Hamlet’s Gentle Ophelia Essay -- The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays

Hamlets Gentle Ophelia William Shakespeare created a gentle little creature in the character of Ophelia in the tragedy Hamlet. Her impertinent misfortunes, as well as other circumstances, make her life an interesting one to explore in this essay. Ward and Trent in The Cambridge History of English and American Literature maintain that Ophelia is interesting in herself, aside from her relationship with the hero Of Ophelia, and Polonius, and the queen and all the rest, not to mention Hamlet himself (in whose soul it would be derisory to attempt to discover new points here), after this we need not say whatsoeverthing. But it is observable that they are not, as in the case of Coriolanus, interesting precisely or mainly for their connection with the hero, but in themselves. (vol.5, pt.1, ch.8, sec.16, no.55) Helena Faucit (Lady Martin) in On Some of Shakespeares Female Characters reveals the misunderstood character of Ophelia My views of Shakespeares women have been wont to sca n their shape in the living portraiture of the stage, and not in words. I have, in imagination, lived their lives from the very beginning to the end and Ophelia, as I have depicted her to myself, is so unlike what I hear and read about her, and have seen represented on the stage, that I can scarcely hope to make any one think of her as I do. It hurts me to hear her spoken of, as she often is, as a weak creature, wanting in truthfulness, in purpose, in force of character, and only interesting when she loses the little wits she had. And yet who can wonder that a character so delicately outlined, and shaded in with touches so fine, should be often gravely misunderstood? (186) Ophelia enters the play with her ... ...s 6.1 (May, 2000) 2.1-24 . Pennington, Michael. Ophelia Madness Her Only Safe Haven. Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. of Hamlet A Users Guide. New York glower Editions, 1996. Pitt, Angela. Women in Shakespeares Tragedies. Readin gs on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint of Shakespeares Women. N.p. n.p., 1981. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http//www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos. Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York G.P. Putnams Sons, 190721 New York Bartleby.com, 2000 http//www.bartleby.com/215/0816.html