the double standard of the difference between male/female
freedom of choice and action.
When Ophelia meets Hamlet in the
lobby--though, it is legitimate to question whether Hamlet knows
he is being watched, and therefore the motive behind his words--it
is still obvious that he does not care how he hurts Ophelia.
Either Hamlet is cruelly insane--or he is sane and cruel during
the exchange between them? The indecision Hamlet has presented
throughout the play is also witnessed in this conversation with
Ophelia. He tells her, "I did love you once" (3.1.114).
And then he states "I loved you not" (3.1.117). These
two opposing statements, made in such rapid succession, bring
to mind the game little girls play with flower-petals; he loves
me, he loves me not. And, of course, with the flower game there
is no resolution just as there is none in what Hamlet tells Ophelia
because he loves her, and he loves her not. When he says, "I
did love you once" it is the only statement in their conversation
that is incongruent with the general message, and it is the one
hope Ophelia would likely hold onto. Hamlet also advises her
to go to a "nunnery," which implies that if he doesn't
marry her she has no other options (3.1.126, 133). This is another
example of advice given to Ophelia by the men in her life that
means she has no control over her life because she is a woman.
Ophelia's identity is so dependent
upon these three men, Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet, that in
their absence she does not know how to live and becomes insane.
When Polonius dies Ophelia comes mentally undone, but not merely
because she loses her father. Part of the reason she goes mad
is that Hamlet, the man she loves, has murdered him. Added to
this is the fact that her brother, Laertes, is no longer there
to protect or support her. She has lost all of the men she loves
in one way or another, and therefore, she has no support system.
Ophelia has been manipulated and told how she must behave by
this trio of men to the point that when she finds herself alone
she becomes so confused that she cannot function. Prior to this
point she has not been responsible for making decisions about
how to live because her father and brother have always instructed
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.
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