The Saving Grace of Madness Essays -- Character Analysis, Ophelia, Lae

Hamlet’s Ophelia tragically falls victim to the prevailing and unquestioned female stereotypes of her day. Trapping her within the type of the chaste and dutiful woman, Polonius strips Ophelia of her individual identity and silences her voice. He reduces her to a mere pawn, whoring her out to serve his own selfish agendas. It is only in madness that Ophelia is offered an unexpected respite from this puppetry, one that even the finality of death is unable to offer. When the reader first encounters Ophelia within Hamlet, she is speaking with Laertes, her brother, and Polonius, her father. From these interactions, Ophelia appears to be the true embodiment of what a woman was expected to be. She listens respectfully to her brother and father, speaking only twenty-one lines as opposed to their combined one hundred and twenty. She dutifully responds to their advice: â€Å"I shall the effect of this good lesson keep† (1.3 l.49) and â€Å"I shall obey, my lord† (1.4 l. 145). Yet aside from this expected and somewhat boring picture, the reader learns little of Ophelia. In response to the play’s call to â€Å"Stand and unfold yourself† (1.1 l.2), Ophelia appears to have nothing to say. However, while Polonius is satisfied with this one-dimensional and limited picture of his daughter, the reader should not be. According to the early 17th century context of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, â€Å"chastity was the quality most frequently praised in women† as it directly influenced and determined male honor. Thus, Polonius’ command to Ophelia that she â€Å"not slander any moment leisure as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet† (1.4 142-143) cannot be read simply as the words of a loving father concerned with the fragility of his daughter’s heart. Rather, it must be r... ...ng more than the goaded words of boy eager to prove his manhood. King Claudius’ response is no better, using Laerte’s grief over Ophelia’s death to motivate his revenge: â€Å"Strengthen your patience in our last night’s speech†¦We’ll put the matter to the present push. This grave shall have a living monument†¦Til then in patience our proceeding be† (5.1 ll. 313-314;317; 319). Thus, once again Ophelia emerges as the scapegoat – her death guilty of motivating the deaths of Hamlet, Laertes, Gertrude, and Claudius. While Hamlet indeed comes to a tragic close, it is an ending dominated by men. Fortinbras arrives on the scene in all his manliness, commanding that Hamlet be born â€Å"like a soldier to the stage,† restored to his prior, sane identity. Ophelia however, goes unmentioned, faded from the memory of Denmark, her â€Å"monument† never constructed as King Claudius promised.