The role of the female character has changed with society, the Ophelia that the modern audience experiences may be entirely different from the Ophelia experienced by Shakespeare’s contemporary audience; to suit Shakespeare to the audience’s needs and expectations a way of getting around rather out of date subjects is through the use of non spoken acting; body language, staging and word emphasis.. Although, an understanding of context is vital, we must have a perspective upon ourselves as an audience, aware of the fact we can never be objective; women’s constantly changing position in society means we project our own beliefs and attitudes towards the plays.
Due to this, ‘woman’ becomes a symbol, rather than being viewed as an individual. A woman then is always representing something, never herself. A boy actor playing a female part onstage in Shakespeare’s time meant that woman was a symbol, a representation, as she was never actually present. Thus the disguises and cross-dressing not only requires a skilled actor but an equally imaginative audience. Cleopatra, upon her death scene, by creating comic relief exclaims that she ‘shall see / Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness / I’th’posture of a whore’ (Antony and Cleopatra V.ii. 218-20).In modern performances, however, the woman is playing woman, making the characters intended for a male actor, albeit for a female part, perhaps, feel uncomfortably real? Modern performances allow, therefore for an actress to really delve into the making and origin of a part, never seen before. Shakespeare, presents qualities, individuals, that are trapped in a world intent on categorising; as Juliet Dusinberre remarks, Shakespeare ‘saw men and women equal in a world which declared them as unequal’.
Arguably one of the most tragic female characters is Hamlet’s Ophelia.
Ophelia is often only described in reference to Hamlet, she is ‘a creature of lack’(Elaine Showalter) without a stable, definite character or personality. Wispy, unstable and, well, kind of irritating. Ophelia at times seems merely a passage for symbolic meanings. White, purity, innocence, and the fine line between female sexuality and insanity.
The play circles madness continually, with Hamlet placing himself in the centre, and Ophelia thrust in against her will.
‘For Hamlet madness is metaphysical, linked with culture, for Ophelia it is a product of the female body and female nature’. Ophelia literally deflowers herself, she ‘drowns in feeling’ in comparison to the rest of the characters around her, contending that she feels too much. Is the madwoman here a heroine? At the point of her suicide, is she the only character rebelling against the social order? She feels, despite the fact that her very self is a construction made by the men around her.
The other woman in Hamlet, Gertrude, is under similar constrictive circumstances. We cannot truly gauge her as a person, as she never appears without a man in tow. Gertrude, likewise, is an addition, a tool to move our plot forward.
Poor Ophelia has her inner feelings misrepresented or ignored constantly;
Polonius scoffs that Hamlet has taken a true fancy to her, which causes Ophelia to take a step back from her earlier confidence. She shrinks back from him, suddenly not knowing what to think. The men in Hamlet want Ophelia as a puppet, to act and say on their demand. He will ‘teach’ her what to think. To be constantly treated like a blank canvas or a vehicle with which to move the action forward is enough to send any sane woman to madness. David Leverenz notes that ‘from her entrance on, Ophelia must continually respond to commands which imply distrust even as they compel obedience.’
Ophelia is eventually misled by Polonius and Laertes; who tell her to ‘be something scanter of your maiden presence. / Set your entreatments at a higher rate/ Than a command to parley.’ (Hamlet, I. iii.121-3) the use of military language, to set her ‘entreatments’, and not to discuss tactics situates Ophelia in an unfamiliar masculine domain, emotionally devoid. They, in essence, are removing all emotion from courtship, viewing it as a battle. The men in her life seem emotionally deficient. Deficient of femininity, and are sort of asking her to do the same, rid herself of emotion and plan battle, lucky woman.
Hamlet’s ‘madness’ is mistaken by Polonius for ‘the very ecstasy of love’ (II.i.100) and it is this misunderstanding that marks the destruction of Ophelia. While Lady Macbeth has the power and will to manipulate her status and fate, Ophelia’s is taken totally out of her hands. This mistaking of politics for love means that Polonius’ view of Hamlet, is that he, repulsed,
The madness not evidence of his love for Ophelia, he rejects her. This cruel rejection pushes her further into the background. Her relationship to Hamlet is illusory, the audience experiences nothing of his thoughts or feelings for Ophelia before her death, his preoccupations with himself and his uncle prevent Ophelia from existing in his consciousness. Hamlet’s mistrust for his mother is mistaken for mistrust of her; of women in general.
