Polonius’ lessons appear detrimental to Ophelia herself, but beneficial to himself. However, Polonius also contradicts his dictatorial lessons, and after denying Ophelia free access to Hamlet for, “many a day”, he eagerly delivers his daughter to him later. What seems confusing is the fact that Polonius is extremely protective over his daughter, yet sends her to Hamlet in his, “turbulent and dangerous lunacy.” Again Polonius’ motives are beneficial to himself, as he metaphorically pimps Ophelia to prove his loyalty to Claudius, and gain respect in the court. This is made particularly clear in Act 3, scene 1, where Ophelia has a traumatic and confusing meeting with Hamlet. After this encounter it is obvious Ophelia is distraught, yet to her father she is of no main concern. In fact, after Polonius’ test to see whether Hamlet really loved Ophelia, the King and his councillors debate the Princes’ mental health for seventeen lines, before Polonius remembers to enquire, “How now Ophelia?” Even after this comment he refuses to allow her any chance to speak for herself. He continues to point out that she, “need not tell (them) of what Lord Hamlet said;
(They) heard it all.” This only emphasises the self-important attitude Polonius adopts throughout his dealings with Ophelia, and the dismissive attitude he has when it comes to how she feels about Hamlet.
Laertes takes a similar approach to his father. To Laertes Ophelia is a virtuous and fragile being. He quickly teaches her the real intentions of men, “Fear it Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister.” Laertes demands Ophelia to allow himself to be the keeper of her, “chaste treasure.” Ophelia’s relationship with her brother is easier than that with her father, however the overtones of male dominance, interspersed with self-important statements are still evident,
“The chariest maid is prodigal enough,
If she unmask her beauty to the moon;
Virtue itself’scapes no calumnious strokes”
In this underlying presumptuous attitude, they are shown by Shakespeare as being disrespectful and dismissive of Ophelia’s emotions towards Hamlet. Laertes and Polonius establish their love for her as power, thus emphasising their self-important personas, and lack of respect for Ophelia. Shakespeare portrays them as adopting the assumption of their own superiority, reflective of the period. However, Laertes, and especially Polonius, are exceptionally distant and unresponsive towards Ophelia, and Shakespeare’s presentation of Ophelia makes her particularly receptive to the hierarchical society of the Elizabethan period.
Ironically, of course, Ophelia obediently obeys both men automatically, putting herself under greater pressure to conform to the visions of a perfect woman. It has been said that, “Lacking personal ego boundaries of her own, Ophelia seems compelled to absorb whatever virtuous person is thrust upon her…”
Prince Hamlet has similar ideals to that of Polonius and Laertes. He initially perceives her as a ‘Pure Madonna’ as shown in his letter to Ophelia, where he appears to hold her in the highest praise, describing her as “celestial” and “beautified”, almost goddess like. However his expectations and perceptions of her quickly change, telling her, “I did love you once” before commanding her to, ”Go thy ways to a nunnery.” After all Ophelia is not only a woman of the world, but also of the court, both of which Hamlet concludes to be corrupt. His doubt over women is made evident in Act 2 scene 2, with the repetition of the world “doubt”. This is confirmed by his excessive use of clichés in his letter to Ophelia. The actions Ophelia takes in order to please her father and brother, only seem to reinforce Hamlet’s doubt over women, and their corrupting influences on society. This idea springs from Genesis, and the fall of man due to Eve in the Garden of Eden. This is confirmed when he asks Ophelia, “Why would thou be a breeder of sinners?” Yet again Ophelia is subject to contradictions and confusing messages from the man she truly loves. Prior to Hamlet’s ‘realisation’ of women and their potential to cause evil, Hamlet had similar expectations to Polonius and Laertes, with the added dimension of a lover. He respected and loved Ophelia, yet now he almost waits in anticipation for Ophelia to reveal her potential evil, “I have heard of you paintings too, well enough;
God has given you one face, and you make
Yourselves another; you jig, you amble, and you
Lisp…” Once he concludes Ophelia is not the ‘pure Madonna’ he thought he succeeds in humiliating and rejecting her in a very public way. The first time we see Hamlet and Ophelia alone together, they are in fact being spied upon, to which Ophelia is aware. Hamlet speaks very abruptly to her, making similar connections between chastity, beauty and immortality as her father and brother have already done. This distances the lovers further, emphasising Hamlets distain towards women. He then goes on to reject Ophelia, repeating the command, “Get thee to a nunnery…” in the hope it will prevent her inevitable path of corruption, due to his belief that, “frailty thy name is woman”. He criticises women in general, remarking how, “God has given you one face, and you make
yourselves another; you jig, you amble, and you
lisp…” This is actually a hypocritical statement, since Hamlet himself is assuming an antic disposition in order to mask his real self.
The most notable scene where Hamlet dehumanises Ophelia, is when the whole court is present to witness the play Hamlet has set up. Here his intelligence and quick play on words confuses and manipulates Ophelia into looking ignorant and feeling ashamed;
Hamlet “Lady, shall I lie in your lap?”
Ophelia “No my lord.”
Hamlet “I mean, my head upon your lap.”
Ophelia “Ay my lord.”
Hamlet “Do you think I meant country matters?” Here Hamlet is insinuating sex, however, he acts as if he is the innocent party, and it is in fact Ophelia who has the corrupt and sordid mind. It is clear that Hamlet perceives Ophelia as a whore, contradictory to his letter in Act 2 scene 2.
Overall, Hamlets treatment of Ophelia disintegrates as his depression deepens, and his ‘acted’ madness becomes more debateable. To Hamlet, Ophelia epitomizes all that is wrong with the female species and therefore the world, thus magnifying his disrespectful attitude towards her.
