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Free Hamlet Essays: Ophelia Character Analysis

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In Shakespeare’s novel, Hamlet, many characters were introduced as monumental pieces that made up the work as a whole. One significant character was Ophelia, daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes, and lover of Hamlet. As much of the book was based around the plot of revenge, madness was a key description of the book’s identity and to which was passed to beloved and harmless Ophelia. Ophelia’s madness and loss of self conscious is significant as it shows the side of lost identity, the weak mind, and the negative influence of a life condemned to dictatorship. Although the madness and eventual death of Ophelia can be surfaced to the grief of her losses, it could also be used to introduced as a breakthrough in gendered stereotypes and serve a comparison on …show more content…

The madness and death of Ophelia presented much more meaning than what can superficially read. Chen emphasizes that, “In other words, Ophelia is more than just a flat character... With her transformation from the obedient daughter of Polonius to the mad woman who speaks of bawdy connotations at the court, Ophelia’s madness displays her inner conflicts and plight that she fails to ease” (2). Ophelia’s outbreak is a change from the woman’s habit behavior. The representation of liberation and identity can be found in her death as in between context, Shakespeare introduces the thought of revolutionizing the comportment expected of a woman by incorporating Ophelia’s madness. Including Ophelia’s insanity provided a gateway from oppression in a different perspective thus, empowering the feelings and emotions of the woman. Ophelia was formed as a tool to be exploited to the advantage of others but, became transformed into a symbol of beautiful psychotic madness, Ophelia’s last

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