Due to this, ‘woman’ becomes a symbol, rather than being viewed as an individual. A woman then is always representing something, never herself. A boy actor playing a female part onstage in Shakespeare’s time meant that woman was a symbol, a representation, as she was never actually present. Thus the disguises and cross-dressing not only requires a skilled actor but an equally imaginative audience. Cleopatra, upon her death scene, by creating comic relief exclaims that she ‘shall see / Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness / I’th’posture of a whore’ (Antony and Cleopatra V.ii. 218-20).In modern performances, however, the woman is playing woman, making the characters intended for a male actor, albeit for a female part, perhaps, feel uncomfortably real? Modern performances allow, therefore for an actress to really delve into the making and origin of a part, never seen before. Shakespeare, presents qualities, individuals, that are trapped in a world intent on categorising; as Juliet Dusinberre remarks, Shakespeare ‘saw men and women equal in a world which declared them as unequal’.
Arguably one of the most tragic female characters is Hamlet’s Ophelia.
Ophelia is often only described in reference to Hamlet, she is ‘a creature of lack’(Elaine Showalter) without a stable, definite character or personality. Wispy, unstable and, well, kind of irritating. Ophelia at times seems merely a passage for symbolic meanings. White, purity, innocence, and the fine line between female sexuality and insanity.
The play circles madness continually, with Hamlet placing himself in the centre, and Ophelia thrust in against her will.
‘For Hamlet madness is metaphysical, linked with culture, for Ophelia it is a product of the female body and female nature’. Ophelia literally deflowers herself, she ‘drowns in feeling’ in comparison to the rest of the characters around her, contending that she feels too much. Is the madwoman here a heroine? At the point of her suicide, is she the only character rebelling against the social order? She feels, despite the fact that her very self is a construction made by the men around her.
The other woman in Hamlet, Gertrude, is under similar constrictive circumstances. We cannot truly gauge her as a person, as she never appears without a man in tow. Gertrude, likewise, is an addition, a tool to move our plot forward.
Poor Ophelia has her inner feelings misrepresented or ignored constantly;
POLONIUS
What is ’t, Ophelia, he hath said to you?
OPHELIA
So please you, something touching the Lord Hamlet.
POLONIUS
Marry, well bethought.
'Tis told me he hath very oft of late
Given private time to you, and you yourself
Have of your audience been most free and bounteous.
If it be so as so ’tis put on me—
And that in way of caution—I must tell you,
You do not understand yourself so clearly
As it behooves my daughter and your honor.
What is between you? Give me up the truth.
OPHELIA
He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders
Of his affection to me.
POLONIUS
Affection! Pooh, you speak like a green girl,
Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.
Do you believe his “tenders,” as you call them?
OPHELIA
I do not know, my lord, what I should think.
POLONIUS
Marry, I’ll teach you. Think yourself a baby
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay,
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly,
Or—not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Running it thus—you’ll tender me a fool.
Polonius scoffs that Hamlet has taken a true fancy to her, which causes Ophelia to take a step back from her earlier confidence. She shrinks back from him, suddenly not knowing what to think. The men in Hamlet want Ophelia as a puppet, to act and say on their demand. He will ‘teach’ her what to think. To be constantly treated like a blank canvas or a vehicle with which to move the action forward is enough to send any sane woman to madness. David Leverenz notes that ‘from her entrance on, Ophelia must continually respond to commands which imply distrust even as they compel obedience.’
Ophelia is eventually misled by Polonius and Laertes; who tell her to ‘be something scanter of your maiden presence. / Set your entreatments at a higher rate/ Than a command to parley.’ (Hamlet, I. iii.121-3) the use of military language, to set her ‘entreatments’, and not to discuss tactics situates Ophelia in an unfamiliar masculine domain, emotionally devoid. They, in essence, are removing all emotion from courtship, viewing it as a battle. The men in her life seem emotionally deficient. Deficient of femininity, and are sort of asking her to do the same, rid herself of emotion and plan battle, lucky woman.
Hamlet’s ‘madness’ is mistaken by Polonius for ‘the very ecstasy of love’ (II.i.100) and it is this misunderstanding that marks the destruction of Ophelia. While Lady Macbeth has the power and will to manipulate her status and fate, Ophelia’s is taken totally out of her hands. This mistaking of politics for love means that Polonius’ view of Hamlet, is that he, repulsed,
Fell into a sadness, then into a fast,
Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness,
Thence to a lightness, and by this declension
Into the madness wherein he raves,
And all we mourn for.’ (II.ii.145-9)
The madness not evidence of his love for Ophelia, he rejects her. This cruel rejection pushes her further into the background. Her relationship to Hamlet is illusory, the audience experiences nothing of his thoughts or feelings for Ophelia before her death, his preoccupations with himself and his uncle prevent Ophelia from existing in his consciousness. Hamlet’s mistrust for his mother is mistaken for mistrust of her; of women in general.
