FREE ESSAY ON OPHELIA

OPHELIA

The Tragedy of Ophelia
A grieving widow is desolate. An African American slave is tortured. A concubine is
mistreated. These three victims of circumstances that they could not control are pitied.
So are there any foundations based on whether one should pity another? The Oxford
Dictionary defines pity as the sorrow for another's suffering or misfortune. In
Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia rouses the pity of the audience because she is controlled,
manipulated, abandoned, driven to insanity, which eventually leads to her atrocious
death.
Ophelia was completely controlled, flagrantly used, and verbally abused by the dominant
men in her life: Polonius, Laertes, and Hamlet. Laertes was blatantly unsympathetic
towards her relationship with Hamlet. He gravely advised her to protect herself and to
not take Hamlet's display of affections as a promise of marriage. Polonius took a more
forceful approach. He forbid Ophelia to see Hamlet again and also told her that she was
foolish for thinking that Hamlet was sincerely in love with her: "you speak like a green
girl," (Hamlet 1.3 101). Hamlet treated Ophelia like a possesion and made several
inappropriate sexual remarks towards her. "Lady, shall I lie in your lap?" (Hamlet 3.2
114). He also verbally abused Ophelia with phrases that attacked her pride and dignity.
"Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? (Hamlet 3.1 121-122).
He also accused her of living a fa?ade. "I have heard of your paintings too...and make
your wantonness your ignorance." (Hamlet 3.1 144-148). During the Medieval times, the
hierarchy was "man over woman". Therefore, the three men spoke down to her. She was the
pawn in every relationship.
She lacked independence and the self-confidence to think for herself. "I do not know, my
lord, what I should think." (Hamlet 1.3. 104). In this segment, she reponded to Polonius
as an innocent maiden lost in utter confusion. "I think nothing, my lord." (Hamlet 3.2
119). She was raised to do what she was told and to let others make decisions for her.
She was abandoned by all of those who controlled her: Hamlet rejected her, Polonius died,
and Laertes left to France. She was left in solitary confinement. She had no one else to
tell her what to think, or what to do.
Her loneliness and absolute indecision forced her through the threshold of insanity.
People of the court thought that Ophelia was mad because of Hamlet's rejection and
Polonius' death. Furthermore, she sang songs and pranced around. The subject of her songs
alternated between her father's death and the romance between her and Hamlet. 
Discretion caused her madness because she didn't know how to live life without a
controller. 
Whether or not Ophelia commited suicide is a controversial issue. According to Gertrude's
dialogue, "Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,/Pull'd the poor wretch from
her melodious lay/To muddy death." (Hamlet 4.6 181-183). She says that Ophelia fell into
the brook, bobbed up and down until her skirt was drenched in water and while she sang
songs, her drenched skirt pulled her down, and she drowned. She appeared to not know that
she was in danger. What is questionable is why nobody tried to save her and why the
person who told Gertrude was very detailed in recounting the events. Therefore, it is
contentious to say that Ophelia commited suicide. To kill yourself means that you are
making a decision and obviously Ophelia could not make decisions for herself. It is also
contentious to say that Ophelia was murdered. She had no apparent enemies and therefore
there was no motive. Nevertheless, when Ophelia became free from her controllers, she
could take care of herself which lead to her inevitable death.
As a young woman, she was robbed of her innocence, as a submissive daughter, she was
mistreated, and as one of Shakespeare's most tragic characters, she was pitied. Ophelia
was a tragic figure because she never lived a life of freedom. She never reached her
highest potential as a person. Instead she dies without even a proper burial, is mourned
by only a few, and is more or less forgotten.