Sylvia McMakin

2/26/18
Bisera

A Close Study of Ophelia

B. In Shakespeare’s ​Hamlet​, there are many different ways of observing madness

in the human mind. Shakespeare explores some of the differences between the

supposed madness of the protagonist, Hamlet, and Hamlet’s love interest, Ophelia.

Throughout the play, there is an underlying theme of madness and mad actions

committed by the characters. Hamlet shows his “antic disposition” (1.5.192) by talking

nonsense and confusing the people around him. It is known that Hamlet is a scholar,

and that he is an intelligent person based on his time at university and they way he uses

word play to confuse less intellectual characters, mainly Polonius, Rosencrantz, and

Guildenstern. He has many long soliloquies which give information about him to the

viewer and further strengthen the assumption that he has some intellectual superiority.

Overall Hamlet’s character takes a very cerebral approach to madness. This is

juxtaposed with the portrayal of madness from Ophelia’s point of view.

Ophelia is not in many scenes of the play, therefore the audience does not know

much about how she feels about the court and her father like they do Hamlet (F). She is

not awarded many soliloquies to vent her feelings and is being dominated by a male

presence in some shape or form in every scene she is in. When she goes mad, it is not

automatically viewed in the same light as Hamlet’s madness because the audience had

not had the opportunity to establish an intellectual connection with Ophelia. Her

madness is not connected to thought and reason in the way Hamlet’s madness was.
Sylvia McMakin
2/26/18
Bisera

She was supposedly driven mad by lost love, be it the lost love of her dead

father, gone brother, or distant Hamlet. Her madness at first glance is almost written off

by the other characters as almost childish in nature. When Hamlet presents his mad

self, there is speculation as to the cause of his madness and the intent of his mad

actions. Hamlet’s madness is explored on a deeper level than Ophelia’s who was

written off as superficial due to the fact that she was a woman.

There are some similarities in the madness of the two characters, however. They

both are suffering from the loss of a beloved father figure, and from the loss of an

important romantic partner. In a way they almost drive each other mad in their

overpowering love for their fathers and for each other.

Sylvia McMakin
2/26/18
Bisera

Works Cited

E) Mabillard, Amanda. ​The Baker's Daughter - Ophelia's Nursery Rhymes​,

www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/opheliarhymes.html.

F) “Ophelia, Gender and Madness.” ​The British Library​, The British Library, 6 Nov.

2015, www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/ophelia-gender-and-madness.

H) Mabillard, Amanda. ​An Introduction to Ophelia from Hamlet by William Shakespeare​,

www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/opheliacharacter.html.

(I) Mabillard, Amanda. ​Hamlet's Love for Ophelia​,

www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/hamletsloveophelia.html.