Ophelia's madness in Hamlet
A modern perception of madness often includes a person trapped in a padded room, delusional and depressed and perhaps locked in a straightjacket. This perception often comes, however, without reasons for or justification of the madness. Emily Dickinson once wrote, "Much madness is divinest Sense - to a discerning Eye -." In Hamlet, Ophelia goes mad after the death of Polonius, her father. In her madness, Ophelia reveals the intimacies of her life and her relationship with Hamlet, and is the most truthful with those around her, who mistake these truths for the ravings of a madwoman. This madness furthers the audience understanding of the toll that the tragedy is taking on the characters.In Ophelia's case, the madness exhibited is fairly close to the perception of madness that is common today. Ophelia, in Act IV, Scene V of Hamlet, can be found shrieking, screaming, and singing nonsensical songs to the king and queen of Denmark. Her behavior frightens Gertrude to such a degree that she originally refuses to see Ophelia. Gertrude herself says that, "...her speech is nothing/ Yet the unshaped use of it doth move/ The hearers to collection; they aim at it/ And botch the words to fit their own thoughts." Neither Gertrude nor Claudiu
These reasons seem widely accepted by both the characters and the audience for the madness Ophelia exhibits. As a plot device, this madness was ingeniously placed. She herself was also betrayed by Hamlet, who killed her father and, if we believe her story presented in her delusional singing, refuses to marry her after she has already "given herself" to him. She details the intimacies of her relationship with Hamlet, saying in her song that she lost her virginity to him, and after she had given herself to him he refused to marry her. No man in that society would have agreed to marry her after learning of her relationship with Hamlet, and with no father she really had no place to go and no one to look out for her. Ophelia has "betrayed" Hamlet, her lover, by allowing her father to use her as bait and to spy on Hamlet's dealings with her. She spurns Hamlet's advances at her father's request and believes that she drove him to madness in a way. Marriage wasn't a viable option, especially after the revelations of her relationship with Hamlet, and her brother was away at school, so Ophelia was alone. While Ophelia's madness ultimately has a negative consequence (her death), she is able to provide insight into the dynamics of Hamlet that would otherwise be stones left unturned. Not only do both Claudius and Gertrude express their feelings that she is justified in her madness, but the audience feels the same way because of the tragedy that has befallen her. This digging is the "discerning Eye," that Emily Dickinson wrote about, and it is those who possess the discernment who will see the sense that Ophelia makes when mad is truly the most divine sense that can be made or has been made by Ophelia. The madness was really used as more of a wrap up to Ophelia's story and a precursor for a tragic fate that would ultimately influence the outcome of the tragedy as a whole: the death of the queen, Laertes, and Hamlet. Her father was a character who perhaps made the play the tragedy it is: his scheming, spying, and lying cause his death and the death of those around him, and also cause Hamlet to appear mad. Of course, a person rarely goes mad for no reason, and Ophelia is no exception to the rule.
Common topics in this essay:
Claudius Gertrude,
Hamlet Ophelia,
Neither Gertrude,
Emily Dickinson,
Hamlet Hamlet's,
Scene Hamlet,
,
Ophelia Ophelia's,
Ophelia Gertrude,
Hamlet Shakespeare,
relationship hamlet,
madness ophelia,
ophelia's madness,
sense purest form,
emily dickinson,
sense purest,
purest form,
viable option,
dickinson wrote,
goes mad,
discerning eye,
emily dickinson wrote,
|
Acceptance Essays