The hierarchical relationships Ophelia has with Laertes, Polonius and Hamlet, makes her totally dependent on male command, thus weakening her position still further. Shakespeare has created a character whose emotions have been continually suppressed by those around her. This and the events of the play lead to Ophelia’s downfall; a state of madness. It is a fact that Ophelia has little initiative of her own, and the departure of her brother to France, Hamlet to England, and the murder of her father, leaves her left stranded in a sea of incapability, demanding independence. The commands stop, and her emotions are finally allowed to be freely expressed. This is something entirely new to her, and her lack of experience in dealing with these feelings leads to her madness. The newfound freedom of speech and action proves too much for Ophelia, thus fuelling her madness further.
Madness becomes Ophelia’s subconscious escape; it permits her to speak her anger and desire. Madness releases Ophelia from the enforced repression of obedience, virtue, chastity and patience. It liberates her, allowing her to become her own person. As in the rest of Hamlet, madness becomes a tool to undermine authority, and Ophelia uses this to her advantage showing intelligence and cunning. She speaks ambiguously, using riddles interspersed with child like singing and quite threatening language for a ‘lady’. Many of her lines can be interpreted differently, such as, “Where is the beauteous Majesty of Denmark?” On initial inspection it appears Ophelia is questioning the where-a-bouts of the Queen. However, she may also be referring to her banished lover-Hamlet. On a deeper level Ophelia may mean, “Where is the former (unrotton) state of Denmark?” Or even, “Where is the murdered King Hamlet?” The freedom madness permits her, seems to enable her to reveal the truth of the state of affairs in Denmark, and perhaps what the rest of the court is thinking. She also exposes the hypocrisies beneath the veneer of the loving family unit of Claudius and Gertrude (exposing their incestuous marriage), and the debateable ‘heartless’ seduction made by Hamlet, and Gertrude’s lack of family loyalty. Through her madness, Joan Montgomery Byles believes, Ophelia finally establishes a real dialogue “with herself, but-the listeners who really listen to her for the first time are no longer necessary. She needs no reply. She has discovered her own voice, her inner self.”
“The fair Ophelia” sings familiar tunes, recites old tales and scatters flowers rather like a small child. Although she at last speaks truth, and finally defies authority, Ophelia continues to be reduced to an infant, patronised and then ignored. However, she herself feels empowered, and it is at this point we see a role reversal; Laertes himself feels utterly helpless and weakened by her. Essentially, the consequence of Ophelia’s relationship with the men around her leads to her downfall and eventual death (almost certainly suicide).
Perhaps one of the most debateable subjects surrounding the portrayal of Ophelia, is to what extent can one sympathise and pity her, and how far can one condemn her? One critic (Bevington xxii) said, “(Ophelia) earns our sympathy because she is caught between the conflicting wills of men who are supremely important to her…Obedient by instinct and training to patriarchal instruction she is unprepared to cope with the divided authority, and so takes refuge in passivity.” Ophelia is also pitied due to the fact she is continuously instructed on how to act and think. Being motherless, and completely surrounded by men offers an explanation to the confusion Ophelia feels within herself. She has been sculpted and shaped to conform to the social demands of society, and to reflect others’ desires. Therefore, if she is perceived to be potentially corrupt, surely it is due to the way she was brought up by those around her, and through no fault of her own. This in itself leads us to sympathise with Ophelia for being corrupt unintentionally. Ophelia’s aim was to please those around her, which had to be achieved by ignoring her own feelings. This suppression of emotion lead to her death, making her a tragic and pitiful character. One may argue that if Ophelia was in love with Hamlet, then why was she so quick to betray him? This again is down to the social conditioning and orders she received. However, as mentioned earlier, Shakespeare did have the power to create a potentially strong character, but would this alone make Ophelia corrupt? In Act 3, scene 2, lines 113 to 122, Ophelia shows signs of potential corruption enforced by textual evidence, “Lady, shall I lie in your lap?
No my lord.
I mean, my head upon your lap.
Aye my lord”
Shakespeare is either portraying her as innocent and embarrassed, or as a sexually experienced woman, cooperating and humouring Hamlet with his sexual innuendos. However, throughout most of the text, Ophelia’s corruption is perceived through others, namely Hamlet. It is hard to condemn her as being entirely corrupt without feeling a hint of pity towards her. After all, her lover did murder her father.
Through Shakespeare’s complex portrayal of Ophelia, the audience is rarely allowed to see her ‘true’ character due to the fact she is perceived through the eyes of men throughout most of the play. Their different interpretations of her are inextricably linked, and the underlying fact remains; she was conditioned by the men around her. There are often moments in the play where you can’t necessarily agree with all of Ophelia’s actions, yet we are led to sympathise with her, through her apparent weakness in dealing with such situations. The main question open to debate, is whether or not Ophelia was corrupt. The answer to the enigma of her character is going to depend on whether you take a feminist view or a romantic/tragic view, but ultimately, I feel Ophelia’s tragic fall was due to the social conditioning, and the dominance the men exercised over her. However, one may argue that Shakespeare had the ability to create a stronger character, yet he devised Ophelia in such a way that one suspects male dominance infiltrated her from a young age, and therefore is it any surprise Shakespeare ended her life in such a way? It is vital that one looks at the influencing factors and events surrounding Ophelia, before making a final conclusion, especially due to the fact Shakespeare created such a dramatic environment in which the play was set. Whatever your perceptions of Ophelia are, it remains a fact that she is a compelling character, through which Shakespeare highlighted many social issues, as well as creating exceptional drama for all to enjoy.
