{"id":180,"date":"2018-08-19T12:29:19","date_gmt":"2018-08-19T19:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/?p=180"},"modified":"2018-08-19T12:44:25","modified_gmt":"2018-08-19T19:44:25","slug":"the-divergence-between-hamlet-and-ophelia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/19\/the-divergence-between-hamlet-and-ophelia\/","title":{"rendered":"The Divergence Between Hamlet and Ophelia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hamlet and Ophelia have similar situations with very different endings. Both of their fathers are murdered by someone once trusted, and they both fall into grief. They diverge, however, in their decisions on suicide: Hamlet contemplates suicide but ultimately does not kill himself*, while Ophelia ultimately seems to kill herself or at least causes her own death through endangerment. Why the difference?<\/span><\/p>\n

*Although I interpret Hamlet as knowingly endangering himself through the duel with Laertes, his Act 5 Scene 2 conversation with Horatio about providence and how \u201cIf it be not to come, it will be now\u201d suggests that this endangerment is the result of his contemplations on destiny, not a suicidal response to his father\u2019s murder.<\/span><\/p>\n

I believe that Hamlet\u2019s and Ophelia\u2019s different routes ultimately stem from Ophelia\u2019s status as a woman, which contributes to a variety of problems after Polonius dies. Throughout Acts 1 and 2, Ophelia is mostly just taking direction from her father. First, he\u2019s telling her not to see Hamlet, and she obediently agrees. Then she\u2019s acting as a pawn in Polonius\u2019 plan to figure out what\u2019s wrong with him. Whenever she has a problem, like when Hamlet shows up in her room and scares her, it\u2019s Polonius she consults. From what we see, her father is the most important figure in her life\u2014to the point where she seems kind of dependent on him for direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is more than a character thing; it\u2019s a gendered issue. Ophelia\u2019s brother Laertes gets to travel to France and spend time on his own, while Ophelia doesn\u2019t get to do anything in the story without men involved. Laertes gets a lesson from Polonius about good character and smart living, while Ophelia gets lessons from Polonius and Laertes about\u2026 boy problems. All of this reflects the historical treatment of women, who were usually expected to be dependent on men and let their lives revolve around them. So when Polonius dies, she loses more than just a family member. She loses her direction in life. <\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from <\/span>maybe<\/span><\/i> Hamlet and Laertes, who don\u2019t help much in this situation, Ophelia also doesn\u2019t really have any friends\u2014and definitely no friends that she can really converse and be honest with. Hamlet has Horatio and even Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but mostly Horatio, to help him out and listen to his problems. If Ophelia had the opportunity to be independent, meet people outside her family, and find genuine friends like Horatio, would things go differently? Without anyone to confide in during her time of grief, Ophelia isolates herself, expressing herself to others only through incoherent singing\u2014none of the genuine expression that Hamlet shows Horatio. Because she has no Horatio and nobody to talk her through her emotions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Without a sense of direction or anyone to help her, Ophelia doesn\u2019t know what to do, leading her to go mad and ultimately kill herself. Although this experience isn\u2019t female-exclusive, in Ophelia\u2019s case, these factors are definitely tied to her expected gender roles and different treatment. This is why Laertes and Hamlet don\u2019t go down her path, even despite Hamlet\u2019s contemplations on death. Hamlet and Ophelia are foils for each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even today, marginalization continues to negatively affect mental health for many groups\u2014not only women, but also LGBTQ+ communities, people of color, and others. And aside from facing discriminatory treatment in everyday life, marginalized groups often have fewer resources for mental health and wellness or may face challenges when it comes to getting help, having their problems taken seriously, or even expressing their issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both in <\/span>Hamlet<\/span><\/i> and in modern contexts, Ophelia\u2019s death is a reflection of how harmful marginalization really can be; although the impact of societal factors may not initially be evident, studying the parallels between Hamlet and Ophelia reveals the negative influence of women\u2019s expected positions and dependence. Even beyond gender, <\/span>Hamlet<\/span><\/i> provides universal messages regarding mental health, showing how healthy friendly and familial relationships and a strong support network are valuable resources\u2014and ones that should be made more accessible to everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Check out parts one and two of my Hamlet<\/em> series:
\nThe Irony of Hamlet\u2019s Fatal Virtues<\/a>
\nHamlet and Horatio Are In Love<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hamlet and Ophelia have similar situations with very different endings. Both of their fathers are murdered by someone once trusted, and they both fall into grief. They diverge, however, in their decisions on suicide: Hamlet contemplates suicide but ultimately does not kill himself*, while Ophelia ultimately seems to kill herself or at least causes her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-literature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189,"href":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions\/189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceruleanchameleon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}